Book review: Skate Talk (Steve Milton)
Jane Hunt
Steve Milton's "Skate Talk: Figure Skating in the
words of the stars" is a collection of short
commentaries by a lot of well-known skaters, and
a few not-so-well-known.
The skater picks a topic and rambles on about it;
Steve has taken all of those interviews (almost
100 of them!) and grouped them into loosely-related
topics.
A few skaters have more than one ramble, on
different topics; not all of the interviewees are
skaters but all are from the "skating world" (Uschi
Kezler, Christine Brennan).
I find this book fascinating (so far; I haven't finished
it yet), but I could see that others may not.
Why do I find it fascinating? My first love of skating
is watching elite skaters, BUT I am intrigued as to
HOW those elite skaters handle the mental pressure of
competition and the physical stress of training. These
interviews provide a "window" into their psyche, and
I am learning their perspective on events that I have
seen from the fanatical spectator's side of the fence.
Why would others NOT find it fascinating? There's no
gossip (except incidentally; that is, you can pick up
a few personal items here and there), and neither is
there a technical description (there's no details on
whether a lutz is clean or "flutzed"). I know that none
of us are _searching_ for gossip -- but, I warn you that
there's none in this book, anyhow! :)
Although the interviews are international, this book
is published in Canada. I got it from Chapters (I have
to admit, although their sci-fi section is crapola,
their skating section is pretty darn good -- except I
haven't seen Michelle Kwan's book in Chapters yet).
It's published by Key Porter books, and my copy was
printed and bound in Canada. However, it does have a
photo of Michelle Kwan on the cover, so I expect the
plan is to distribute it internationally, or at least
throughout North America.
Steve Milton writes for the Hamilton Spectator (I guess
he'll be ubiquitous at Canadians this year), and also
works for CTV and Istar.
I'm happy I bought the book (although at $27 Canadian,
I'm also happy I had a Chapters $5 discount).
Jane
Trudi Marrapodi
In article <64r382$1...@freenet-news.carleton.ca>,
br...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Jane Hunt) wrote:
[snip]
> Steve Milton writes for the Hamilton Spectator (I guess
> he'll be ubiquitous at Canadians this year), and also
> works for CTV and Istar.
His first skating-related book was Brian Orser's autobiography. He also
wrote Skate: 100 Years of Figure Skating and that little Skating
Superstars book or whatever it is.
Trudi
"Freedom of speech does not provide protection from dissenting opinions"
--------------
"I want you to be fully aware of your role in Usenet. It goes like
this: Steve Case is the organ grinder, playing a song called 'America
Online.' You are the little monkey in a bright red hat hopping up and
down and acting silly for our amusement." - Dave Asselin, who might well have been talking about Anjule
www...@forgetaboutit.net
To mail me, replace "forgetaboutit" with "frontiernet"
Barbara M. Kostanick
CJane Hunt wrote:
>
> Steve Milton's "Skate Talk: Figure Skating in the
> words of the stars" is a collection of short
> commentaries by a lot of well-known skaters, and
> a few not-so-well-known.
>
> The skater picks a topic and rambles on about it;
> Steve has taken all of those interviews (almost
> 100 of them!) and grouped them into loosely-related
> topics.
>
> A few skaters have more than one ramble, on
> different topics; not all of the interviewees are
> skaters but all are from the "skating world" (Uschi
> Kezler, Christine Brennan).
>
> I find this book fascinating (so far; I haven't finished
> it yet), but I could see that others may not.
> It's published by Key Porter books, and my copy was
> printed and bound in Canada. However, it does have a
> photo of Michelle Kwan on the cover, so I expect the
> plan is to distribute it internationally, or at least
> throughout North America.
Could you please post the ISBN from the back of the book? Barnes & noble
seems not to be able to find it.
Thanks.
Barb Kostanick
Boulder
Trudi Marrapodi
In article <347252...@indra.com>, "Barbara M. Kostanick"
<ba...@indra.com> wrote:
> CJane Hunt wrote:
> >
> > Steve Milton's "Skate Talk: Figure Skating in the
> > words of the stars" is a collection of short
> > commentaries by a lot of well-known skaters, and
> > a few not-so-well-known.
[snip]
> Could you please post the ISBN from the back of the book? Barnes & noble
> seems not to be able to find it.
Tell them to look under "Hockey." That's where they seem to have put all
their skating books in the database.
Tendemas
From: "Barbara M. Kostanick" <ba...@indra.com>
<<Could you please post the ISBN from the back of the book? Barnes & noble
seems not to be able to find it. >>
This title has not yet been picked up by a US publisher for
distribution...that's why B&N can't find it in their Books In Print program.
They (like my store) don't carry international BIP, and even if they did, they
can only order titles that American distributors carry.
*sigh*
Publishing rights don't cross international boundaries nearly as easily as
tourists do.
I forsee a road trip to Toronto in *my* future...or perhaps just a little
surfing down the Web.
(I can't explain the vagaries of international copyright law that allow
individuals but not institutions to place orders across borders. Anybody
knowledgeable have an answer on this one?)
--- tendemas
Jane Hunt
"Barbara M. Kostanick" (ba...@indra.com) writes:
> Could you please post the ISBN from the back of the book? Barnes & noble
> seems not to be able to find it.
>
Oops, sorry, I should have thought of that.
the ISBN is 1-55013-915-0