Inside Edge: A Revealing Journey into the Secret World of Figure Skating by Christine Brennan

Inside Edge: A Revealing Journey into the Secret World of Figure Skating Reviews

• 
  Kimber

  This book was a dream come true for me. It covers the nineties in figure skating--the times I used to watch. It even cuts out right when I began to abandon the sport--the rise of Tara Lipinsky, and the increasingly cut-throat competitiveness that has tarnished the sport. I haven't returned to it, but this was a nice treat to kind of recapture that time. I only wish it was more complete than Brennan has given. Here is (snippets really) of the rise and fall of Tonia Harding, the ambiguity of Nancy Kerrigan, the dark side of Nicole Bobek, (who actually became a drug dealer--not covered in this book) the artistry of Oksana Baiul and the controversial judging process (judges did not get instant replay in their decisions (!). Tonia Harding was a world class skater, but I would agree with the author that her self-destructiveness trips her up. Kerrigan's long program was superior to Baiul, but B won due to her greater artistry. That was my call also when I saw the Olympic games of that time. Katarina Witt, the German skater, is my favorite, and she was like a ballerina in her artistic development. She had a degree of competiveness, of watching others skate in person rather from the camera in the green room, just to psych them out. Michelle Kwan was disciplined but young and without a mature artistry. There were so many others she could have added. This was such an exciting time in the sport and another thing that translated on the screen was the camaraderie of the group. Many skaters lived close by, or had relationships or were roommates. Brennan writes this like a novel, but she unfortunately doesn't give enough and many parts were lacking in interest. More could have also been said about Harding, but I feel she didn't like her very much.
  
  I understand the nature of sports is competition, but it's also its drawback. With the rise of Lipinsky, more of the focus was on the technical merit easier to do in your youth, less and less on the art of it. One sentence says it all, "For her thirteenth birthday, Tara Lipinsky got an agent."
• 
  Tatiana

  A few days ago, I was rummaging around the basement for items to include in our upcoming garage sale when I happened upon my baby book. Tucked inside the cover were two ticket stubs: one from Disneyland, the other from Campbell’s Soups 1992 Tour of World Figure Skating Champions. Finding this was a coincidence since I was at the same time reading about the inception of the professional show in Inside Edge, which covers the goings-on of the skating world in the mid-80s to mid-90s. It also confirmed what I already knew: I’ve been a figure skating fan for practically my whole life.
  
  So many of the events and moments discussed within this editorial assemblage are vivid to me, my young age when they originally occurred notwithstanding. The Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding saga. The consistency of Nicole Bobek’s inconsistency. The beginning of the Michelle Kwan era. Fascinating to note were the projected stars, a hit-or-miss enterprise equivalent to consulting a crystal ball. Sure Sydne Vogel won the 1995 U.S. Junior title, but who remembers her now? The general public is more likely to recognize the then twelve-year-old whom Vogel beat: future Olympic champion Tara Lipinski. As Audrey Weisiger pointed out, “Skating is a slippery sport.”
  
  Even though this was written fifteen years ago, Christine Brennan’s behind-the-scenes look at the sport is timeless. Then as now, there are feuds over judging; the triple axel is still an illusive golden ticket, for men and women alike; the instability of pairs teams in the U.S. is par for the course; and there will always be a battle between the teenage jumping beans and the mature artists. Brennan’s observation of my favorite discipline: “Ice dancing is peculiar. The best moves are almost always illegal, but the great thing is, no one actually is certain of that.” As funny as it is true.
  
  There have been beneficial strides. Gone are the days of “holding up” or “holding down” skaters in an informal pecking order thanks to the pair’s controversy in Salt Lake City which spurred an imperfect though improved overhaul of the judging system. Stricter set values for skills and greater emphasis on the artistic presentation force judges to rank competitors based solely on how well they complete elements. But don’t get me started on the institution of the replay system.
  
  I loved reading about Janet Lynn, the most joyful of figure skaters, a long program aficionado, hampered from achieving Olympic and Worlds eternal glory by those infuriating old-school figures. (The pros and cons of mandatory figures remains a debate to this day, at least in my house.) The likes of Lynn, Tina Noyes, and other also-rans lead lives of relative obscurity compared to the champions in whose shadows they always dwelled.
  
  Saddest to look back on were those whom the sport has lost in recent years, such as legendary coach Carlo Fassi to a heart attack and choreographer Brian Wright to complications from AIDS. Perhaps most aching was reviewing the highs and lows of tortured Christopher Bowman, all with the foreknowledge of his tragic passing in 2008. Bowman was one in the long line of Frank Carroll’s talented skaters who could never put everything together to win the ultimate prize of Olympic gold. Amidst Linda Fratianne and Kwan, who would have ever guessed Evan Lysacek would be the first to pull it off?
  
