Customer Reviews

DogTown: The Legend of the Z-Boys

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Finally, collected in one hardback book are all of the "Dogtown" articles from the mid 70's Skateboarder magazine. What a treat!

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.

This book is just as most of the reviews have said. Fantastic pictures and stories of the original DOGTOWN Z-BOYS in their heyday. I don't understand how the previous reviewer can say it was "not what she expected" ? THE STORIES AND PROFILES IN THIS BOOK ARE WHAT MADE THE Z-BOYS! It's all about the Z-Boys and the cult that surrounded them, and no one else, so she is mistaken when she says it's not about the Z-Boys, she just must not have taken the time to actually look at the book. It is the ultimate resource on the Z-Boys. There was never anything as important as these stories and pictures to "The Legend" that showed the world what these guys did, who they were, and where they came from. And C.R. Stecyks's words go far beyond what you would expect! Top notch story telling and social commentary. The Glen E. Friedman photos alone, in the second half of the book, are worth it's price. All the photography is so colorful, literally and figuratively. This is true 1970's Southern California Americana at it's best. A must for ANY Z-Boys, Skateboarding, or 70's Pop-cuture fan.

Just got it! it's amazing, I couldn't be more stoked. I was prompted to write this review because a previous reviewer said this would have been better if it had more previously unpublished photos, but this person obviously does not own all of the original Skateboarder mags like I do, or did not even read the introduction to the book! One of the greatest things about THIS book is that it DOES contain over 100 NEVER BEFORE SEEN Glen E. Friedman images as well as all of the original articles C.R. Stecyk wrote for Skateboarder. Anyone who knows about this stuff will be overwhelmed with all the new material, and blown away by the quality of the old material, and how it's laid out in this new book. If you're an old fan, or a newcomer because you just got turned on to the Z-BOYS by the movie, you will love this book. The quality of the photos in the book are far superior to how they look in the movie. You're going to love this book if you get it. Did I mention how incredibly inspiring this whole thing is?

I bought this book a couple of months ago and I constantly find myself going back to look at it. The pictures keep me in awe and the articles are fascinating. The one thing I don't like about the book is that although they acknowledge Peggy Oki's part in the Z-Boys Revolution they have almost no photographs of her. She was female skateboarding at that time. Other than that the book is fantastic and fascinating a great coffee table book but also a great read.

First off, the physical quality of this book is impressive. The binding, cover, and pages are extremely well done. This is a solid coffee table book. Second, the contents are mind blowing. The stories are well narrated and entertaining, the "whos hot" brings back a flood of skateboarder magazine memories, and the photos (some never shown before) are a collection of the finest skateboarding pictures ever presented. While looking at pictures of Tony Alva carving Gonzo's, you can almost hear Hendrix or Nugent playing in the background. These photos leap off the page, grab you, and pull you into the action. This is a must read for any fan of 70s skateboarding. For any young skaters out there, pick up this book and take a history lesson.

We saw "The Lords of Dogtown" movie, which was marginally interesting and fun.

That got us to buy the "Dogtown & Z-Boys" documentary, which was really cool.

Next of course in line was to get this book. What else can we say? But now we understand how these guys really became legends and why the movies were even made about them.

The photos in this book can not be compared to any others anywhere, they are incredible. Although you see many of these shots in the documentary movie, and re-creations of them in the hollywood movie, they look 10 times better in this book, tons of them. Then you get to read all of the original words that they talk about in the documentary that helped to create the legend!

Here you have it, the essential DOGTOWN text book.

Along with the other books put out by these guys, including F*CK YOU HEROES and F*UCK YOU TOO and you've got all the best shots of the infamous Dogtown boys!

Glen Friedman is one of the pioneers of skateboarding. Of all the famous pictures you've run across through the years, of skating in the 70's and 80's, he probably took most of them. From Tony Alva, to Tony Hawk. This book is great for someone like me who was skating in both decades and is still an avid follower of the genre. For anyone who remembers SKATEBOADER MAGAZINE, you will love this book.

Can one take pristine photographs of grit? If so, Friedman does it better than anyone else. This folio represents skateboarding's equivalent of serious art.

Perhaps the only drawback for the serious student of skateboarding history who views these images is that he'll see represented here the beauty--but not the fun--of skateboarding. Such images would suggest that skateboarders never pulled a prank that wasn't high-minded, never grafittied a wall just for the hell of it, that the residents of Dogtown never dressed up all their dogs in sunglasses and backward caps and let them loose in the Dog Bowl to shred endless bonelesses while howling at the moon. More's the pity.

Some of us long to recall the days we sat on our decks in front of the 7-11 store . . . days when tears streamed from our eyes and Yoohoo from our noses at the sight of our canine companions doing 360s in the parking lot and winking lecherously at the old ladies who tried to hassle them. Ah, Dogtown. Sigh.

This book has hardly left my side and I plan on keeping it that way! This incredible 'jewel' should not only be in every skaters collection but deserves a much wider audience. The essays by Stecyk and photographs by Friedman are timeless and the presentation is outstanding. A thing of beauty - BUY IT!!!

Due to severe droughts throughout California in the mid-1970s, swimming pools emptied out across Los Angeles and the Zephy-Boys changed skateboarding and art in America forever...The documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys chronicles the story of an aggressive group of rebellious longhairs who converted the post-WWWII suburban sprawl into their playground, establishing a model for modern skateboarding. Sounds simple enough. But they didn't know it then and neither did anybody else. Twenty five years later, the story is finally being told. Artistically, through Stecyk and photographer Glen Friedman, the subculture of skateboarding provided groundwork for the vibrant, organic aesthetic of urban culture that fourishes three decated later, inspiring many of the most influencial artists and filmakers of today.