How does a pipsqueak outcast with unnaturally blond hair, a Godzilla fetish, and the nickname "Toddler" grow up to be a world champion, Olympic competitor, and action sports icon? The truth is even weirder than you might think.

Growing up as an only child in a small town in Massachusetts, all Todd Richards wanted to do was play with his Star Wars toys in the woods behind his house -- and, oh, be a ninja. When he started high school, he transferred his obsessive tendencies to a new hobby that was sweeping the nation: skateboarding. But fighting off the Massachusetts weather and tangling with his parents over skateboarding and its ripped-jeans, bleached-hair image made him one depressed kid during the winter of 1987.

That's when a friend introduced him to snowboarding and revealed to him a whole new world. Before he knew it, he was a sponsored pro, but he still had a lot to learn. Fortunately -- or unfortunately, depending on who you ask -- Todd found himself in the company of some of snowboarding's most influential pioneers and most notorious wild men. A second childhood with a bunch of free-spirited snowboarders and former skate punks as an extended family taught him many things: from how a g-stringed Italian can broker a peace deal to why you should never wear novelty underwear if you are planning to knock yourself senseless on the mountain.

As Todd's career and skills advanced, he found himself no longer in the shadows of legendary snowboarders, but at the forefront of a new wave of snowboarding fanaticism that was sweeping the nation. He spearheaded the movement that pushed snowboarding from a derelict sport to the forefront of the Olympic games and into the American mainstream. Through stories of his wild experiences on tour, blow-by-blow details of his most famous victories (and most crushing defeats), and more than one hundred photos, Todd relates the story of his life, the history of his sport, and what it's like to be one of its biggest stars.

Here's an awesome story about a guy who started out like a lot of us, just stoked to skate sketchy ramps with friends...but who transformed himself into the top Snowboard Genius somehow. The tales of his formative years are epic, piss-your-pants funny at times. Then once the career starts taking off, a testament to how working your butt off at something (wiring mind blowing tricks) can bring great things, even to a down-to-earth guy from humble beginnings like the rest of us. It is also very interesting to hear about dealing with the industry side of snowboarding from someone who's been there since almost the beginning. Like David Robinson and the Spurs, this book chronicles how nice guys can and do finish first sometimes. We can all share the stoke reading about how TR wins tons of contests, finds fulfillment in life, gets the pretty girl, all without selling out and/or becoming a cocky bastard like so many seem to.

And the pictures, pure sweetness! They're a top-notch complement to the text throughout and really help tell TR's story. From bravely included photos of the awkward pre-teen and teen years where he was an undersized Star Wars junky with a bad haircut to well-shot professional sequences in the pipe, there are tons of stellar images. One thing that comes to mind after looking over the photos: TR definitely could have made it as a professional skater too, no doubt about it. And the moves he's still pulling on skate and snowboard into his 30's will blow minds.

I started reading this book one night where I needed to get to bed early due to an important meeting the next day. Did I get to bed early? Hell no. Stayed up until I'd dusted almost 200 pages! And I could have read it straight through...it is hands-down that good, but the need to be coherent at my a.m. meeting the next day intervened. Bottom line: Buy it now, you'll be glad you did - whether you're a "grown-up", a stoked kid, a surfer/skater/or snowboarder, armchair X-Gamer...whatever.