At age six, Rodney Mullen was the family misfit who had to wear braces to straighten out his pigeon-toed feet. But by age fourteen, he was a world-champion skateboarder -- and for the next decade lost only one contest. Now, for the first time, Rodney tells the incredible story of his ascent to fame as the number one nerd in a sport where anarchy is often encouraged. Rodney learned to skate by himself on the family farm, his only company the wandering cows. As a teenager he traveled the world for demonstrations, invented the flat-ground ollie -- a trick that laid the foundation for modern street skating -- and in ten years garnered thirty-five world skating titles. While acing skateboard contests Rodney also earned straight A's in school, but his father forced him to abandon his fame and the fortune he could make from the sport he loved. Rodney was unable to stop for very long though, even after freestyle skating went out of fashion and the skateboarding world abandoned him. He adapted to street skating and eventually became one of the most innovative and influential skaters of all time. It's all here: everything from his eating and sleeping disorders to his comical experiences with loan sharks, occult-obsessed relatives, and the FBI. The Mutt is a look at Rodney's strange journey from penniless skateboarder to millionaire. Book jacket. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Rodney Mullen is a former freestyle world champion with the best contest record in professional skating. He's credited with laying the foundation for street skating and was voted the 2002 Skater of the Year. And he hates horses. He lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1
Chapter 1 Living Nowhere	5
Chapter 2 Nurturing a Nerd	11
Chapter 3 Skateboards and Weed	23
Chapter 4 The Beginning of the End	32
Chapter 5 Running Away from Contests	40
Chapter 6 With a Little Help from My Friends	50
Chapter 7 The Karate Kid School of Skating	60
Chapter 8 Winning But Really Losing	64
Chapter 9 Turning Pro	78
Chapter 10 Stay of Execution	95
Chapter 11 Rat on a Skateboard	106
Chapter 12 Storm Warning	114
Chapter 13 Skin and Bones	122
Chapter 14 First-Time Loser	127
Chapter 15 Watching the Decay	136
Chapter 16 "Real Life" and the University of Florida	142
Chapter 17 The Great Escape	154
Chapter 18 A New Company	167
Chapter 19 Loan Sharks and Skateboard War	178
Chapter 20 Jumping Off Fjords	188
Chapter 21 Hickeys and Homecomings	196
Chapter 22 The Most Ill-Equipped Businessman	206
Chapter 23 Terminal Diagnosis	215
Chapter 24 Starting Over	228
Chapter 25 Nerd Love and Devilman	237
Chapter 26 Phone Call to My Father	244
Chapter 27 Doomsday	251
Chapter 28 Enjoi!	262
Chapter 29 Almost	268
Photography Credits	274

Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.