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Boitano's Edge: Inside The Real World Of Figure Skating
This large format, full-color photo essay is the ultimate skating book for fans ages 8 and up. In an accessable and conversational tone Brian Boitano reveals what it is like to move up through the sport and compete at an international level. Brian Boitano's personal stories and anecdotes as well as his lively personal commentary illuminate the sport for young readers and skating fans of all ages. Here's everything you'll ever want to know about figure skating -- with Brian Boitano serving as the expert host.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 4, 2022
This book is done in the format of a photo essay, which I really enjoyed. Brian Boitano delved into his life as a skater, what it took to move through the ranks, and struggles and triumphs that he achieved. I liked this book a lot, and learned quite a bit about Brian Boitano, who is not a skater that I recall watching. The photography in this book was beautiful. I have a similar photo essay style book from Sasha Cohen, and I am very much looking forward to it.
June 8, 2008
This book is definitely an artifact -- published in the late 90s, it chronicles what figure skating was like before the new judging system was implemented and everything changed. Still, I got something out of it; reading this book helped me to understand a lot of the things that were always fuzzy to me in the 6.0 days.
Even so, a lot of the discussion was awfully simplistic. The book doesn't go into much depth. It glosses over a lot of different subjects, from skate sharpening to what it feels like backstage before a competition to touring, but doesn't go into a whole lot of detail. I don't feel like I had any major insight into the sport that I didn't have before. I enjoyed Boitano's quirky stories and anecdotes, which were new to me, but...as far as revelations? Not so much.
That said, I was excited to be reading about a time that I consider the "golden era" of skating, the late 80s and the 90s -- "golden" because it's when I was also skating, and when I was following the sport very closely. (Now, I'm more of an armchair fan...if I happen to be channel surfing and skating is on, I'll watch it.) The pictures are also great in this book -- lots of images I hadn't seen before.
Even so, a lot of the discussion was awfully simplistic. The book doesn't go into much depth. It glosses over a lot of different subjects, from skate sharpening to what it feels like backstage before a competition to touring, but doesn't go into a whole lot of detail. I don't feel like I had any major insight into the sport that I didn't have before. I enjoyed Boitano's quirky stories and anecdotes, which were new to me, but...as far as revelations? Not so much.
That said, I was excited to be reading about a time that I consider the "golden era" of skating, the late 80s and the 90s -- "golden" because it's when I was also skating, and when I was following the sport very closely. (Now, I'm more of an armchair fan...if I happen to be channel surfing and skating is on, I'll watch it.) The pictures are also great in this book -- lots of images I hadn't seen before.
July 2, 2010
The autobiographical component of this book is fairly slim: it's supplemented with odd little sidebars like a section on judging, or on skate sharpening, and there are photo portfolios of Carmen on Ice and of the Champions on Ice tour. Only one photo with Brian Orser in the whole thing, which seems a little ungenerous given their long association.
January 27, 2011
Light on copy but rich in storytelling. A well done memoir told scrapbook-style, with notes, ancedotes, photos and keepsakes. A nice synopsis of his competitive career.
October 13, 2016
Meh... I wish the scrapbook portion was longer.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews