Dreamseller

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Overview

"Skate, drugs, and rock n roll!" -Kat Von D, LA Ink

Skateboarding used to be my life. When I was fourteen years old, I was discovered by Bucky Lasek and Tony Hawk and was on my way to turning pro. I toured the country, signed autographs, and had my photo in skate magazines. Then I got hooked on heroin and threw it all away.

Soon I was living in an abandoned garage and begging for spare change. Ripping off my family and friends meant nothing to ...

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Dreamseller

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More About This Book

Overview

"Skate, drugs, and rock n roll!" -Kat Von D, LA Ink

Skateboarding used to be my life. When I was fourteen years old, I was discovered by Bucky Lasek and Tony Hawk and was on my way to turning pro. I toured the country, signed autographs, and had my photo in skate magazines. Then I got hooked on heroin and threw it all away.

Soon I was living in an abandoned garage and begging for spare change. Ripping off my family and friends meant nothing to me. I was a dreamseller, pushing the fantasy that I was a recovering addict. Anything to get my precious next fix.

This is my story of struggling to survive on the streets and battling with addiction in rehab. It's a story of trust I betrayed and trust I had to earn back. It's also the story of my friendship with MTV and Jackass star Bam Margera. I would have died a junkie's death if not for him. Bam convinced me to write about how my addiction destroyed my career-and nearly my life.

"Entertaining, shocking, crazy, unimaginable." -Bam Margera

With 24 pages of photos.

Brandon Novak is an actor, TV personality, radio show host (on Radio Bam, Sirius Faction 28), author, and former pro skateboarder. He currently resides in Baltimore.

Joseph Frantz is a film producer, cinematographer, and media personality. He lives in Philadelphia.

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Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

As a teen, Novak joined the premiere skateboarding team and toured the world. Unfortunately, he also indulged in "recreational" drug use that led to debilitating heroin addiction and the abandonment of his career. Eventually repudiating the abject life of a junkie, he entered rehab and subsequently recovered with the help of fellow star skateboarder Bam Margera. This would be most powerful for an audience weaned on the X-Games; also a forthcoming film of the same name.-Lynne Maxwell

Kirkus Reviews
Pro skateboarder loses everything to drugs, sees little light at the end of the tunnel afterward. Readers will learn more about Novak's impressive skateboarding career in the '90s by reading Tony Hawk's foreword than by reading the book itself. This is an addiction memoir, and the genre's format is by now practically set in stone: modern-day opener into which rude reality intrudes, then flashback to start of life of addiction, leading up to getting clean and ultimately vindication. While Novak and co-author Frantz don't stint on the stock scenarios, they break the mold by not pretending that a junkie's chaotic life can or should be represented in such a cut-and-dried fashion. Novak begins on August 11, 2003: "I am a twenty-five-year-old junkie, sleeping in an abandoned garage in one of the worst parts of Baltimore City." By the end of that day, he has hustled money from his mother, stolen furniture and turned a trick with a man twice his age to get his fix. The narrative settles into a rhythm after the recidivist Novak is checked into detox by a sponsor of nearly limitless patience. Following that, his account only occasionally darts backward into a happier youth, when he was touring the world as part of the famous Powell Peralta team, skating with the likes of Hawk, Buck Lasek and Steve Caballero. He served as a courier for a dealer while still on the team and crawled into the depths from there. The story of his inveterate addiction is only competently delivered, with Novak and Frantz providing reams of unnatural-sounding dialogue for the totemic figures-understanding counselor, abused mother, tough guardian-angel fellow junkie-who try to halt his slide into self-destruction. The book'ssaving grace is the conclusion, which rejects the easy self-congratulation of too many addiction memoirs in favor of a closing memento mori. Dutifully constructed and sometimes surprising, but only occasionally insightful.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780806530048
  • Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
  • Publication date: 10/1/2009
  • Edition description: Original
  • Pages: 252
  • Sales rank: 134,274
  • Product dimensions: 5.50 (w) x 8.20 (h) x 1.00 (d)

Meet the Author

Brandon Novak is an actor, TV personality, radio show host (on Radio Bam, Sirius Faction 28), author, and former pro skateboarder. He currently resides in Baltimore.

