After what seemed like an eternity during the process, my latest book is finally available for preview and pre-order.
'The Chopper: the Real Story' is published by Gestalten, with whom I worked on the best-seller
'The Ride'(with Chris Hunter, Gary Inman, and David Edwards). Gestalten is known as a high-quality publisher of contemporary art/design books, and the success of 'The Ride' encouraged them to probe a little deeper into the design history of motorcycles; after much discussion, they asked me to write the history of choppers, which proved challenging for both of us. I think the result will stand the test of time, although some of my research will likely prove controversial.
It took many months of interviews and research to document the history and development of chopper, as while everyone 'knows' what a chopper is, and lots of books have been published about them, nobody until now has attempted to document the history of this quintessentially American folk-art form. After having done so, I understand why nobody has tried! It was a very difficult process, and I was denied access to plenty of information and useful photographic archives, and even verbally threatened at times for simply asking questions about motorcycles. I steered clear of gang culture, as that story has been told many times; my research solely concerned who did what when to the motorcycles, from 1920s 'Cut-downs' and 1930s 'Bob-jobs', to the first ape-hangers and crazy chrome jobs, to the first show choppers and extended forks, to the present day revival of old-school bikes.
At about 60,000 words, I joked many times that it was too bad I hadn't done my research under the auspices of a University, as
'Chopper'would have earned a doctorate! The print quality will be to
Gestalten's usual excellent standard, which means the book won't be cheap, just big and beautiful. Kind of like the subject.
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