Kicks: The Great American Story of Sneakers

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Gift for my 13 year-old nephew, who is really into sneakers. He LOVES this book.

Loved it! Gave more copies to family members for Christmas!

Call them sneakers, tennis shoes, or plimsolls (I finally learned what that means). Whether they're meant for walking contests, tennis, or sidewalk surfing (skateboarding), once Charles Goodyear figured out how to put rubber and canvas together to make sport shoes a lot changed.This is an American story, but it's not a solely American story. Adi Dassler and his brother Rudi, began working together in the 1930s to make tennis shoes, but, by the time World War II was over they were lucky to have survived and each tried to sabotage the other's business.Eventually Adi Dassler developed Adidas, and Rudi's Ruma shoes became Puma. Both Dassler brothers knew the importance of celebrity. In 1936 they tried to get Jesse Owens to endorse their shoes at the Berlin Olympics. By the end of the war they were Nazi Party members and part of Hitler's program to combine military training with physical fitness.Nicholas Smith also describes the political background in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. (I wouldn't have minded a little more about international relations in that year.)Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy had been assassinated. The Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia. Mexican police and soldiers massacred a group of students in Mexico City.What's most familiar about the 1968 Olympic games to Americans was when two black American sprinters, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, won medals and raised their fists in a black power salute on the podium.The reaction to Smith and Carlos wouldn't surprise anyone paying attention to members of pro sports teams kneeling during the national anthem recently.Eventually sneaker manufacturers began designing shoes (or at least the ad campaigns) for normal people doing aerobics (which meant women as well as men) and not just dudes identifying with athletes.

You can't tell the story of sneakers without recounting the story of rubber, the story of athletic shoes, the story of athletics, both amateur and professional, the story of the Olympics, the story of basketball, the story of Bill Bowerman and his waffle iron, the story of celebrity endorsements, the story of Michael Jordan, the story of the Boys of Dogtown, the story of another great book called Born to Run, etc. etc.So, this book covers a lot of fascinating territory and, in my opinion, is an extraordinary book, chock full of fascinating info about a wide range of topics that all connect to the history of gym shoes. I could not put this book down once I started and finished it in two evenings, reading after work. The author takes us through the evolution of the athletic shoe, which necessarily involves examining the seminal developments that have impacted the footwear we wear for sports, leisure, and style.I am a lover of trivia and this book is also a trivia geek's bible. Do you know the closely "related" story of Puma and Adidas? [pun intended]. Do you know where the name Adidas came from? [I found myself surprised that I had never even wondered about the origin of the name - especially when the story is so interesting]. Or how Phil Knight came upon the name Nike? Or the part that empty shoes played in the protest of John Carlos and Tommie Smith at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics? Or the evolution of surfaces used for track and field? Or the relation or lack thereof between Goodyear the inventor and Goodyear the company? You will find the answers to these questions, and many more, in this work.. . .I did already know some of the bits of the info in this book - partly because I was in Eugene, Oregon from 1972-75, during the glory days of track, the birth and early years of Nike, and the triumphs and tragedy of Steve Prefontaine - &, also because, though no longer a runner or jock, I've been wearing Vibram Five Fingers for years (ever since reading Born to Run). Other things in the book I had forgotten, like the shoe ads with Spike Lee and MIchael Jordan, and the ones with Bo Jackson. So this served as a trip down memory lane, during which I learned a lot of new stuff as well.If any of the topics mentioned interest you, I urge to pick up this wonderful read. If you are a fan of books like those written by Mark Kurlansky, pick up this book. The story flows easily and reads smoothly so check it out. You won't be disappointed. Kicks is to gym shoes as Cod was to, er, cod!

I've tried to read other books about the history of Sneakers but found them to be a bit on the dry side. What I wanted was a light and breezy read that told the whole story in summary, with some details on the best stories. That is what this book is.The title is a bit misleading because so much of this book is about Britain and Germany (especially in the first third) but you can't tell the story without telling the whole story in my opinion so I'm grateful for it.This is a book about the evolution of the Sneaker Industry, and as such it's a story about culture and pop-culture. You see shoes become specialized for sports, they for specific exercise uses. You see shoes become a fashion statement, and see the rise of jogging shoes, skateboarding shoes, and shoes associated with the rap music scene. It's well-written and fascinating stuff.If you are a sensitive reader be aware that the corporate hotshots and founding weirdos are not edited for language or content in this book and so you get the story about the coach who urinated on his students (gross!) and the crass insults executives spat out that insulted both the sexuality and exercise habits of people. It's a good book but I wish the author had censored out some of that garbage (I really didn't need to hear about it, I already know of corporate executives which are despicable human beings).So there you go. If you can stomach the rough edges on this book you'll find it entertaining and engaging. It's comparable to "All Your Base Are Belong to Us" which tells a history of Video Games as far as the journalistic and raw language go.

Un repaso interesante al mundo de las zapatillas y por qué supone un fenómeno en la actualidad. No es la obra de un mega-experto (más bien un periodista) pero tiene rigor, datos e información.

Esta muy padre la textura que tiene la portada y contraportada del libro, sin embargo el libro llego súper maltratado. Todo roto de las esquinas 😠😠