It's Not About Perfect: Competing for My Country and Fighting for My Life

by Shannon Miller, Danny Peary

It's Not About Perfect is inspirational memoir of the most decorated gymnast in American history, her recovery from cancer, and her miracle pregnancy.

"When the odds were against me, I was always at my best."

When she retired at age 19, Shannon Miller did so as one of the most recognizable gymnasts in the country. The winner of seven Olympic medals and the most decorated gymnast, male or female, in U.S. history, Shannon tells a story of surviving and thriving. A shy, rambunctious girl raised in Oklahoma, Shannon fell in love with gymnastics at a young age and fought her way to the top.

In 1992 she won five Olympic medals after breaking her elbow in a training accident just months prior to the Games. Then, in 1996, a doctor advised her to retire immediately or face dire consequences if she chose to compete on her injured wrist. Undeterred, Shannon endured the pain and led her team, the "Magnificent Seven," to the first Olympic team gold medal for the United States in gymnastics. She followed up as the first American to win gold on the balance beam.

Equally intense, heroic and gratifying is the story of her brutal but successful battle with ovarian cancer, a disease from which fewer than fifty percent survive. Relying on her faith and hard-learned perseverance, Shannon battled through surgery and major chemotherapy to emerge on the other side with a miracle baby girl.

Her story of trial, triumph and life after cancer reminds us all that its life's bumps and bruises that reveal our character. From early on in her career, Shannon knew that life wasn't about perfection. In this incredible and inspirational tale, Shannon speaks out so as to be seen and heard by thousands as a beacon of hope.

Genres: Sports, Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Biography Memoir, Audiobook, Autobiography

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 21, 2015

About the author

PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
• 7 Olympic Medals: 2 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze
• 9 World Championship Medals: 5 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze
• Television Host & Personality/Web/Radio Host
(MSNBC, NBC, Comcast, WOKV, Yahoo! Sports, etc)
• Author of multiple fitness and health related books and videos
• Member of 8 Halls of Fame

PERSONAL
• Wife, Mother, Olympic Gold Medalist, Health & Fitness Advocate, Cancer Survivor

BACKGROUND
Shannon Miller remains the Most Decorated Gymnast in American History. She is the only American to rank among the Top 10 All-Time gymnasts and is the only female athlete to be inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame – Twice! (Individual (2006) and Team (2008))

Shannon has won an astounding 59 International and 49 National competition medals. Over half of these have been gold. She is the only US gymnast to win 2 World All-Around Titles and she is the first American female to medal in the individual all-around of a non-boycotted Olympics. Her tally of five medals (2 silver, 3 bronze) at the 1992 Olympics was the most medals won by a US athlete in any sport. At the ’96 Games, she led the “Magnificent Seven” to the US Women’s first ever Team Gold and for the first time for any American gymnast, she captured Gold on the Balance Beam. She is the first American gymnast to win an individual gold medal at a fully-attended Summer Games and cemented her place as the most accomplished gymnast, male or female, in U.S. Olympic history.

After retiring from Olympic competition, Shannon received her undergraduate degrees in marketing and entrepreneurship and her law degree from Boston College. She then moved from Olympic athlete to advocate for the health and wellness of women and children.

Shannon launched her company Shannon Miller Lifestyle: Health and Fitness for Women along with her series of fitness books, cookbooks and fitness DVD’s in July, 2010. She continues to travel the country as a highly sought after motivational speaker and advocate for the health and wellness of women and children. Shannon’s seeks to empower women to make their health a priority through education and awareness.

Shannon hosts her weekly talk radio show in partnership with St. Vincent’s HealthCare dedicated to health and fitness. She also worked as an expert analyst with Yahoo! Sports and commentator on NBCOlympics.com during the 2012 Summer Games and continues to remain involved with the sport of gymnastics as a commentator and analyst.

In January of 2011, Shannon was diagnosed with a malignant germ cell tumor, a rare form of ovarian cancer. She had the baseball sized tumor removed successfully and followed up with 9 weeks of chemotherapy. Shannon has remained open and public about her diagnosis and treatment and continues to empower women to make their health a priority. Shannon is currently cancer free and continues to be a strong advocate for early detection. Shannon and her husband welcomed their miracle baby girl on June 25th, 2013! Daughter Sterling joins big brother, Rocco, age four.

