Fire on Ice: The Exclusive Inside Story of Tonya Harding

by Abby Haight, J.E. Vader, Oregonian Staff (Contributor)

Perfect for fans of I, Tonya starring Margot Robbie and Allison Janney, this first full scale biography of Tonya Harding explores one of the most provocative figures in figure skating at the height of the controversy—centered on the 1994 attack on Nancy Kerrigan—that made Harding a household name.
 
Championship figure skating, despite its surface appearance of pristine elegance, is a ferociously competitive sport, full of bitter rivalry and personal antagonism. Olympic glory means everything: fame, money, and the admiration of millions.
 
Every skater who goes for the gold has drive and tremendous competitive spirit, but few more than Tonya Harding. In Fire on Ice, you will learn about Harding’s hardscrabble childhood—a childhood racked by abuse, money problems, and unceasing pressure and belittlement by her mother. And you will learn how Tonya Harding made herself into one of America’s best skaters.
 
Here is a young woman whose fierce ambition was, in the end, her downfall. Her story is a tale of sacrifice and overcoming obstacles, of the strength of competition and the blindness of ambition. In the thin ice over which Tonya Harding always glided, we could not help but see an American story, and all of America was watching.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, True Crime, Sports, Celebrity

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 21, 1994

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an entertaining read, however I think there were things in this book that didn't need to be in it. The only thing I didn't finish reading in this book was Shawn Eckhardt's interview in the back of the book. Other than that, it was fine.

[Bert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I, like so many others, was always so quick to judge Tonya Harding, and my judgement was always an uneducated one. All I knew about her was what you always hear in the press. If I’d ever taken the time to read a book, watch a documentary or see a movie my opinion and judgement of her would’ve been much different. I watched I, Tonya this week and it was really a surprising watch, afterwards, I thought I’d do a little research of my own and I it was nice to see that Tonya is far from the vicious monster she is so often referred to as.

Women’s figure skating is perhaps one of the most competitive sports, competitors will do anything to win, so under this pressure I’m sure many of us would do things we are perhaps not proud of, combine that with a shady past and being married to a wannabe criminal and poor Tonya Harding was destined to be infamous rather than famous. After reading this book, watching I, Tonya and a bunch of other docos I can say that I now I feel a little sorry for Tonya, she’s just as much a victim as Nancy Kerrigan. I’ve certainly come out of this whole thing with more respect and admiration for her than many others have.

The book itself is a little tawdry, but when this book was published all true-crime books were tawdry, it’s classed as an “instant book” which may put some people off but I actually found it rather informative, well researched and well written. It’s also pretty much one of the only books on Tonya that’s still available to buy.

Say what you will about her, people like Tonya are always going to have “haterrrrs” and detractors, but they’ll never be able to take that triple axel away from her, instead of hating perhaps feel some sympathy and don’t be so quick to judge.

[Freesiab BookishReview · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. This was a really good book if you want the exact facts of the events regarding Tonya Harding. However it ends prior to the Olympics with no addendum. It is fascinating and easy to read but it would have been better with more effort.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Championship figure skating, despite its glamorous facade of elegance, is a fiercely competitive sport beneath the surface - full of bitter rivalry and personal antagonism. For so many, Olympic glory means everything: fame, money, and the admiration of millions.

Every skater who goes for the gold certainly has the desire to win and a tremendous competitive spirit, but few more so than Tonya Harding. In Fire on Ice, you will learn about Tonya's hardscrabble childhood - a childhood racked by abuse, money problems, and unceasing pressure and constant belittlement by her mother. And you will learn how Tonya Harding made herself into one of America's best skaters.

This is the story of a young woman for whom ambition may, in the end, be her downfall. Her story is a tale of sacrifice and overcoming obstacles, of the strength of competition and the blindness of ambition. On the thinning ice over which Tonya Harding now glides - and perhaps has always glided - we cannot help but see an 'American Dream' type of story, and all of America is watching it.

This was an excellent book, in my opinion, I was also pleasantly surprised that the book portrayed Tonya Harding in a more sympathetic and vulnerable light than most of the news coverage of the Nancy Kerrigan knee-clubbing scandal in 1994. Not that Fire on Ice seeks to exonerate Tonya in any way for her actions, but this book does illuminate Tonya's health, marriage and financial difficulties.

By delving into Tonya Harding's background, the story portrays her as more of a flawed woman, blinded by her ambition, instead of a ruthless monster who orchestrated the destruction of her rival's career. I give this book an A+!

[Surreysmum · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second of the "instant books" that appeared about Tonya Harding in February of 1994, this one has the advantage of having been written by "the staff of The Oregonian", the paper which broke the story of the involvement of Harding's immediate circle in the attack on Nancy Kerrigan. It includes the text of the newspaper's exclusive interview with Shane Stant, the bodyguard who confessed to helping set up the attack, as well as excerpts from the statements of the principal parties to the police. Interesting insights, too, on the tactics and reactions of Harding's fan club, which I have not seen elsewhere.

[Justin Mann · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting exposé. I remember when all this went down, but I never learned what really happened until now. Probably wouldn't have read this if not for the EYH reading challenge, but it was worthwhile.

Read for Nappanee Public Library's 2024 Expand Your Horizons reading challenge, category: A book featuring or about the Olympics.

[Kristin-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but I think if I'd realized this was a 1994 biography and therefore written/published way too close to the Kerrigan attacks to be...un-fraught...I would have picked a different Harding book. I should have read The Tonya Tapes.

