Figure Skating: A Celebration

by Beverley Smith

Book Overview

An award-winning sportswriter traces the history of each of the four disciplines of competitive figure skating--Women's, Men's, Pairs, and Ice Dancing--and looks at the sport's development and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0771081057
• ISBN13: 9780771081057
• Release Date: October 1995
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
• Length: 298 Pages
• Weight: 2.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 9.2" x 10.8"

Customer Reviews

THE best skating coffee table book out there....

If you are a skater or an educated fan of skating, this is the definitive skating book that should be the centerpiece of your skating book collection. A+!

Great History of the Sport!

I own many, many skating books and this one by far contains the best overall history of skating. If you are a relatively new fan of the sport, you should definitely include it in your collection! It is also the least biased of the general 'coffee table' skating books -- although it is obvious that every skating author has their favorites, I never felt that Smith at any point in the book was forcing her opinions on the reader. Overall, a TERRIFIC book that should be mandatory in all "History of Skating 101" classes! :)

Wonderful, Objective Presentation of All Skaters!

I re-read this book after paging through the ludicrously biased Inside Figure Skating and found it once again to be a wonderful breath of fresh air. True, the author seems to spotlight more Canadian skaters than most other books, but unlike books like Inside Figure Skating, Smith presents each skater she profiles objectively and equally. I enjoy reading this book every few months or so, as it is a great refresher on the history's sport. My only complaint is that the copy of the book I have does not feature prominent skating stars of today -- I do hope to see Beverly Smith write another book soon featuring more of the skaters on the past 3 years or so.

A very good book

I bought this book for my birthday and like it very much. I especially like the foreword written by Elvis Stojko. He shows knowledge much beyond his years.

No bias, great details, good overview of the sport

This book wasn't the best I've ever read, but it wasn't as bad as the other reviewer noted. (I didn't notice the bias he/she claimed to find.) I found it an informative, fulfilling read... not too simple, but full of figure skating details that were well-organized and easy to follow. Too many figure skating books these days are a bunch of glossy pictures and lots quotes about feelings: "When I won the gold, I felt more joy than ever before or ever since...." or "Such and such skater brings such depth and artistic quality to the ice. She's unmatched." BLECH! This book doesn't sell out so easily; it actually gives you useful information on skating: the culture and politics, the techniques and rules, the people and places, and especially, the history. I felt much more informed about skating in general after I read it.