Shannon's new book "It's Not About Perfect" will be release on April 21, 2015! In this book Shannon discusses her gymnastics career and the lessons learned through sport that helped her through her battle with cancer. It is a heartfelt and inspiring read for anyone facing obstacles in life.

Official website: www.shannonmiller.com
Facebook @ www.facebook.com/shannonmillerOfficial
Twitter @shannonmiller96
Pinterest @pinterest.com/shannonmiller96
Instagram @shannonmiller96

Reviews

[Ashley G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was thoroughly entertaining. I was in middle school when Miller began to dominate the world of gymnastics. I took a few classes here and there and have always been a fan so the terminology was easy enough to follow. For me this was a great behind the scenes look into Miller's olympic world.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐

The first 3/4 of the book was about her gymnastics career and the last 1/4 was about her adult life and cancer diagnosis. I enjoyed hearing about her life, especially the gymnastics stuff, but everything seemed to be told/viewed through rose-colored glasses. She says she had a great relationship with her coach Steve Nunno, but that's hard to believe in today's climate (and because many others have talked about him being verbally/mentally abusive). Maybe she wasn't ready to talk about it when she wrote this, or maybe they really did have a good relationship. 🤷‍♀️

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I figured I would like it since I love sports biographies....and gymnastics has always interested me. But this was pretty brutal. Interesting it's titled "It's Not About Perfect", because it just seemed like this sunshine and rainbows narrative about her perfect life. And even when times were tough....she'd have all these great people in her life, her faith, and life lessons to get her through it. Just didn't seem completely honest. It was overly positive with a very informal writing style. And this will make me sound cranky....but way too many exclamation points.

[Ester Elbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great biography! I loved the fact that she wrote extensively about her gymnastics career. Gymdetails is what I, gymnerd, strive for

[Gary Olson · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a Shannon Miller gymnastics fan I thought this would be an interesting read. Unfortunately there wasn't much that was added to her gymnastics story with this book. She did give context about what injuries and illnesses hampered her results. The most fascinating part of this book was learning that positive reinforcement did not work with her and she was all about the hard nosed gymnastics gyms. No wonder she has never spoken out about the Karolyi's and other abusive gyms.

Best part about this book was another review that told me to go to her instagram and watch her gold medal hand washing video. This will tell you everything you need to know about Shannon Miller in one short 7 minutes hand washing video.

[Amber Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5. I love athlete memoirs and this one was great

[Nan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! I loved learning about her life, struggles, her faith and what she is doing now.

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most people, I grew up watching Shannon Miller knowing that she was the Michael Jordan of gymnastics. This book offers a great insight into the woman behind the mystique. There are a couple of chapters that feel like an excerpt from a motivational speech she has made in the past, but on the whole, it's a very interesting autobiography.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really want to give this 2.5 stars.

I admire Shannon Miller, and I've followed her gymnastics career. It's fun to read about her life in gymnastics, and for that I give the book 4 stars.

But if she didn't want to write anything real about her personal life, she should have just left that part out. I get the feeling that she hasn't really examined her own feelings about her experiences that thoroughly, so it's hard for readers to learn from them. Plus it's not actually that inspiring to read a bunch of "this happened, that happened, it was terrifying, I was careful about diet and exercise, yada yada." I *know* there's more to it than that, and Shannon's not spilling, either because she herself hasn't thought too deeply about it (a crime, a shame!) or because she wants to maintain her privacy. If it's the latter, that's fine, but don't write a memoir if you're not going to tell us what you're really thinking. Also I find that when she writes about her company it sounds like marketing material. So for that part of the book, I give 1 star.

Overall, still a decent read if you're a gymnastics fan.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's No About Perfect: Competing for My Country and Fighting for My Life is about what you would expect from a first hand narrative that puts forth all things positive. I felt as if I were reading about how Shannon Miller's life was through her goody two shoes, rose colored glasses memories. There was not really any personality put forth to add any zip to the rendering of her story.

