DogTown: The Legend of the Z-Boys

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Book Reviews of DogTown: The Legend of the Z-Boys

Book Review: Almost as good as having my old Skateboarders...
Summary: 4 Stars

In their original incarnation, these articles (especially the single page "Who's Hot!")festooned the walls of my bedroom. Even if the originals hadn't disappeared over the years, most probably never survived the pillaging of their contents; thus, a hardback reprint is a treasure! But the real surprise is how well these articles were written.

Your average 13 year old skate nut is hardly a literary critic. So, I didn't really expect the articles themselves to still hold up nearly 30 years down the road. SURPRISE! They are extremely well-written, in a very adult voice. I'm amazed so many of us read these as young teens, they are really quite sophisticated. Whether Stecyk is writing as "John Smythe" or himself, his voice is intelligent and never descends to the "whoa, dude rad!" depths unless quoting a specific skater. The skaters themselves sound quite self-aware, and each has a distinctive attitude that comes thru, even in the first articles. Stacy Peralta is the proto-typical laid back SoCal surfer guy, into peace & inner-growth. Tony Alva is always & forever the rock star, fully into the babes & bling bling being thrown his way, but never losing sight of skating. Jay Adams is the unpredictable, mischievious imp, while Bob Biniack is thuggish & Wentzle Ruml is devil-may-care & funny.

Friedman's photos are awesome of course, & the color seperations & printing quality lavished on these photos is really impressive. This could have easily been a throw-away done for nostalgia or to cash in on the resurgence of "old school" skating, but instead someone took the time to do it right. The cover alone is a masterpiece of photo-reproduction. "The Legend of the Z-Boys" is a major bargain at this price.

Summary of DogTown: The Legend of the Z-Boys

Photo Essays Books

• Subjects > Arts & Photography > Photography > Photo Essays
• Sports & Outdoors > Individual Sports > Skateboarding