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

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!

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.

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!!!!

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!

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.