Edge of Glory: The Inside Story of the Quest for Figure Skatings Olympic Gold Medals (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The author of Inside Edge updates the behind-the-scenes saga of professional figure skating to include the results of the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Beginning with the 1997 U.S. championships in Nashville, Brennan chronicles the ambitions, achievements, frustrations, and personal hurdles for the American skaters in a pivotal year that culminated with the Olympics. The year's drama is palpable, including highlights such as the competition between the two top-rated women, Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski, along with the ever-increasing athleticism of the men. Along the way Brennan makes detours to check up on recent favorites from the past such as Tonya Harding, Nancy Kerrigan, Oksana Baiul, Brian Boitano, and Scott Hamilton. And always rinkside are the stories of coaches, choreographers, parents, and fans who have transformed figure skating into one of the world's fastest-growing professional sports.

From Library Journal

From an ABC/ESPN sports reporter, this espose will include 1998 Olympic results.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (April 6, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684841282
• ISBN-13: 978-0684841281
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,887,018 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I've Read It 4 Times Already! Wonderfully Written Book., November 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Edge of Glory: The Inside Story of the Quest for Figure Skating's Olympic Gold Medals (Paperback)

This book is a great commentary of the 1997-1998 season, as well as a chronicle of all the events that led up to the season AND the Olympics. It's an easy read, and even though most readers know the outcomes of the events she describes before they read the book, seeing them from the perspective she presents makes you feel as if you're seeing them for the first time. Most specifically, there is a wonderful chapter about Alexei Urmanov which opened my eyes to this skater's life as well as what it is truly like to skate in modern Russia today. The only thing missing is any commentary on the controversy-ridden ice dance competition at the 1998 Olympics -- hopefully we'll see this in Ms. Brennan's next book (which I am looking forward to and am hoping is coming out very soon!)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars poorly written and researched, but engrossing, May 16, 1998

By A Customer

This disjointed narrative covers the 1997-98 skating season ending with the Nagano Olympics, with some description of 1996 as well. Ms. Brennan covers her time frame chronologically, but jumps from describing one skater to the next with little or no transistion. Despite using numerous quotations and paraphrasing, she apparently sees no need for footnotes, which seriously damages her credibility. The reader gets the distinct impression that much of the book is based on rumor, rather than the careful research required from a journalist.

In addition to the credibility problems, her style is disturbing. She seems to go out of her way to focus on the negative characteristics of just about every skater discussed. Tara Lipinsky gets the lion's share of criticism, but Michelle Kwan and her father are victims as well. The only skater who comes off sympathetically is 1994 Olympic Gold Medalist Alexei Urmanov. Each of the 10 or more skaters described gets dinged for something!

However, human nature being what it is, there is an attraction in reading rumor and inuendo. This is a book that should be taken with a large grain of salt, maybe a whole salt shaker, in fact, but it is engrossing. Skating fans should skip the parts about their favorite skaters and read the parts about the ones they don't like!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brennan is excellent and well-informed, June 13, 2000

By	"cs_lee" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Edge of Glory: The Inside Story of the Quest for Figure Skating's Olympic Gold Medals (Paperback)

Brennan is well-known for her wonderful writing on figure-skating. I for one like Brennan because she always has great things to say about Michelle Kwan and this book is no exception. I learned so much about some figure skaters from this book, especially on the men's side. It's truthful and very informative and written superbly. It is obviously non-fiction, yet at times it tells like a story, including dialogue between characters. I like that because it was entertaining to read it as if it were a story, but you know that all of it is true. I also enjoyed how Brennan didn't write about one skater, then move onto the next, then next, etc, like a chapter per skater. All the skaters' stories were intertwined so the book wasn't predictable at all. Instead, the chapters were divided by time periods-- before 1998, on the road to 1998, etc... Every die-hard figure skating fan should get their hands on this, esp die-hard Michelle Kwan fans like myself!