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Skate Book Club: March 2026 ![]() We’re limping into Spring over here–Natalie has eye stuff, I’m down one index finger. Thankfully, Adam is holding it down. We’ve also got a guest this month – Author, Kyle Beachy. Treehouse by Morton Edmund BurkeGiving new meaning to e-book, the unfolding fantasy novel Treehouse by Morton Burke gets emailed to me weekly via his substack. Each delivery brings a new chapter propelling the story into increasingly psychedelic locales like a floating river in the sky and the US state of Missouri. Treehouse is immediately gripping, an effect helped along with my intrigue in the format, and follows the unnamed narrator after waking up from a car accident during a pizza delivery. He has new and increasingly weird mental abilities, allowing him to occasionally switch between conscious perspectives and with a compulsion to track down two mysterious figures, Eleanor, the drunk and Markon the skateboarder. The narrator’s accident affords them the ability to understand the entire lives of the other characters – a device that allows for disposing of a lot of explanatory context, adding to the trippy nature of the story. It’s a great device for talking about skating, as Burke doesn’t need to explain anything to anyone and can let it roll out as post-accident awe of life. “Some skateboarders strong-armed the trick into completion,” Burke writes of a seminal Tom Penny kickflip, “Penny was relaxed to the point that he seemed indifferent. His arms barely rose above his waist as his left hand remained open, a signature of his style that suggested an openness, the opposite of a fist.” The periodic nature of Treehouse’s publishing allows Burke to be playful and off-the-cuff. Each chapter has a slightly different mood and tone, which no doubt reflects the author’s each week and allows readers to mull good and long. The imagery gets more and more surreal, sometimes reading like an art critic would describe the contents of a Dalí painting, but calls to mind the clear and astute world building of fantasy writers like Susanna Clarke, with a dash of the deep world building of Phillip Pullman and the American wasteland style of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Burke sometimes leaves gaps in knowledge or time for the reader to do with as they please. These gaps don’t detract from the writing, however, but rather adds to it, leaving space for readers to consider previous poignant passages about dark, realistic things everyone goes through, such as addiction and childhood. The clear, clever writing leaves a lot of open space to play around in while at the same time building specific scenarios. When Burke writes, “What his father intended with this tone was to communicate, “I love you so much that it is a great, beautiful burden.” What Markon heard was, “You’re being alive makes my life difficult,” we get a complex understanding of Markon’s character through actions rather than description. Notably, the weekly chapters of Treehouse are a quick read, but that does not mean they do not pack a bunch. Burke easily plays around with style and voice, affording gifts and delights of differing kinds each week. Simple, poetic passages such as “It was a blue-green day. The green of the grass answered the blue of the sky. I looked through the top of the rental windshield into the sky and followed it as the blue changed from grey to a muted powder blue, to a royal blue as the sun fell over the horizon,” create dancing images. Short, simple sentences resonate philosophies: “Skating always felt like communion with the ground.” Like a treehouse, this substack has created a small space for imagination. If you’re reading this review through the Skate Book Club email, signing up for Mort’s substack is a no-brainer. Even if you’re not, the ongoing story of Treehouse is a compelling and light-hearted addition to your reading regime or an easy startup for those looking to get more fiction in their lives. Special giveaway: As a paid subscriber, I have five one-month paid subscriptions to Mort’s substack. First five people to respond to this get ‘em! -Abada Three books I’ve loved recently, by Kyle BeachyIs a River Alive? by Robert MacfarlaneI picked this one up after hearing the author in a deep and strange conversation with David Naimon on his excellent “Between the Covers” podcast. I am always intrigued when nature writing tips into the transcendental, or at least mystical, and the bonus, here, is that Macfarlane’s sentences are divine. Only Son by Kevin MoffettThere’s an EMB scene in here, and the spirit of skateboarding sort of thrums throughout this story of a son, his mother, and, later, his own son and wife. A quiet and gently murderous book about aging and loneliness, just exactly the sort of meditative and slow-burning fiction we don’t see enough of these days. Infinite Jest by David Foster WallaceTonight will be week 11 of our 15-week class on this complex, challenging, and totally singular novel. I did not expect 19 people to sign up, but that’s a 30th anniversary for you. People have, you know, opinions about this one. At its core, it’s a fun and maddening book that’s somehow more rewarding every time I read it (I’m on time seven), and a project that massively benefits from being shared with a group. A few more for your collection…Kitintale Elsewhere: The Story of UK Skateboarding 1987-2002 Skateboarding and Urban Landscapes in Asia Tails Of… #5 is not available anymoreWe’ve closed the books on issue #5, Tails Of… Photographers. The work has started on #6, and I can’t share too many details just yet, but it’s going to be good. Trust me. Every subscription helps keep Tails Of alive and growing, subscribe now and support the Tails Of project. Who’s putting this together, and why?John Freeborn, Natalie Porter & Adam Abada John Freeborn began skateboarding in 1986 and still tries to do tricks today. He is the publisher of Tails Of… an art and skateboarding zine that features a rotating curator for each issue. In the early days, John published The Media Locals Zine, The Kill Rocco Zine, Milkcrate Digest, and several others. During college, he founded Good&Evil skateboards. Later, he co-founded the artist co-op SPACE1026 in Philadelphia. In 2012, he self-published Big Kids/Little Kids which showcased the emerging art scene in Philadelphia. Natalie Porter began skateboarding in 1995 and continues to skate today. She is a public librarian and founder of the Womxn Skate History archive and Instagram account @womxnsk8history. In 2003, she wrote the thesis, Female Skateboarder and their Negotiation of Space and Identity and has been collecting resources on women’s skate history ever since. Natalie also contributed to the skate zines Armpit (2002-2004) as an OG member of the Skirtboarders crew in Montreal, and Idlewood (2009-2014) with Michelle Pezel of Antisocial skateshop in Vancouver. ECW Press will publish her book Girl Gangs, Zines, and Powerslides: a history of badass women skateboarders in Fall 2025. Adam Abada is a skateboarder, artist, filmmaker, and writer from New Jersey who is currently living in Los Angeles, CA. Along with lifelong friend Zach Baker, he has directed the travel skate documentaries Backstreet Atlas and The Backstreet Atlas Guide to New Jersey. He’s also a contributing writer at Quartersnacks and has done commercial work for Vans, ESPN, Sundance TV, Bon Appétit, Pepsi, Nickelodeon, MTV, Adidas, and too many more to name. Now you know who’s responsible for this, why is this email newsletter even a thing?In the Fall of 2022, Jai Tanju led the charge on Issue #3 of Tails Of… Books. This issue spawned the ‘Every Skateboard Book We Could Find’ book page on TailsOf.org, and ever since, we’ve been maintaining this page and trying to keep up with the amazing output of the skate community. The new books that are added (yes, we are always behind) get shared on Instagram, but the algorithm is a fickle beast–so, what if we just created a newsletter for those who care and want this information more directly? This is the first issue of that newsletter. Please let us know what you like, hate, or want more of and what books we should feature. |









