Amped: How Big Air, Big Dollars, and a New Generation Took Sports to the Extreme

It's been over two decades since freelance writer Kief Hilsbery wrote "The kids are `amped,' and ready for `radical action.' - the lede for an Outside magazine story called "Clockwork Orange County" about the Santa Monica skate and surf scene that would later be documented in Stacey Peralta's award-winning Dogtown and Z-Boys. This extreme (insiders much prefer the term `action sports') demi-monde is the subject of David Browne's Amped: How Big Air, Big Dollars, and a New Generation Took Sports to the Extreme. It's an insightful, entertaining, yet analytical look at the world of "extreme sports" and focuses primarily on skateboarding and snowboarding, but also including bicycle motocross (BMX) and freestyle motocross; two sports that are on the fringe of popular consciousness yet whose influence amongst teens is huge. Thanks to the efforts of marketers to cash in on the adrenaline-fuelled wave of action sports, the word "extreme" has become overused and misconstrued to the point where it is essentially meaningless. Indeed, can a Slurpee or an underarm deodorant really be extreme? The heart of the book is the sometimes chaotic, sometimes well-choreographed relationship between the athletes, brand names, music, video, computer games, and any of the vast array of consumer products that have been called as `extreme' in the past twenty years. These sports boast one or two massive superstars such at skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, (whose net worth in endorsements rivals that of Michael Jordan) and the deceased snowboarder Craig Kelly. Below the elite, however, lies a massive pyramid of battered, bruised, and banged-up kids scratching out a subsistence living in a world not far removed from that of a punk-rock band. Except that playing music never hurt quite like this: "For his lifelong devotion to the sport, (BMX), Thorne had paid a physical price. His knees, which had been operated on six times, had had screws inserted into them; screws in his ankles had only recently been removed. Another time, the metal peg of his bike shot up and into his crotch. "My testicle swelled up to the size of a grapefruit," He laughed at the memory. "But who cares? People say you'll regret it when you're older, but I think I'd regret it if I was a guy who went to work in a factory and didn't get out of Kansas City." BMX and skateboarding pale behind the mind-boggling dirt bike stunts performed in the Crusty Demons of Dirt video series. The carnage in this sport is so brutal that one of the film companies is called Fleshwound Productions. Drawn perhaps by bloodlust, attendance at motocross and other action sports competitions rivals that of, say, NHL hockey, and the riders sometimes feel a bit like circus freaks. Money doesn't change everything, but certainly makes the injuries easier to bear. So, regardless of the big bucks, just what kind of kids are out there abusing themselves in these sports, anyway? One of Amped's most fascinating subtexts deals with the fac

AMPED is probably not a book I would have selected in a bookstore, as I know little about extreme sports. However, while visiting a friend, I picked up Mr. Browne's book and within just a couple of pages I was hooked. The author treated the subject with enthusiasm and respect. And it didn't hurt that Browne has such an engaging writing style!

This was a really great read. I rarely venture far from fictional books but I'm lucky I did this time. Amazingly insightful with a great insiders perspective on the evolution of extreme sports. Having been into extreme sports my entire life I can say this is a brilliant and honest representation of these great activities. Having read some of the previous reviews I am genuinely confused. Although I can understand a difference of opinion this doesn't seem to be the case. Most of the reviews seem to be from people who haven't read the book so I am forced to conclude they have other motives. Either way I certainly suggest purchasing this book and making your own minds up, really is worth it.

I read this book several months ago, logged on to buy a copy as a gift, and was stunned to find a veritible "hit squad" of terrible reviews. I wouldn't bother to write in defense of an author I've never met (or even heard of before I bought his book)except that the negative pieces I've just read absolutely DO NOT reflect this book. It's an exciting inside view of athletes who engage in the extreme -- and very dangerous -- sports that have us non-athletes watching with dropped jaws. ("How can a human being DO that?!") AMPED is a terrific book about a world most of us have never, and could never, enter. I recommend it without hesitation!

Well written and informative, relates all the information about extreme sports in an objective and even-handed matter. A must-read for anyone interested in extreme sports and their history and culture!