The story is informative and is a statement of the facts as Shannon Miller recalls them. The book is worth a read if you just need something to pass the time or if you have a distinct interest in Olympic sports or Shannon Miller.

I received this book free from Goodreads First Reads.

[Otothebeirne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read for any gymnastics fan. She covers almost every controversey in her career: leaving 1994 Worlds after compulsories in Dortmund, how she felt about being asked to do all-around in 2000, how she felt about all those "over the hill" media questions, the fake rivalries, why she stopped doing the big band routine used in early 1995, her scrunchy! I was afraid this was going to be all a heart breaking cancer story but it's actually only about three chapters in the whole book and was super uplifting and inspiring. The cancer fight part was applicable to daily life. If you love gymnastics, you must read this book. Period.

[Reca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shannon Miller has such a positive attitude and shares that in her book. Most don't realize how hard the sport of gymnastics can be and this book showed the challenges as well as how important a positive attitude is. After the 1996 Olympics, the book segued into Shannon finding her way in life and continuing to find a way through struggles while sharing her positive attitude. I was inspired by her book tour speaking and am even more inspired after reading her book.

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was just okay in my opinion. This book came across at times as an idealized version of her life. At points, it felt hard to read because it seemed overly positive to the point of not being real even when it was describing what were supposed to be some of the hardest times of her life. It made it feel less than genuine. I felt a little disappointed in the book because I really wanted to like it given that Shannon Miller is one of my favorite gymnasts of all time.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not real sure what I was expecting from this book...but wasn't a book for me. I was thinking it was more along the lines of inspirational with her coping with cancer but it was more about her road to the Olympics. Didn't even finish it at about the time she was diagnosed with cancer I had enough.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shannon Miller was always one of my favorites. I loved her story it was an interesting look into the world of elite level gymnastics. I appreciated how she applied lessons learned in the gym to her "real" life. Very inspiring!

[Jaylynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shannon is one of my favorite American gymnasts, and I had always wanted to read this book because I thought it was interesting that she wrote it later in her life rather than just after the success of her 1992 or 1996 Olympics. For the most part, it is kind of a typical play-by-play of her gymnastics career in the beginning like most other gymnast's memoirs. The last part is about her post-gymnastics life: going to college, getting married then divorced, getting remarried and having kids, finding out she has cancer, maneuvering through life. An extremely Type A personality, Shannon never seems to have stopped until her cancer diagnosis—and I suppose that's the whole lesson of the book—there are unexpected hitches in the road, and what's important is moving forward and through. I was intrigued by her description of her relationship with her coach Steve Nunno, a very infamous figure in gymnastics history, which was mainly positive. I was partially surprised but also figure that Shannon was the only gymnast that he had a positive relationship with (perhaps due to her great success?).
I still feel like this book is just an average gymnast memoir due to its overly cheery attitude and conviction of hard work and perseverance that will always pay off. No doubt these are important lessons, but to stand out, a book has to include more than that.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not What I Expected But ...

The book dragged some for me and was a little repetitive with regard to the gymnast routines. If someone has no familiarity with gymnastics, despite Shannon Miller's excellent explanation it can be difficult to picture it. I didn't watch the Olympics on television regularly enough to be familiar with that environment or the skills required because I wasn't very athletic or sports minded as a child or teen.
I was impressed with the sheer determination Shannon showed from a VERY young age and admired her perseverance! She carries that same drive with her to this day and applies it to everything she does. Reading about her schedule, even when she was in law school and not training as frequently in the gym, her schedule sounds exhausting -- but then, I'm older than she is! I would have liked to hear how her mom did in her battle and I hope she fared well!
If you're a reader who enjoys gymnastics, are highly competitive etc you will likely enjoy this book very much. I guess I thought it would give a background on her gymnastics career but then be more about her cancer battle and her life today.
Well written though!

[Blair Cruikshank · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very inspirational. I enjoyed how it started as her as a little kid, always wanting to follow in her sisters footsteps. Then she became older and noticed she wanted to do something she liked and wanted her own identity. It then went into her gymnastic career, at which she started at a very young age. I loved learning about her coaches and the ups and downs she went through training. You learn that hard work really does pay off if your willing to go through hard times. I also like how they included pictures and her life now. She has a family and went through cancer, which shows she is a normal human. She goes through the same struggles as anyone else and has to cope with that. Overall, I really recommend this book to inspire you to reach your goals and wanting to pursue something you love.

