The New Yorker asks Joseph O'Neill a few questions about his story "The Sinking of the Houston" (paywall) in this week's magazine.  

The middle son and his friends head to Brooklyn, seeking a skateboarding spot they've heard about. You name some fairly au-courant skaters-what is the extent of your knowledge of skateboarding culture, and how did you acquire it?

I don't skate. My sons do, avidly, and over the years I've watched hundreds of skate videos with them and filmed thousands of their tricks, or attempted tricks. Landing a new trick is very difficult. It takes a lot of skill, perseverance, and courage.

The skaters mentioned in the story are New York pros who are respected and adored by East Coast teen-agers. (There's a low-key, but significant, East-vs.-West partition in American skating.) I'm a bit of a Dennis Busenitz fan, although of course I'd watch any footage of Rodney Mullen or Andrew Reynolds. Or, say, Aaron Homoki or Shane O'Neill, who do very different things.