"It's gotta be the shoes." when Spike Lee said it to Michael in a 1989 commercial, it was with a wink and a nod-what makes mj so good? His air Jordan, of course. But as Nicholas Smith reveals in this captivating cultural history, Lee's conclusion also speaks to the sneaker's surprising journey into the heart of American life. Kicks follows the humble athletic shoe from the croquet Courts of the elite to fields, parks and streets everywhere, as sneakers became the calling card of California skater and new York MCS, the Spark of riots and gang violence, the heart of a global economic controversy, the muse of haute couture and a lynchpin in the transformation of big sports into big business. Packed with great trivia and indelible characters-thee Mavericks, hustlers and Dreamers behind the sneakers' Rise-kicks introduces us to a surprisingly influential, enduring and evolving legacy.