Customer Reviews

Brasseur & Eisler: To Catch a Dream

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The story which gives both points of view from Isabelle and Lloyd is heartfelt. Both tell of how they met and how their relationship has grown from over the years from simply a pairs skating ensemble to best friends. "Herbie" and "Freddy", as is their nicknames for each other, have written a book together that will always be named one of my favorites. Honesty is evident in the book, when they tell of their competition days, from Lloyd throwing chairs to more personal trivial tales of Isabelle throwing erasers. They do not hold back with their emotions in the book being brutally honest at times. Included in the book are tales of inside skating pranks and accidents from the days of touring. Personal triumph is also quite evident in the book when Isabelle speaks of the death of her father to Lloyd's transformation from the "bull in the chain shop" to the skater who feels the music, loud and soft. Compelling and captivating

To Catch a Dream chronicles the skating careers of one of Canada's (and indeed one of the world's) greatest pairs skaters, Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler. The reader is taken on a trip back into time reliving the lives of Brasseur and Eisler from their childhood through to their Olympic glory.

This book is certainly worth a read for fans of Brasseur and Eisler, if one can get past the grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Although the entire book is written in the first person, from the points of view of both Isabelle and Lloyd, Linda Prouse's job (and one really finds it very hard to believe she is an "award-winning writer") was to clean up what was written and make it flow smoothly and correctly. It was so disheartening for me to pick up this much-anticipated book and find grammatical errors starting in the very first paragraph. I have always been a tremendous fan of B&E's skating, and I enjoyed reading the details of their rise to the top, but please!! somebody, fix those mistakes, for they make the book very difficult to read.

Growing up in Canada, figure skating is something of a religion. Over the country's history its skaters have been extremely successful on the world stage. The long legacy of Canadian figure skating is continuously passed down to new generations of emerging stars. Brasseur and Eisler are part of that legacy. Their success in pairs figure skating has inspired a whole new crop of young Canadian skaters. their place in Canadian (and world) sporting history is secure.

So, in picking up this book, what I was hoping for was an honest and well-written portrayal of what it's like to rise to the top of a sport. I had also hoped for some inside information on B&E's lives. In one sense, I got it. The book is honest and forthcoming, the insights are fresh and entertaining.

The problem, however, is in the writing. I understand that B&E are skaters first and writers second, but who is Lynda Prouse, the third name on the cover? Lynda Prouse is supposed to be an author first and a skating fan second. Her writing is clumsy and amateurish. To Catch a Dream reads more like a dripping fan book from some outsider than a serious biography. The errors and omissions are too numerous to mention. I was extremely disappointed when I opened the book and found that two of my idols had been compromised by such a badly writen monstrosity.

I only wish B&E had told their story with a less heavy-handed third party. The Prouse influence on this book is unavoidable and it ruins an otherwise excellent idea. A real shame.

This book shows its readers the lives of two of the best pairs skaters ever. Isabelle and Lloyd talk about their lives before skating together and during the most trying times of their careers. There is also a look at what their lives are like off the ice. This book has a small tribute to Sergei Grinkov. I reccomend this book to anyone who likes figure skating or a good autobiography.

I don't understand how they demonstrated leadership qualities. What are there leadership qualities? How were they influenced by positive or negative leadership. SO someone e-mail me at amber_tara69@hotmail.com and answer my questions for me please.