Joseph Frantz is a film producer, cinematographer, and media personality. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Read an Excerpt

"As a skateboarder, I was fixated on testing my boundaries, but this was my way of fooling myself into feeling in control. Soon it grew to consume me."

At only twenty-two, Brandon Novak had accomplished more than most people dream of in a lifetime. By the age of fourteen, he had been discovered by legendary skateboarders Tony Hawk and Bucky Lasek, and signed on to skate professionally. By eighteen, he had traveled the world, signed autographs for thousands of fans, won big-time sponsorships, and had his photo plastered all over the skate magazines.

"I was a dreamseller. I sold those who loved me their dream that I was a recovering addict. I gained their trust, and betrayed them in order to get my precious next fix."

Yet as swiftly as his career peaked, it crashed, brought down by heroine, a force far more powerful than his greatest ambitions. One day he had it all, the next he was living in an abandoned garage, begging for spare change on the street and bathing in gas station restrooms. Brandon now lived for one thing only-his next fix.

"Where once I had the world in my hand, I now had nothing but a distorted, twisted version of what I had once been."

Brandon probably would have died a junkie's death if not for his closest friend, MTV and Jackass star, and music video director Bam Margera, who refused to give up on the "dreamseller." Bam invited Brandon into his home and gave him cameos in the CKY videos, his independent films Haggard and Minghags, his hit MTV shows Viva La Bam and Bam's Unholy Union, and the hit films Jackass Number Two and Jackass 2.5. Eventually, Bam convinced Brandon to write the powerful and shocking story of how his addictiondestroyed his skateboarding career-a story soon to be a major motion picture starring Bam Margera as Brandon Novak, the Dreamseller.

Vivid, harrowing and heartfelt, Brandon's story is a riveting and unforgettable journey from a dream life to a nightmare existence, and ultimately to waking up before it's too late.
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
( 50 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(44)

4 Star

(3)

3 Star

(2)

2 Star

(1)

1 Star

(0)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 50 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 3, 2008

    The Dreamseller Is Crazy!!

    This book is fantastic! I am already on chapter 23 and I got the book two days ago!!! I got sucked in so fast! I dont want the book to end!

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 25, 2009

    Amazing, inspirational, touching

    I'm a 15 year old skateboarder who has witnessed the fall of other skaters due to drugs. Before I read this book I just thought Novak was just another dumb person on Viva La Bam. Once i read this my mind changed, this guy had it all at one point and threw it all away just for some drugs. This book has definately inspired me to make sure that this doesnt happen to anyone i know that may get caught up in something like this and overall help myself avoid the situations that could come along. I recommend this book to anyone no matter what, its an amazing book and shows how life really is.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 4, 2008

    Surprisingly a very good read

    The book was pretty honest, much more than I expected. I was so captivated by the book that I read it in one evening, not able to put the book down, even when parts of the story really horrified me.

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 8, 2008

    Awsome

    Cant wait till this book come out i bet its going to be one of the best ive read in a while

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 8, 2013

    Great

    Loved it

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  • Posted March 18, 2013

    Brandon Novak was at one point in his youth a great skate boardi

    Brandon Novak was at one point in his youth a great skate boarding prospect for the Powell-Peralta skating team, Brandon has also been in a few t.v. shows and movies I have seen, i.e. Jackass3, Viva LaBam. However Brandon Novak is seen in a completely different light in his book Dream Seller. Dreamseller is an addiction memoir that follows Brandon's life through addiction. As the stories told in this book drag me through fits of laughter, and an emotional rollercoaster, I find that while the book is about addiction, I ironically couldn't put it down. This man's life story served as both my anti-drug yet also my addiction for 252 pages. Anxious to turn each page, I ponder where Brandon Novak would be if he had made different choices.The book only raises mre questions than it answers. This is due in part of the author's honesty. Withhelp of friends such as Bam Margera and Tony Hawk. Tony Hawk's quote may summarize the book with a tone that is different to deny, "You can't make this stuff up." With that said no summary nor review can do this book justice. My advice to you would be to simply read it. Where most books have failed, this one had me hooked.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 3, 2012

    great book

    This book is so amazing it really helped me through alot of things

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  • Posted August 13, 2011

    Brutally Honest!

