Skateboarding photographer Jonathan Mehring's coffee table book is filled with photos of famous skaters conquering physics-defying tricks around the world. The adrenaline-fueled photography, from Mehring and others, soars across every page, framed by deep, reverent quotes, and essays about the sport from the artists and performers portrayed. However, it's the smaller victories that give this volume its warm heart: young boys in Warsaw, working on their first trick with faces furrowed in concentration; a line of Native American teens waiting their turn to run the pipe at Wounded Knee, a skatepark built for them by Pearl Jam's bass player Jeff Ament and the Vitology Foundation.
Skating, as superstar Tony Hawk says in the introduction, transcends race, religion, language and economic barriers to bring life lessons of perseverance to everyone who falls in love with the sport. Skate the World provides a visual treat that readers will want to spend some serious time with. --Rob LeFebvre, freelance writer and editor