  As I lamented with
  Edge of Glory, I wish Brennan had continued to write about figure skating into the new decade. Though it’s worth mentioning that the internet has taken partial ownership of her niche; the personal and training lives of today’s top skaters are often scarily accessible. I sometimes wonder if fans mistake them for reality TV stars.
  
  This was an engrossing, enlightening read that, along with the chance discovery of a faded ticket stub, stirred up a flurry of memories I relished revisiting.
  
• 
  Shari

  Brennan has so much bias, she could be a skating judge. Oh, I’m sorry, did I say that out loud?
  
  I was expecting the traditional “good, dedicated girls” vs “bad-but-gifted girls” discourse, and Brennan delivered. I was not expecting an undercurrent of tension between the gay and straight men involved in skating, but she delivered that too, plus the standard BS rhetoric about artistry, costumes, and so forth. I went into this expecting ice dance to be ignored--or, if not ignored, insulted and/or undervalued (to be fair, ice dance was weird in the 90’s, so maybe I'm not that mad about it after all). I was not expecting pairs skating largely to be ignored also.
  
  Maybe this book was “revealing” in the 90’s, but there’s nothing in it to shock a casual fan of skating in this day and age. In fact, the major themes of the book are things we see again and again in the present day: the obsession with quads; jumps as the make-or-break elements of a routine; the concern over a convoluted points system (since changed, but barely improved) and rigged judging; the disconcerting knowledge that stars rise and fall based entirely on chance and circumstance; skaters giving the performance of the night and walking away without even a medal.
  
  This book is twenty years old and all it does is show how the more things change, the more they stay the same.
• 
  Jenn

  Wow, could the author have taken a more patronizing tone?!
• 
  Madeline

  Brennan gets points for this being a read easy on the eyes - the writing is very straightforward and it's appropriate for the subject. The information she provides is interesting and hard to come by. BUT: she includes in the afterword her derision for the US Figure Skating Association complaining about her book and biased reporting but her writing is indeed biased.
  
  While she's not homophobic per se and seems sympathetic to skaters and others in the skating world suffering from AIDS, she's also sympathetic to the fears of being perceived as feminine or gay by straight male skaters, and their discomfort about being around gay men in the skating world, highlighting for them their supposed superior masculinity. I suppose this is a byproduct of her being a mainstream journalist of the 90s, but it also can't be called unbiased.
  
  Her dislike of Tonya Harding is also apparent. She provides some notable details of mistakes that Harding undeniably made that contributed to the downfall of her career (such as keeping in the triple axel in her 92 Olympic short program) but also takes cheap shots like poking fun at her asthma. Then, in a later chapter, she praises Brian Boitano for doing the same thing she criticized Harding for: going against the wishes of the judges. Boitano was able to persevere and Harding was not, but factors in the lives of the two skaters beyond themselves influenced those outcomes (for instance, Boitano seemed to have better coaching and a more stable family life). There were several instances such as this throughout the book: for example, both Harding and Katarina Witt have a dress come unhooked at some point during their careers; Harding's incident is suggested to be on purpose and Witt is defended. On the other side, a clear bias exists for Nancy Kerrigan: it was difficult for me to tell if Brennan was being sarcastic when she described Kerrigan taking on many appearances and commercial details whilst saying the poor girl never wanted any of the attention. Sadly, I don't think she was, and the question remains as to why Kerrigan took on said appearances whilst claiming that she just wants to be normal. (As in the case of Janet Lynn, another skater briefly discussed in the book, a famous skater who wants to disappear can certainly hide from cameras and turn down appearances.)
  
  She's also clearly in the camp of the American judges. She reports on but is uncritical of the body weight and shape standards in figure skating, accepts at face value when judges claim that a skater's ethnicity does not factor into their judging, and defends the US judges' decision in the 1993 Ladies' Nationals to rank skaters based on lifestyle as much as their skating that night. Instead, she devotes a chapter to praising the warmth and caring the judges have for the skaters they watch, their pain when they see a skater fall, whilst glossing over in later chapters behavior like holding skaters up or down or telling them to lose weight.
• 
  Ben

  So this one is the earlier of the Christine Brennan figure skating books, and it's mainly about the 1994 Olympic quadrenium.
  
  Talks mostly about Oksana Baiul, Michelle Kwan, and pre-emptively snarks on Tara Lipinski because her parents and agent and coaches touted her to be such hot shit early on.
  
  And yes, this one, even 4 years earlier than the last, also goes on and on about Michael Weiss's manliness.
  
