This book explores the ways in which religion is observed, performed, and organised in skateboard culture. Drawing on scholarship from the sociology of religion and the cultural politics of lifestyle sports, this work combines ethnographic research with media analysis to argue that the rituals of skateboarding provide participants with a rich cultural canvas for emotional and spiritual engagement. Paul O’Connor contends that religious identification in skateboarding is set to increase as participants pursue ways to both control and engage meaningfully with an activity that has become an increasingly mainstream and institutionalised sport. Religion is explored through the themes of myth, celebrity, iconography, pilgrimage, evangelism, cults, and self-help.

This book explores God through the eyes of a skateboarder, using stories from the world of skateboarding to explain who God is and what God's like. When a skater first learns to street skate, pop an ollie, or ride a ramp; there is a buzz of excitement! It's the thrill of riding a skateboard joined with the fun of learning a new trick. There's a similar thrill when someone begins a relationship with God. Each step into faith can brings fun and joy, like learning a new trick. Life's journey is a bit like skating through a town. There may be high ledges and the ideal double-set but is there a purpose for it all? Is there a God who created us? What happens at the end of our lives? By exploring core issue (a skater's identity, when a skate park feels so good it's almost like heaven, the near miraculous nature of some skate tricks, the dark 'slide' of life, and whether we worship) this book aims to helps skaters and non-skaters alike take a fresh look at the God who is totally for all people, who calls us to come just as we are.

This book explores God through the eyes of a skateboarder, using stories from the world of skateboarding to explain who God is and what God’s like. When a skater first learns to street skate, pop an ollie, or ride a ramp; there is a buzz of excitement! It’s the thrill of riding a skateboard joined with the fun of learning a new trick. There’s a similar thrill when someone begins a relationship with God. Each step into faith can brings fun and joy, like learning a new trick. Life’s journey is a bit like skating through a town. There may be high ledges and the ideal double-set but is there a purpose for it all? Is there a God who created us? What happens at the end of our lives? By exploring core issue (a skater’s identity, when a skate park feels so good it’s almost like heaven, the near miraculous nature of some skate tricks, the dark ‘slide’ of life, and whether we worship) this book aims to helps skaters and non-skaters alike take a fresh look at the God who is totally for all people, who calls us to come just as we are.

A mix of Tony Hawk and Brian Welch comes together in skateboarding legend Christian Hosoi, who reveals everything about his rise, fall, and redemption, in this amazing tell-all—from being named the greatest skater of all time to bottoming out on drugs to finally finding redemption through God. Fans of Slater Kelly’s Pipe Dreams and Brian Welch’s Save Me From Myself, and followers of Tony Alva, Jay Adams, and Steve Caballero, will be captivated by this extraordinary, star-studded story, a gripping read that ranges from the heart of the 1980s skateboarding scene to the inside of a prison, from Hollywood parties to intense prayer sessions. Hosoi: My Life as a Skateboarder Junkie Inmate Pastor takes readers to the heart of one little-known world after another—and he portrays them in all their gore and glory for all the world to see.

A mix of Tony Hawk and Brian Welch comes together in skateboarding legend Christian Hosoi, who reveals everything about his rise, fall, and redemption, in this amazing tell-all—from being named the greatest skater of all time to bottoming out on drugs to finally finding redemption through God. Fans of Slater Kelly’s Pipe Dreams and Brian Welch’s Save Me From Myself, and followers of Tony Alva, Jay Adams, and Steve Caballero, will be captivated by this extraordinary, star-studded story, a gripping read that ranges from the heart of the 1980s skateboarding scene to the inside of a prison, from Hollywood parties to intense prayer sessions. Hosoi: My Life as a Skateboarder Junkie Inmate Pastor takes readers to the heart of one little-known world after another—and he portrays them in all their gore and glory for all the world to see.

Religions and Sports: The Basics introduces the many connections and interactions between religions and sporting activities. Readers will gain a foundational understanding of how to approach religions and sports analytically, theoretically, and methodologically. The book uses multiple relational frameworks to examine probing discussions around religious expressions in sports, the social connections of religions and sports, the mirroring of sport and religious devotion, and the discourse between religious ideas and leaders and professional athletes. Supplemented with numerous case studies and engaging exercises, it guides students through approaching research inquiries within the intersection of religion and sport for the first time. With lively discussion on contemporary sports including skateboarding and pickleball, it is a must-read for all students of Religions and Sports and Religion and Popular Culture, in addition to sports fans more broadly.

A National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" Honoree “An enchanting, sparkling book about the many meanings of sisterhood.” —Kristin Iversen, Refinery29 Claire Luchette's debut, Agatha of Little Neon, is a novel about yearning and sisterhood, figuring out how you fit in (or don’t), and the unexpected friends who help you find your truest self Agatha has lived every day of the last nine years with her sisters: they work together, laugh together, pray together. Their world is contained within the little house they share. The four of them are devoted to Mother Roberta and to their quiet, purposeful life. But when the parish goes broke, the sisters are forced to move. They land in Woonsocket, a former mill town now dotted with wind turbines. They take over the care of a halfway house, where they live alongside their charges, such as the jawless Tim Gary and the headstrong Lawnmower Jill. Agatha is forced to venture out into the world alone to teach math at a local all-girls high school, where for the first time in years she has to reckon all on her own with what she sees and feels. Who will she be if she isn’t with her sisters? These women, the church, have been her home. Or has she just been hiding? Disarming, delightfully deadpan, and full of searching, Claire Luchette’s Agatha of Little Neon offers a view into the lives of women and the choices they make.