Let’s Roll

A joyous visual celebration of roller skating, and how it’s shaped popular culture and entertainment for more than a century.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Shall We Dance. Olivia Newton-John in Xanadu. Usher’s half-time show at Super Bowl LVIII. Roller skating and pop culture have been colliding for more than a century, and in this celebratory tome author Makeda Easter takes us into the many eras and worlds of this beloved pastime. We learn about skating’s origins: when, in the mid-1700s a musical instrument maker and mechanic from Belgium, debuts his “skaites,” at a masquerade party in London (he hadn’t yet figured out how to stop, and his entrance is disastrous). From there we take a joyful romp through skating rinks around the country, dive into the wild world of roller derby, and relish in the pleasure of skating outside, from Venice Beach to Central Park. We meet DJs and skate instructors, historians and dancers, and learn what roller skating means to them and why it has been bringing communities together for centuries. It all adds up to a fun and eye-opening journey into a pastime that is at once deeply nostalgic and as vibrant as ever.