  Dude, a soul patch and a sequined blue button-up shirt that rides up your chest when you swivel your hips in jeans that are cutting in to your taint is *not* manly.
• 
  Becky Harris

  It's all about the fluff this week. I'll start reading real literature again soon, but for now I'm reliving the glory days of figure skating and making no apologies.
• 
  Melissa

  Currently re-reading in celebration of the Olympic season. It is interesting to note that Brennan's writing/style was actually better in this edition than the Edge of Glory, the "sequel" that covered the '98 Olympics. Interesting to rehash all the hate for the 6.0 judging system in light of the fresh hate for IJS. The bright light that was to be Tara Lipinski who turned out to be a flash in the pan, and the AIDS epidemic that was, at the height of the 90s, a very serious health crisis in male figure skating. Even revisiting the "spirited" Nicole Bobeck - who 'da thought?
  
  I had forgotten the chapter on Christopher Bowman and it's eerie to read the foreshadowing of his ultimate self-destruction. He acknowledged he was a screwup and addict, yet refused to take action to combat his demons. As a fan who eventually became actively involved in the sport, I have had run-ins with Bowman and it was sad to see the star falling.
  
  It was also a fun look back at the rise of Michelle Kwan, when no one had an inkling of the legend she would eventually become. You forget after 9 national titles, 2 Olympic medals and 5 world titles that she was once the little girl with the ponytail that came in second. I don't think of myself as a Kwaniac, but what a treasure to the sport she was.
  
  Overall, the book was very entertaining, although I find the "secret" world moniker not so secret, not so shocking. I find some of Brennan's commentary snide, as if she had hung around a group of teenage novice skaters a tad too long.
• 
  Stephanie

  This book was not quite what I originally expected. It read a bit like gossip. But the material was very interesting and there was quite a bit of the story behind certain skaters' lives. I do wish she had looked a bit more at international skaters than it did, as it did focus more often on American skaters, and on the few international skaters of great interest to Americans (Katarina Witt, Oksana Baiul). It did touch on some other skaters, but it didn't get into nearly the depth as it did of the American skaters. I don't necessarily think this is bad - - the skaters featured definitely deserved the praise and focus she gave - - and I suppose that the scope of the book did need to have a narrowing to really get into the detail it did. But I think it should have said "American" at some point in the title.
  
  I like that she doesn't hold back any punches - if someone didn't deserve what they got, or did deserve what they didn't get, she has no qualms about saying so. But she definitely gives credit where she feels credit is due, so it doesn't feel like she preferred certain skaters - it does come across very objective.
  
  The only criticism I'd give the author/publisher, if she decides to either add a new addition or write a similar updated book, is to add the list of Olympic, World, and maybe National winners as an appendix. I kept finding myself looking them up, or wanting to.
  
  All in all, I think the book delivers what it sets out to do, and I did enjoy it.
• 
  Dysmonia Kuiper

  I had fun with this book, because I watched figure skating with my mom when I was growing up, and those are fond memories I enjoy now that she has passed. The years I was a fan are pretty much the same ones chronicled in Inside Edge, so it was a treat to be reminded of names I'd forgotten, competitions that were huge back in the day, and all those evenings spent in front of network television with Mom, eating her homemade chocolate chip cookies and rooting for the same skaters.
  
  I didn't learn as much about the industry as one would think, based on the title -- I didn't find the book particularly "revealing." Other than the process of "holding up" a skater (giving her marks based on past performances and even things seen in practice sessions, thus allowing a favorite to win even if she fucks up her program during the actual competition -- something I think I was blind to because most of the time it benefited the athletes I liked, and I was apparently a naive child), I don't feel I was informed of that many secrets. I suppose I also learned there was an AIDS epidemic in figure skating, which I should have guessed but didn't because it seemed too stereotypical. I honestly didn't think *that* many male skaters are/were gay, but I guess I was wrong.
  
  If you watched figure skating in the nineties, particularly men's and women's singles, this book is a fun trip down memory lane.
• 
  N

  Inside Edge is a solid piece of sports journalism that uncovers the politics and plain oddness involved in competitive figure skating. Christine Brennan weaves technical detail into an engaging people-driven narrative, making the book an enjoyable, 'crossover' read that anyone could pick up.
  
  However, it must be noted that Brennan's 'real job' as a newspaper reporter shows in the book. Inside Edge is very fragmentary: we get bits and pieces about a number of male and female skaters, ones that made it and ones that didn't, but the book lacks any real structure or overall cohesion.
  
  Disappointingly, pairs skaters and ice dancers get short shrift, crammed together in the final chapter and lacquered with a coat of "lol, don't really care" on the author's part.
  
