Women on Ice: Feminist Responses to the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan Spectacle

Rating:
Summary: well-intentioned but off the mark
Review: It would've been nice to read a book like this written by people who understand the sport of figure skating, rather than just an analysis of the media coverage. This was a great opportunity to examine the grit behind the glamor of the sport, and it was wasted.

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive scholarly essays of superb social analysis
Review: This book is a collection of over a dozen essays from disparate authors (mostly women) on the Harding/Kerrigan debacle of the Winter '93-'94. Its emphasis is on the Social Analysis of what may often be referenced as a preeminent U.S. feminist issue and exercise to determine the "why it happened". As such, this book shines with countless thought provoking aspects that have references back to classic mythology and all the stuff of a consuming dissection. It blows this big media event apart discussing every aspect from dress colors, selected music scores to the class standings of these two women Olympians. If you just want a superficial book on skating, this may not be the book for you. But if you want to deconstruct the how's and why's of what makes the perverse part of human nature and society tick, with the skating included, this collection can't be beat.

Rating:
Summary: A powerful dissection of class and gender roles in skating.
Review: this collection of scholarly essays examines skating as a field by focusing on the events leading up to the 1994 Winter Olympics. The essays are thought-provoking, and cover a wide range of topics -- from the role of the media in creating a spectacle of women's bodies, to an essay on the prominent role of fairy tales and fantsy in skating. Highly recommended for skating fans and those interested in sports culture.