Justin Hocking

A radically inventive excavation of one man's life and our relationship to the earth by the critically acclaimed author of The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld Justin Hocking grew up in a part of Colorado where so many things happened beneath the surface--mining exploits, underground nuclear testing just thirty miles from his family's home, and geothermal activity that heats one of the world's largest hot spring pools. His homelife, too, was plagued by hidden patterns of abuse and virulent masculinity. A Field Guide to the Subterranean charts the author's lifelong process of unearthing the past and reclaiming his own identity and connection to the natural world. How might we transform our traumas into deeper care for one another and the landscapes that sustain us? How do we transcend the mythos of the rugged American male so rooted in extraction and exploitation? And how far can we move beyond the self in a memoir? Hocking explores these and other vital questions by combining personal introspection with expansive narratives that examine geology, ecology, gender theory, mining history, labor rights, and even skateboarding. Abundant with historical research and teeming with birdlife--and ranging in location from remote caves and mountains to secluded surf breaks in Costa Rica--A Field Guide to the Subterranean heralds a boldly original and kaleidoscopic approach to the genres of memoir and nature writing.

A radically inventive excavation of one man's life and our relationship to the earth by the critically acclaimed author of The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld Justin Hocking grew up in a part of Colorado where so many things happened beneath the surface--mining exploits, underground nuclear testing just thirty miles from his family's home, and geothermal activity that heats one of the world's largest hot spring pools. His homelife, too, was plagued by hidden patterns of abuse and virulent masculinity. A Field Guide to the Subterranean charts the author's lifelong process of unearthing the past and reclaiming his own identity and connection to the natural world. How might we transform our traumas into deeper care for one another and the landscapes that sustain us? How do we transcend the mythos of the rugged American male so rooted in extraction and exploitation? And how far can we move beyond the self in a memoir? Hocking explores these and other vital questions by combining personal introspection with expansive narratives that examine geology, ecology, gender theory, mining history, labor rights, and even skateboarding. Abundant with historical research and teeming with birdlife--and ranging in location from remote caves and mountains to secluded surf breaks in Costa Rica--A Field Guide to the Subterranean heralds a boldly original and kaleidoscopic approach to the genres of memoir and nature writing.

Written in the wake of the 2008-2009 financial meltdown, A Simple Machine, Like the Lever, in which Nicholas Allander details his attempts to get his life on track, at first seems a document of its particular cultural and economic moment. And yet Schneider's real subject-the ways in which the simple goal of living an ethical, self-directed life leads not only to conflict with society, but also with the self-is an issue every generation negotiates as it comes of age. Our everyday reality now features climate disasters, convulsive financial markets, and divisive politics that force increasing segments of the population into precarious economic territory. This subtle, charming novel about the attempt to maintain one's humanity in the face of constant affronts to it is as timely as it was when first released. Nicholas Allander, thirty-one, carless, and careerless, is trying to pay off debt, impress his girlfriend, keep his job, cast off his introversion, and accept the world's imperfections without abandoning his heart. He considers growing his beard, taking up alcoholism, abandoning scrounging, and owning an automobile. All the while he clings to his bicycle, a simple machine whose purpose and workings he grasps. Like Nick, A Simple Machine, Like the Lever is short, toned, observant, generous, purposeful, and brimming with bicycle wisdom. It may also be a voice from the (recent) past still offering a glimpse into our own impending future.

As skateboarding has grown in popularity, the venues built specifically for skating have grown in number, too. Much like earlier generations built baseball fields and basketball courts, modern-day municipalities and other entities are building skate parks. In this book, readers will discover how there has rarely been as good an era to skate street courses and obstacles at local parks, which provide the challenge and variety skaters used to only be able to find on the streets. This book provides safety and equipment guidelines, and gives step-by-step instructions for popular tricks, like ollies, grinds, manuals, flips, slides, and more.

Riding bowls and pools is another challenging and exciting genre of skating. This book gets readers comfortable with riding in pools and takes them from simple techniques and tricks through to more advanced ones. Whether skating empty pools or enjoying the smoother ride skaters find in specially built concrete or wooden bowls in their local skate parks, skaters at all levels of expertise can enjoy this built terrain. Once readers are schooled on safety gear and how bowl and pool skating differ from other kinds of skating, they are ready to learn slides, carving, basic grinds, stalls, and airs.

Skating half-pipes is one of the most thrilling aspects of the sport of skateboarding. This books introduces relative skating novices to half-pipes, also known as ramps, starting with safety equipment and measures, and then moving on to beginning tricks and techniques, finally working up to more complicated and advanced maneuvers. The book gives succinct, easy to follow instructions on how to successfully pump on a half-pipe, drop in and then move on to grinds, slides, stalls, fakies, flips, and airs. Images accompanying the steps also prove an invaluable aid to readers just starting out with this exciting subset of skating activities.

As skateboarding has grown in popularity, the venues built specifically for skating have grown in number, too. Much like earlier generations built baseball fields and basketball courts, modern-day municipalities and other entities are building skate parks. In this book, readers will discover how there has rarely been as good an era to skate street courses and obstacles at local parks, which provide the challenge and variety skaters used to only be able to find on the streets. This book provides safety and equipment guidelines, and gives step-by-step instructions for popular tricks, like ollies, grinds, manuals, flips, slides, and more.

Riding bowls and pools is another challenging and exciting genre of skating. This book gets readers comfortable with riding in pools and takes them from simple techniques and tricks through to more advanced ones. Whether skating empty pools or enjoying the smoother ride skaters find in specially built concrete or wooden bowls in their local skate parks, skaters at all levels of expertise can enjoy this built terrain. Once readers are schooled on safety gear and how bowl and pool skating differ from other kinds of skating, they are ready to learn slides, carving, basic grinds, stalls, and airs.