Customer Reviews

INSIDE EDGE: A Revealing Journey Into the Secret World of Figure Skating

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Christine Brennan is an exceptional writer, as this book is proof. As an avid figure skating fan, I expected 'Inside Edge' to be full of skating secrets and inside info, and it delivered. Wonderful tidbits from skating now and then. And the unusual scoring process of this sport was explained in full detail. I've read it twice, and I still want to read it more. Skating fans--this book is a MUST HAVE!!!!

Christine Brennan put her Nothwestearn Journalism School education to good use. I was especially moved by the following passage:
"Tonya Harding possessed more raw jumping talent than almost any of them. More than Kerrigan, Oksana Baiul, Michelle Kwan, Nicole Bobek, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Kristi Yamaguchi, {or} Sonja Henie. Harding had it all."
I never heard such words applied to Tonya Harding before this book. I also didn't know before this book that Nancy Kerrigan wasn't well liked.
This book clearly shows that talent even unusual talent or skill doesn't compensate for hard work. If Tanya Harding had practiced and stayed in shape, she could have been famous instead of infamous!

When I first saw this book, I expected it to be a "Little Girls In Pretty Boxes" -type bashing of the sport. As I began to read I realized it was nothing of the sort. You can tell the author really knows and loves the sport. Reading "Inside Edge " is like being a fly on the shoulder of several top skaters. Christine Brennan writes like she was talking to you!

My daughter, a figure skating coach, and I are on our 3rd copy: people keep borrowing this book and keeping it!

Brennan does a fine job debunking the "pretty girls in pink" myth about skaters, while still showing respect for the amount of effort and athleticism necessary to succeed in this sport. It's been said that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did - only backwards and in high heels. Well, figure skaters do everything other elite athletes do, backwards/forwards and in the air while maintaining an illusion of fragility. Brennan recognizes that dichotomy, which is why this is such a good book.

If you know skating from the inside, elite or simply local, you will recognize much of what she talks of. If you enjoy politics, read this for incredibly sharp double dealing and backstabbing. But always, read it for the beauty she evokes.

This book contains a lot of unsubstantiated gossip about skaters, and the author has apparent biases towards, and against, specific skaters, but it gives a very insiteful view of the insides of the skating world. It is well written and very interesting, and I recommend it highly to anyone interested or participating in competitive skating.

This book is a seminal skating book, EVERYONE I know in skating has read it and has their own opinions about what it contains. It's a must read.

I truly enjoyed Ms. Brennan's portrayal of figure skating. Having grown up in the sport I am often disappointed with the very narrow and superficial view depicted on television. In her well researched account, Ms. Brennan managed to capture the essence of the sport without exploiting or oversimplifying it. It brought back vivid and fond memories.

I though the book was very informative. It gave alot of "backstage" stories, fans never hear or see. However, I felt that the book was VERY one sided. Sometimes it completely ignored the other side of the story, for example when describing the entire Kerrigen/Oksana battle, i felt that she clearly showed that she was on the side of kerrigen, I felt she should have remained in between, a foolish reader would easily be turned to what she wrote, and take it as complete facts, because thats the way I felt she was writing, like it was a fact that kerrigen was better, and that simply is not true. Aside from that I felt the book was strong, I recommend it.

Journalist Christine Brennan takes fans of this sport behind the scenes for a brutal but truthful look at a sport known as much for its glitter as its athleticism. Brennan exposes it all, from the pressure of competition to the facades perpetuated by an antiquated skating federation. Using real interviews with the figure skating's top athletes, Brennan covers tragedy and triumph with unbiased professionalism. Highly recommend for skaters and fans of figure skating

If you want to know it all about figure skating, well, here's the book for you! It struck me as sort of gossipy, though. But there's lots of info that I'd never seen before (and believe me, I read whatever I can about skating) and it REALLY goes into the lives of popular skaters. A good book for anyone who wants to be in the know.

I am a figure skater.Ms.Brennan really showed how the sport is.The sacrifices amd the joys.Not all teenage figure skaters are anorexic and depressed!I would reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys skating.