Bam Margera - Serious As Dog Dirt! [Book]

MTV Books

“I’m sure at this point a lot of people must have looked at me and thought I was some spoiled brat ass kid from a rich family.....I would like to give these people a news flash real quick – I lived across the street from a shit factory for 20 YEARS...My relatives come from a f#*king row house in Linwood, PA and half of them are in jail! So if you happen to be one of the c*#ks who had something to say about the Ferrari, eat my f#*k! Love, BAM!” This ballsy statement is just a taste of what is sketched into ‘Serious as Dog Dirt!’, Brandon “Bam” Margera’s personal account / diary / scrapbook, whatever you want to call it, of his life so far.

I must admit I was at first surprised at the format of the book, but then after thinking about what I already know about Bam, it comes as no surprise at all that he would choose to showcase his experiences in this way; cut-outs of magazine articles, sketches of him and his friends in *ahem* compromising positions..., receipts from hotels, and many, many photo’s. His rise to fame has been documented and filmed right from the start, so the best way to follow him on his journey is to see exactly what he saw and how his visible calendar of day highlights grows from simply “Jan. 97 – skated launch ramp with Mike” to “Jan. 99 – Right Guard commercial in LA, filming HIM music video in mansion and lost $400 in 4 minutes In Vegas!”.

It’s definitely a personal look into his life’s loves, mainly skateboarding, which is obviously where it all began. The opening pages show a newspaper article ranting about this high school drop-out somehow managing to buy a blue 2000 Audi S4 and cough up a $100,000 down payment for a new house for him and his family....all from just skateboarding endorsements. Seeing some gory shots and hearing about his many skating accidents certainly makes you realise how committed he is to his “work”. And boy are some of his tales funny.

Whether they are skating related or not, I’ve no doubt that many guys, and some gals, would howl at the stories of him shaving his friend’s heads, bailing them out of jail for being way too publicly hammered and for one in particular about a regularly featured friend called Novak. We learn of a time when he got drunk and dumped in the middle of the freeway (that’s motorway to us limey’s) and the 3rd car to notice just happened to be a local police car. Of course it seems that it hasn’t been just fun and games for Bam. Oh no wait, of course it has! Even when I read about his working periods, he’s still shooting music videos for his favourite bands like HIM, The 69 Eyes and CKY, filming more Jackass antics with his best friends and skating in tropical locales with Tony Hawks. Phew, what a tough job.

Diehard fans of BAM will no doubt go crazy for this book. The photos and art alone are worth a gaze, if you can tear your face away from the pornographic and offensive doodles(!) you’ll get to see a more sensitive side with cute family portraits and girlfriend tributes. As well as a lovely double-spreads that shows his love for his cats...aaah.

I can see from these pages that no-one can doubt that this guy has done exactly what everyone has told him NOT to do throughout his life. And he has proved that whatever else people want to throw at him, he will pound it away with one swoop...even if it is with a giant, dead, wet fish in the face (Jackass fans will get this). “What happens if you break your neck? Then what?” Then I say ”I will wait for my neck to heal then I would try the same trick again”. "And they all look at you like you’re a f*#king idiot. F*#k it – there’s no way I’m being miserable like all of you people working a 9 to 5 everyday. I will take my chances!”....Hmm, I guess I’ll get back to the office then...