  Written in the 1990s, Inside Edge is understandably dated. Not so much that it's not enjoyable, but it does make -- for example -- the long indictment of the (since revised) scoring system irrelevant.
  
  I also genuinely can't believe Brennan's persistent tendency toward passive voice snuck by any editor. Shaaaaame.
• 
  Kimberly Mcclune

  Written by a sports journalist, this book had all the earmarks of a well researched document. However, don't think for one minute that this makes the book boring or an unexciting read. Brennan does a wonderful job of bringing figure skatings best loved and most difficult talents to life as well as important competitions and performances.
  
  I was hesitant to read this because it was recommended as a book that goes inside the judging and lifestyles of well known figure skaters. I have always liked the fact that I didn't know ALL the insider stuff about skating. My family has been involved in figure skating since I was a very young child. My mother was a judge for a number of years and my family all took lessons. My father was even in senior ice dancing competitions for several years.
  
  We also have the right to claim that we know several olympic champions, even if only as acquaintances or former classmates.
  
  This was a thoroughly engaging and enjoyable read for me and should be for anyone interested in or a fan of figure skating.
• 
  Jo Oehrlein

  A little dated (Tara Lipinski was 12 and Michelle Kwan 14 in the last scenes of the book), the book was best in its chapters on Brian Boitano (mostly told from his coach’s point of view), Peggy Fleming, and Janet Lynn. She points out that the whole move-away-from-home to skate thing isn’t new with Tara Lipinski. The book was written at the height of TVs infatuation with professional skating events, and she didn’t seem to particularly like Dick Button. There was good insight into how skaters are promoted by skating officials to judges from other countries, how getting an agent changes things, and how dropping school figures helped some skaters and hurt others. Her take on the Tonya/Nancy conflict is well-balanced and she takes pains to show both girls as they are when they’re not in public. An interesting read.
• 
  Becky

  Journalist Christine Brennan provided what is probably the most comprehensive insider look at competitive figure skating in existence. She covers everything from the early days of skating, with participants like Dick Button and Janet Lynn, through about 1997, which is when the afterword was added. It covers the athletes I remember from watching the Olympics as a kid (Nancy Kerrigan, Tonya Harding, Oksana Baiul, Scott Hamilton, Rudy Galindo, etc.). My only wish is that there was perhaps an updated edition with the figure skaters of now.
  
  So even though I didn't know of many of the skaters featured in the book, I found it fascinating. Brennan certainly does not shy away from the controversies, like the attack on Nancy Kerrigan, the subjective judging, the legal troubles of both Tonya Harding and Nicole Bobek, and much more. Any figure skating fan would lean a lot from reading this.
• 
  Lennie

  Although figure skaters aren't known to take steroids there is some sabotage that goes on to get the upper edge (damaging the blades of your competitor's skates or wacking their knees so they can't jump, etc.) In this book, the author reveals the ugly side of this sport in a way that's straight forward. It was a good book and despite all the negativity, I still believe that figure skating is one of the most beautiful sports there is.
• 
  Surreysmum

  This book was much maligned amongst figure skating fans for its heightened, occasionally slightly giggly tone, and by general consensus the author did not know quite as much about figure skating as she thought she did. Nonetheless, the interviews she did, the attitudes she revealed, the anecdotes she related have passed into skating history.
• 
  Lynli

  I found this book most enlightening in regards to why the best skater and the best performance does not always win the medal. It is a very corrupt way of judging and in my opinion things need to change. I no longer look forward to watching ice skating like I did because of this book. Thank you to the author for writing this book and opening my eyes, and hopefully the eyes of others.
• 
  Allison Gleaves

  I really liked this book. I thought it was incredible how much time and effort this girls put into the sport figure skating. It was really inspirational, it makes me want to get out there and chase my dreams.
• 
  Patty Abrams

  A journalist delves into the inside story of figure skating from Peggy Fleming to Michelle Kwan and everyone inbetween. I was especially interested in the Oksana Baiul/Nancy Kerrigan competition at the Olympics and the explanation of their scores.
• 
  Colleen Rue

  An exellent book for the figure skating fan!!!I loved it!!!!
• 
  Kirsten

  Dated and definitely American, but a good overview of a certain era of figure skating.
• 
  Lazycatfarm

  Old news but interesting. Ice skating judges are hideous cheats.
• 
  codenamerogue

  I have two conflicting emotions when I watch figure skating. It takes my breath away. And it cracks me up.
  
  A lot of really interesting stuff here, no question, especially for me as a fan who came up in the IJS era, but the book overall did feel somewhat scattered and unfocused as a whole.