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Rating: 
Summary: Gymnastics: The Trials, The Triumphs, The Truth
Review: As a former gymnast of fourteen years and an avid fan of the sport, I must say that this is the worst book on gymnastics I have ever read in my life. The author seems to have little in-depth knowledge of the sport and certain sections of the book, e.g., the sections on Bela Karolyi and the risks of gymnastics, seem suspiciously similar to two other books, Bela Karolyi's "Feel No Fear" and Joan Ryan's "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes." It's as if he summarized their work to make chapters for his book! Also, he fails to present the whole story when speaking of certain events that have taken place in gymnastics over the years, which may be misleading to the uneducated reader. In discussing Julissa Gomez, he tells you that she fell on her head doing the vault, fell into a coma, and died three years later. What he failed to tell you was that she wasn't in a coma following the vault; injured, yes, but in a coma, no. While in the hospital her breathing tube fell out and she was unable to get any oxygen; this led to the coma. All in all, this is not a great book. If you want to know about the sport, try "Feel No Fear: The Passion, Power, and Politics of a Life in Gymanstics" by Bela Karolyi; "A History of Women's Gymnastics" by Minot Simons II; or, for a look at the darker side of the sport, "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes" by Joan Ryan. At the end of the book, the author said that someone asked him what qualifications he has to write a book on gymnastics. He said none. Well, he should have stopped right there!
Rating:
Summary: Gymnastics: The Trials, The Triumphs, The Truth
Review: I thought that the book was excellent! It was very well written and it covered a lot of important and interesting things. I would've rated this book at 5 star, but I heard that in a short story about a girl that died because her head slammed into the vault and her neck snapped, then she went into a coma and died, the author didn't mention that when she was in the hospitol her air tube came out and they couldn't put it back in, and that's what made her go into a coma ( and as a result die) that made me angry because I expect the REAL facts when I read a book.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good Book
Review: This was an okay book, though it probably could have been better. The book includes a history of the sport, its first superstars, the gymnastics events, judging and scoring, a day in the life of a gymnast, superstars of the 1990s, a chapter about the dangers of the sport, (more on that later) a timeline of important gymnastics dates, and trivia and facts. The book is a little dated and could use some updating, and the chapter that dissapointed me a lot was the chapter about "the price of success". Dan Gutman fails to mention that these things don't happen in every sport. He also fails to point out that he is talking about the ELITE level of gymnastics. Anyone who has read "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes" will see that Gutman's source for the ENTIRE chapter was based upon that book! Dan Gutmnan used the same exact information just with different wording! That chapter clearly does not fit in with the rest of the book, which says nothing of the dark side of these sports. If you want to buy this book, I would say save your money and buy a different book- this one isn't the best.
Rating: 
Summary: wow amazing!
Review: wow I thought the book thoughlly explained
this graceful and dynamic sport> I recommend this
book to any fan or gymnast.Some people may not agree
with my comments or rating but hey, thats
there opoinion!I am a competitive gymnast and that is
probably why I enjoyed the book so much!
Rating:
Summary: wow amazing!
Review: wow I thought the book thoughlly explained
this graceful and dynamic sport> I recommend this
book to any fan or gymnast.Some people may not agree
with my comments or rating but hey, thats
there opoinion!I am a competitive gymnast and that is
probably why I enjoyed the book so much!
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