Skate Talk: Figure Skating in the Words of the Stars

Rating:
Summary: An Engaging Read!
Review: I bought this book on the recommendation of friends and I'm glad I did -- it's a wonderful look inside skating though the words of the skaters and skating community themselves, with very little editorial commentary. The stories are easy to follow and really bring a different perspective into the wins, losses, triumphs and tragedies the skating world has gone through over the past half century. I enjoyed all the stories in the book except for one, where a couple of hockey players discuss power skating. Normally I wouldn't care one way or the other about it except that one of them pretty much trashes the sport of figure skating in a statement he makes, and I question the inclusion of this in a book aimed at figure skaters and fans (who akready have to hear stuff like this enough as it is!) But this is a minor quibble. Skip the hockey player story and you'll be fine. :)

Rating:
Summary: The year's best!
Review: I have read a lot of figure skating books published this year and last and this unpretentious, soft cover book is the best. It is a series of oral essays by skaters, coaches, commentators and officials. Those interviewed, some famous, some not, talk about everything from skating as Mickey Mouse for Disney, to what it is like to come and train in the US. from Russia, to some of the dramatic, tragic stories of this little world as the death of Sergei Grinkov. Mr. Milton must be a good interviewer because he draws out the skaters and others in the book so that they provide real insight and emotion to the subject. And we see their love for their sport on every page. This book has more content than any of the flashy, coffee table books produced recently. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: one of the best figure skating books availiable
Review: This book is a collection of interviews with some of the world's top skaters. The choice of champions included goes beyong the usual list of world titleholders and Olympic champions to stars true skating fans rarely see and would love to know more about, such as spinning phenom Lucinda Ruh.

Most of the stories are personal, giving more insight into the skaters lives than a collection of competition results and technical explanations would. For anyoe who follows figure skating, this is a must-have book.