    If your thinking about buying this book please do. Beautifully written with an honest voice that not many books have. The contents of this book are shocking but well worth the money.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 29, 2011

    AMAZING!!!

    The book was so good that i want more! The book was great at describing how he felt in all the situations he was in...i ciuld picture it all in my head. Overall.....a must read!

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  • Posted February 15, 2011

    great read!!!

    this book provides a detailed look into the life of an addict who once hadit all snd threw it all away for lifetime of heroin addiction. -Jrohl

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  • Posted February 23, 2010

    An Honest Approach to An Addicts Journey

    I think this may be one of the better books about drug addiction that I have read lately. Brandon Novak is not really famous, but he is not just some random person either. He had a very promising career in the skateboarding world at a young age, but he blew it. All of his money, his fame, his talent ... all on drugs. He also had a chance to make a comeback with the help of some friends, doing small bits in some of Bam Margera's movies, and in the silly - often crazy - stunts of the Jackass crew, but he blew that chance on drugs as well.
    In this book, Brandon Novak let the reader take a look at his life, and where things all went wrong and how he had almost destroyed every relationship in his life. It's very easy to read, almost like a novel, and when I was finished, I wanted more. This has been a book that has stuck with me for the past month since I finished it, and I keep thinking about it.

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  • Posted December 14, 2009

    An amazing book by someone who's not even a writer.

    I never read books unless it's something that really catches my attention and I can really get in absorbed in. I love all the Viva La Bam guys and I have all the seasons of everything there in and that's how I found out about this book. I just thought "Hey why not, what could it hurt?" So I ordered this book and once I started reading it I couldn't stop. It is an amazing book about things people actually go through, about a struggle Brandon Novak went through to get out of a drug addiction. The oddest thing about it is that this guy doesnt even write books but I thjink he did an awesome job. I would HIGHLY reccomend this book to anyone who might be interested.

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  • Posted July 6, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    loved it

    this was one of the best books i have read...i could not put it down..i have never done drugs or wanted to but my father had a problem and this gives anyone that has never lived this life a raw look into the world..i cant wait to see the movie...A++++

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  • Posted May 24, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    very insipational

    i am 13 and bought the book because i have always loved novak,i first heard about the addiction on bams radio station and didn't take it very seriously until there was a book about it.it truly is a great book and teaches you to stick to your dreams and not do anything stupid to mess your life up.

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  • Posted May 3, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Dreamseller an eye opener

    I bought this book for my son when he expressed an interest in reading about one of the characters that was in some of the shows he watches on skateboarding, etc. He read it in record time for him as he really doesn't like to read that much. He was very impressed even though he is only 13 years old and he says mom you should read this. I saw how it affected him so I read it for myself. What a great book to educate kids on how drugs can ruin your career and your life and to just how low a drug user will sink to get his fix. It also shows that rehab can't always save everyone even after they have been clean for a long time. This was written on a level that teens to adults can read and get something from. It should be required reading for all teens as it illustrates what can happen to anyone if they follow the wrong path.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 20, 2009

    This Is A GOOD BOOK

    I'm a huge fan of Brandon Novak but i never knew how hard he struggled with his addiction. This book inspired me to achieve my goals and never to give up hope in them. Some of it was very shocking to me that he had giving up his carrier for heroin.

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  • Posted February 19, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Amazing

    this book is so good and so sad i cry everytime i read on the next page and just cant stop if you havent read it yet you have to Novak needs to write more

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 1, 2008

    awesome.

    I'm a really big fan of Brandon Novak, and when i found out this book was coming out i was excited, but when i read the book i thought that's it? I still loved the book it was great i just wish Novak wrote more.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 22, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted December 4, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

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