Rating: 
Summary: Once again, Joy Goodwin knows nothing about skating.
Review: I previously wrote a review which gave this book one star. For some reason, Amazon keeps removing well-written reviews which state specific reasons why this book is not worth the paper it's written on. Amazon should be ashamed of itself for removing poor reviews. That said ... while the book has some nice pictures, that is it's only redeeming quality. It is clear that Goodwin had an agenda when writing this book - to justify the award of gold medals to the Canadians - and everything in the first part of her book sets up this agenda. It's subtle, but clearly there. While Goodwin calls this book "The Second Mark," it is clear that she has no idea what is actually judged in the presentation mark. If an author cannot be bothered to actually read the ISU's rulebook, she has no business writing a book criticizing the judging of any event. Unfortunately, casual skating fans reading this book will believe that Goodwin knows what she's writing about.
Rating:
Summary: Once again, Joy Goodwin knows nothing about skating.
Review: I previously wrote a review which gave this book one star. For some reason, Amazon keeps removing well-written reviews which state specific reasons why this book is not worth the paper it's written on. Amazon should be ashamed of itself for removing poor reviews. That said ... while the book has some nice pictures, that is it's only redeeming quality. It is clear that Goodwin had an agenda when writing this book - to justify the award of gold medals to the Canadians - and everything in the first part of her book sets up this agenda. It's subtle, but clearly there. While Goodwin calls this book "The Second Mark," it is clear that she has no idea what is actually judged in the presentation mark. If an author cannot be bothered to actually read the ISU's rulebook, she has no business writing a book criticizing the judging of any event. Unfortunately, casual skating fans reading this book will believe that Goodwin knows what she's writing about.
Rating: 
Summary: Riveting, emotionally charged
Review: I've read many books on figure skating, and this is the best one I've ever opened. From the first chapter, I was fascinated with the background of these great athletes. Joy Goodwin has obviously done her homework........and has been deeply moved by their stories. I read the entire book in 3 days, and would reccomend it to anyone who loves a great story, not just skating fans.
Rating:
Summary: The Second Mark
Review: In a word, "ponderous". This book will try the patience of even the most diehard figure skating fans. The athlete bios which make up the meat of this book are filled with so much minutiae of the skaters lives, that most readers will be tempted to skip over them, and go directly to the end of the book which deals with the Salt Lake City pairs figure skating scandal. Here there is disappointment. Goodwin can never say for sure exactly what happened with the judging because there was never a full investigation, so this book leaves a lot up in the air. Goodwin does give the impression that the second gold medals were fair, and comes off, as she has through much of the book, as being biased in favor of the Canadians. Although Goodwin claims she interviewed a plethora of people from the skating world for this book, many of the quotes she uses directly relating to the scandal are recycled quotes coming from other interviews we have already seen on TV or read in the paper. There is nothing new here, and no true resolution to the story. Unless you are interested in an overly detailed account of the athletes lives, and in some cases their parent's lives, their coach's lives, their coach's coach's lives, and a brief history of the USSR and China, skip this book.
Rating:
Summary: The Second Mark
Review: Like Seabiscuit, Friday Night Lights, and Eight Men Out, The Second Mark transcends the sports genre. The figure skating is there, all right, but so is the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the lost generation of Mao's Cultural Revolution, a little boy carrying a bedboard down flights of stairs to use as a pingpong table, and a Chinese girl skating by candlelight in a deserted, late night ice rink. In both large strokes and small details, the book takes you, not only into the lives of the six medalists in the Olympics pairs skating competition, but into the cultures from which you cannot separate them. It is an amazing story that unfolds, even if you thought you knew it. Beautifully written and seen--Joy Goodwin's writing is worthy of the story and that is high praise. I loved this book!
Rating:
Summary: Sportswriting at its finest.
