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| Blair Mastbaum |
Skateboarding has often been linked with misguided youth and a wild underground culture, which has never coincided with mainstream practices. Blair Mastbaum has used this characterization of a skateboarder's existence to propel and outline, Sam, the protagonist, of his book Clay's Way. The book takes a new look at the theme of coming of age and adds a few twists that will engage, and draw any reader into the struggle to fit in. Clay's Way tells the story of a young skateboarder living in Hawaii who is discovering that he is falling in love with his surfer friend, Clay, and is learning to cope with his feelings and coming out while following his passion for his skateboarding.
Clay's Way has been called "the gay Catcher in the Rye" because the story set on the beautiful backdrop of Oahu, follows an enigmatic character, much like Holden Caulfield, who is dealing with life as a teenager. Sam is defiant of his parents and soon his infatuation with the surfer drags him into a more depraved lifestyle of drugs, parties, and rebellion in order to gain the attention and love of Clay. Sam, enters the dark subversive world often associated with the skateboarding subculture. Mastbaum cleverly uses the skateboarding subculture to symbolize the struggle of coming out of the closet as a homosexual.
For years skateboarders have been regarded as social misfits never really accepted my mainstream society. Laws have been put in place specifically banning the use of skateboards on public property and relegating the underground sport to abandoned empty pools or specially designated parks creating an often times misunderstood social support group or "family" of friends. Clay's Way uses this depiction of the sport as a metaphor for his main characters and weaves homosexuality and sport to create an interesting and compelling love story that will leave the reader entertained until the very end of the book.
Mastbaum stays away from the stereotypical characterizations of the gay youth and instead creates characters that are identifiable and real. It is great to read a story that approaches gay youths as if they were just like everyone else who is trying to make it through the world. This coming out story follows its own path and shows yet another view of coming of age.
Mastbaum, lives in Brooklyn New York and is currently working on a new book entitled Push. The author says that Clay's Way was a book created from his own experiences while growing up. Mastbaum wrote the book at 24 years old, and it has been suggested that this is the reason why his characters are so clearly representational of today's teenagers.
The book won the Lambda Literary Prize for debut fiction in 2003. On a separate note, just as homosexuals have been making advances towards acceptance, the skateboarding community has also earned some credibility. In 2004, Skateboarding was slated as an exhibition event in the Olympic games after the major success of snowboarding in the previous Winter Olympics. This could be the first step into bringing skateboarding from street status to becoming a legitimate and accepted sport.