[Cami · Rating 4 out of 5]

In preparing to watch the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, I renewed my love for the Magnificent Seven from the 1996 Games and read about Shannon Miller. I remember watching them win in Atlanta. This was a great book! I loved getting into her head and learning that she learned skills simply to learn skills and didn't even know gymnastics was a competitive sport for her first few years in the gym. And she went to public school! She went to two Olympics and won all those competitions while still going to school full-time--impressive! There were some interesting tidbits about the competitions that made watching the Olympics this year even more fun, and I loved reading about her experiences after gymnastics, especially how she has conquered cancer. She didn't talk a lot about her faith, but she also didn't leave it out. Shannon is a great role model.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reliving the Olympics that I had watched when Shannon was competing. It was nice going down memory lane and getting more insight on what was taking place behind the scenes as well as what got her to those points. She has a very positive, upbeat approach to life that I really appreciated reading about. Even when facing challenges, she always turned to her faith and her loving family (she often credits her parents for instilling strong values in her) and found comfort in her tendency to go into attack mode when taking those challenges head on. I am glad I got a glimpse in the amount of time and effort that went into her becoming the champion she was and still is.

[Victoria (TheMennomilistReads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I grew up an Olympic junkie, and remember watching Shannon Miller in the Olympics she participated in during the Barcelona and Atlanta Olympic games. I don't remember much about who she really was outside of watching her skills, so it was nice to hear what her sweet childhood was like and the things she endured through having cancer. It was an enjoyable story and now I need to re watch old clips.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun peek behind the scenes of the athletic career of a great gymnast. However, its failure to address the negative aspects of gymnastics culture is disappointing because I simply don't believe Shannon Miller was unaware or unaffected by it. I did enjoy the anecdotes from her career (such as the story behind the 1994 World Team Championship when she only performed compulsories) and the story of her struggle with cancer. Her persistence and faith are admirable and inspiring.

[Brita Loynachan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had a hard time finishing this book. Shannon portrays herself as irritatingly sweet and perfect in every situation she encounters. Way too many mantras throughout the book.

Was hoping to read a book that told more about the daily reality of elite gymnastics life, training, and competition. This book glazed over these things, but mostly just focused on how "awesome and positive" Shannon was in every situation.
That got very tiring......

[Georgiacyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read. It focused much more on Shannon Miller's life as a gymnast rather than her post-gymnastics life. She keeps the reader at arm's length, which for me prevents a book from being a "must read." E.g. she only vaguely references her first marriage, kind of a significant event to essentially overlook. She has lived a pretty incredible life, but if I had not known much about her before, I would not have gleaned that from this book.

[Marlathemom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up following Shannon Miller and her seemingly perfect gymnastics journey, including the Magnificent 7’s Olympic gold in 1996 and her many individual gold medals before and after. Reading about performers and their discipline always interests me, and her strength during her cancer journey was equally inspiring. I give it a 9.862 because it’s not about perfect…get it? This solid read was another winner from the Little Free Library in the South End 🎉

[Angie Orlando · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Being a gold meal athlete does not makee a person a good writer. Shannon Miller has a great story to tell, but she doesn’t have a clue how to tell it. The book is way too long with much repetition and no action. Shell tell us what her coach said, then explain in three pages what he meant. Boring!

[Stephie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As other reviews have said this is definitely an all out positive book that doesn't delve too deeply into Shannon's feelings. However, she is and always will be my favorite gymnast and I enjoyed her career recap immensely. She is most certainly a strong willed woman that never lets anyone tell her she cannot accomplish her goals. I admire that!

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember watching Shannon Miller compete in the Olympics. I really enjoyed reading about her experience with gymnastics and her life after, including her battle with ovarian cancer. She truly is an inspirational woman.

[Deirdre Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, quick read about her years as a gymnast and then finding her focus after, including her bout of cancer. It's a series of events with little or no understanding of anything beyond those events.

[Manu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting sports biography