Review: Ms Goodwin's book once again proves that the best writing about sport depends little on the actual sport, but rather on the character and background of the athletes pursuing the goal. To be sure, there is plenty for ice skating affecionados to enjoy. But, in truth, the book could have just as easily told the story of six world class athletes pursuing archery's ultimate prize. For Ms. Goodwin's rendering of the respective backgrounds, both personal and cultural, of each skater and coach are so fascinating and well-realized that the reader ultimately cares not about the sport itself, but about the people competing. The book offers a plethora of vivid descriptions and amazing tales of will, but I was, in particular, most affected by Ms. Goodwin's portrayal of Shen Xue, her father, and Harbin. Her father is a tragically representative figure of China's lost generation; and she indefatigable and endearing. The reader cannot help but to be moved, and greatly impressed by the obstacles they (and the entire Chinese skating program) have overcome. However, it is not until Ms. Goodwin's wonderful epilogue that the reader fully realizes the extent to which she has been indelibly touched by Ms. Goodwin's efforts in telling the story of the Chinese--efforts which reveal a real affection for the persons portrayed. The final pages are, indeed, story-telling at its finest. I am, by no means an ice skating fan. In fact, I have yet to see the 2002 Olympic event the book is ostensibly about. It mattered not. Ms. Goodwin's narrative was compelling and affecting. I would recommend this book to anyone--and have.
Rating:
Summary: compelling drama behind the scenes
Review: The biographical information about the three pairs is what makes the book so intensely readable. The Olympic controversy was well-covered but not very exciting. What the skaters, especially the Chinese, have endured to get where they are is almost unbelievable.
Rating:
Summary: A book that transcends skating, for fans and everyone else
Review: THE SECOND MARK is a wonderful example of how good, solid reporting can transform a nonfiction book into a page-turner. This is a meticulously-researched account of the 2002 Olympic pairs competition. If you thought you knew all about it, think again. The story spans three continents and four decades, Communism and capitalism. I am so impressed by the stories of these people, which are so beautifully told. I never wanted the book to end. And I especially appreciated how hard the author tried to represent the points of view of so many different cultures.
The author gives you a chance to really appreciate what every pair offers. She points out that the Russians might easily have won even if the judging hadn't been biased-it wasn't a lock for the Canadians, as was so widely reported. The Chinese were consistently underscored over the years. The Canadians' perspective, which we all have heard, is presented in a fresh way, too. This is a serious book by a fine writer. I recommend it wholeheartedly.
TJ
Long Island, NY
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting background, somewhat lacking on the scandal
Review: This book tells the well-known story of the vote-trading scandal in the pairs figure skating at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, where the Canadians were awarded a second set of gold medals. While this book opens on the night of the pairs final, much of the book is interesting background on the three skating pairs who would medal at the 2002 Games, and their coaches, parents, and others of significance to them. This is new material to most, as figure skating is one of those sports which to the average person only seems to surface every four years, but here we see the skaters progress from the provincial rinks where they started to the big time. I found somewhat disquieting (having attended the pairs final in Salt Lake) the tone of the book as it goes blow by blow through the night of the pairs final--making the claim that the crowd was unanimously on the Canadian side, and booed the marks (the second mark, which forms the title, and determined, initially, the gold medal, is for artistic merit) unmercifully. I remember some boos, some puzzlement (how many of the heavily corporate crowd really understood figure skating?), and some cheers, enchanting as the crowd found the Canadian pair. I suspect that Goodwin is indulging in a little history rewriting in a book which will be read primarily in North America, and little noted in Russia or China. Goodwin uses such phrases as "justice was done" about what was, after all, a very close decision, 5-4 including the disputed, and ultimately disqualified, French vote. A second difficulty with the book is that it really breaks little new ground on the scandal. You learn little more than the reader motivated to buy this book could have learned from the many articles which appeared in the weeks and months following the Olympics. It is a good read for human understanding of the six skaters. But it makes clear that there are more questions unanswered than answered, and it gets us little closer to the answers.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This is one of the best books I have read so far this year. It is extremely well-written and I could not put it down. I am not a huge ice skating fan, but this book made me go the library to search for tapes of the 2002 Winter Olympics pairs competition. The greatest thing about this book is the background stories of the six pairs this book focuses on. The story of the Chinese skaters alone is amazing. The dedication to the sport these pairs maintained is jaw dropping. Usually reading nonfiction is a bit plodding for me, but this book just zips right along! Do not hesitate to buy it!!
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