Thrasher Skate and Destroy: The First 25 Years of Thrasher Magazine (High Speed Productions)

As someone who started skating even before Thrasher published their first issue, and who has an extensive collection of Thrasher magazines, I too was a little underwhelmed by this book. Nevertheless, it's a worthy effort at summing up what Thrasher was and is.

The print quality is top notch, and the photography is excellent. Many pages are occupied by short bios of "Legends", skaters that have left indelible marks on the art of skateboarding over time. These offer little more than polish on the already established fame/infamy of those mentioned, though.

I was expecting more of Thrasher's seminal articles reprinted, but besides that pillar of skateboard writing, "Skate and Destroy", from 1982 they are few and far between.

All that aside - Thrasher remains the truest, most meaningful print expression of skateboarding. Don't forget - Thrasher was there when skateboarding appeared dead to the eyes of the world at large, and they're still here.