[Tracy Hollen · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
Meh. Not overly informative.

[Brenda Daun · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject matter is such an interesting part of sports history, but this book spent so much time going over minute details, and then skimmed through the actually interesting parts.

While I appreciate the investigative reporting that went into this piece, it's possible this book was written during someone's lunch break.

[Hanna Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean yeah, it’s clear (mainly through the repetition of facts, like they were trying to fill enough pages to call it a book) that they rushed this book out to try to immediately monetize the Harding/Kerrigan scandal, but as a bb who was not alive to witness how this scandal unfolded at the time, it’s an interesting read!

Also I love Tonya Harding bahhhhhhhhhhh

[Diane Waddington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book told a good story unfortunately it didn't get to the end of the story the whack happened some of the people were involved but that's it.

[Beth Sutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts to repeat its self nearing the end as they interviewed other people.

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a bit embarrassed that I read this. I saw it on the library's digital bookshelf and decided I was in the mood for 25-year-old gossip. But it just wasn't all that satisfying.

The book was written in 1994 (which I hadn't realised when I checked it out). The Olympics hadn't happened yet and, as the book went to press, it was still unclear whether Harding would compete. Ergo...this was one of those pop-up instant books which capitalised on a phenomenon without doing full research.

The book is riddled with grammatical errors, and I never was able to figure out what sort of timeline it was following. It jumped back and forth without explanation. Tonya was married, then divorced, then filing for divorce. (I even checked Wikipedia at one point to figure out just how many times she and Gillooly had been married...it was only once.) In one paragraph Jeff Gillooly wired money to his hit men in Detroit for finishing the knee-smashing job, but then in literally the very next paragraph Gillooly was being woken up from a sound sleep by a phone call telling him the job was complete.

Don't bother with this book. If you're interested in the events surrounding Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, you'll learn more on Wikipedia.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was rushed to print in the aftermath of the assault on Olympian Nancy Kerrigan. The book is a bio of Tonya Harding by the reporters who ultimately broke the story of her complicity in the attack. It points out a lot of hard truths about Tonya (she had a terrible upbringing, but she also failed--and based on her current resurgence in the media, fails--repeatedly to take responsibility for her own choices in life.)

[Ester Murdukhayeva · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a re-release of a quickie book originally published shortly after the 1994 Nationals and before the 1994 Olympics. It is very evidently a rush job -- despite its brevity, there are numerous repetitive sections and copy errors. It would have been a better book if it was revised and updated prior to being re-released.

[ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was two hours and 33 minutes I’ll never get back. I’m really glad I didn’t pay for the book.

That was two hours and 33 minutes I’ll never get back. I was still waiting for the end of the story after the end of the story.

[Patty Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done!

I watched and cheered Tonya on from the sidelines. It was good to get the complete story. It makes me admire Nancy Kerrigan even more.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very brief and to the point. It seems like it was written very quickly after the 1994 olympics to capitalize on the drama.

[Adriana · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is so poorly written, I’d never buy it again. I don’t know if I’ll even finish it. I’ve only come back to underline this. Don’t buy it. Even a Times magazine is more interesting.

[Madeline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall the writing style was just not good, even pretty bad. This is not an engaging discussion book of the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan scandal the way Cynthia Baughman's "Women on Ice" was. On the other hand, it reported interesting information on Tonya that was not presented by the media at the time and was instead discussed years later in works like "I, Tonya." (Interestingly, the film seems to have heavily relied on the sources this book draws from or even this book itself to construct its narrative). For instance, it was interesting to read that is was known and acceptable to discuss that judging in figure skating could be heavily influenced by the judges' personal opinions of a skater (outside of their skating ability). It was notably tragic to learn that Tonya was in fact severely asthmatic and relied on subpar medication until sometime in 1993 to manage her condition. This has in fact never been reported in the many documentaries I have seen on the subject, despite this making her accomplishments all the more remarkable and the stumbles throughout her career more understandable.

Above all, the most fascinating aspect of this book is that, perhaps without meaning too, defends Tonya's character. I am personally of the opinion that Nancy and Tonya were both victims of Jeff Gillooly and his cohorts (as well as the media, in a way) and am very sympathetic to Tonya's troubled life. While I do have the sense from her various interviews that she did know more than she admits to, I was troubled to hear that the FBI told Nancy Kerrigan than Tonya "masterminded" the attack (this according to Nancy herself in a 2014 interview for the Sochi Olympics Tonya/Nancy documentary). However, according to this book, Jeff takes credit for hatching the plan and developing it and carrying it out with his cohorts. (Jeff himself apparently said a few years ago that he talked Tonya into participating in the attack.) The only things Tonya is guilty of is not reporting the plot to the police and asking for some information on Kerrigan's whereabouts. (And the validity of the latter crime remains ambiguous as Shawn Eckhardt admits that even at the time Tonya claimed to need to contact Kerrigan for the signing of a poster.) While failing to warn the authorities about the planned attack is undeniably a terrible mistake on Tonya's part, it's certainly a lot less awful than her planning the attack herself. Given that both Tonya and companions of Tonya reported (in this book, and in other interviews) that Jeff was abusive and controlling, Tonya's claims that she never reported the information out of fear of possible retaliation from Jeff may very well be the reason she agreed not to report the planned assault. At any rate, it is notable but perhaps not surprising that this book paints a far less dramatic and monstrous (and therefore a presumably more accurate) portrait of Tonya during the planning of the assault than the sensationalized news at the time.

[Angie Douglas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not well written and should be updated with current info.