Edge of Glory: The Inside Story of the Quest for Figure Skatings Olympic Gold Medals (Lisa Drew) Paperback – December 28, 2013

Watched figure skating a lot when this book was written. Learned a lot of interesting things about figure skating.

That's how much I appreciate this look into the not always glamorous world of skating the general public doesn't see. Honest, well written and compelling, this is a must read.

This is an older book, but so good. If you love ice skating, you'll love this book. Very well written, it pulls you in and you can't put it down. Not a boring part in it, all fascinating .Gotta be a fan, though or you won't enjoy it.

If you've always wondered what really goes on behind the scenes at international skating competitions, you won't be able to put this book down. Especially fascinating is the material about Tara Lipinski and family, but many, many other personalities are covered. EDGE OF GLORY is a page turner without being cheap or tawdry. It's suprisingly well-written and thorough. I recommend it!

I have always loved figure skating and am old enough to remember Janet Lynn and Peggy Fleming's skating days. I read Christine Brennan's previous book, "Inside Edge", years ago and liked it. I didn't know about this book until I found it at a book sale. Everything happened in this book in 1996 - 1998, but I remembered most of it, and was reminded of other things I had forgotten, like Carlo Fassi's inopportune death. I love getting the behind the scenes look at what happened in figure skating: coaches, judges, parents, skaters, choreographers, etc. This book has wonderful pictures and went into great detail, especially about Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan. Apparently Lipinski's mother was a giant pain-in-the-a--. In the acknowledgments, Ms. Brennan gives her gratitude to all the different skaters and families. She doesn't mention the Lipinski's. That should tell you something.I have only one criticism for the book. After Lipinski won the Olympic Gold Medal, I wanted the inside scoop on why she retired at the age of 15. I didn't get that and was very disappointed by that. That's the only reason I didn't give it a 5.

A well written book that's an easy read and hooks you right in. Unfortunately the author's prejudices are quite apparent. Her near- deification of Kwan gets old very fast, especially in light of later events, i.e., her arrogant dumping of her longtime coach Frank Carrol, and her claiming a spot on a third Olympic squad even though injured, thus denying another young skater the chance to compete in the Olympics. She subsequently had to withdraw because of the injury, leaving the US a skater short and smashing the dreams of some other young girl.It's quite obvious the author is no Tara Lipinski fan, but she can't change the inconvenient facts.Whenever it really mattered -- at Nationals, and at the Olympics -- Tara Lipinski beat Michelle Kwan.

I am a huge fan of the sport of figure skating, so when this book came out, I had to read it. I found that it was very interesting and read the whole book in a few hours. While some people do not care for the format of the book (Brennan jumps around from chapter to chapter writing about various skaters), I did not find it confusing. Brennan does a very good job of brining insight about what goes on "behind the scenes" where the cameras and lights do not shine so bright. I thought that Brennan was not biased with her writing, rather she did not attempt to "cover anything up" or fluff up reality. She told the stories and facts like they are, whether or not they gave a favorable impression on the skater. I also enjoyed how she focused on many different skaters and covered a broad range. Some of the major highlights include Tara Lipinski, Michelle Kwan, Nicole Bobek, Elvis Stojko, Michael Weiss, Rudy Galindo, Ilia Kulik, Todd Eldredge, Alexei Yagudin, Evgeny Plushenko, Alexei Urmanov and Lu Chen. Brennan did a good job of blending both the past and the present. She told of how the skaters got where they are today, as well as writing about the current competitions and issues surrounding the skating world during 97-98 season. I had hoped for a better quality photo section in the book. The hardcover edition has a small black/white section of photos. This is my only true complain. This book is a must have for any skating fanatic.

Brennan is well-known for her wonderful writing on figure-skating. I for one like Brennan because she always has great things to say about Michelle Kwan and this book is no exception. I learned so much about some figure skaters from this book, especially on the men's side. It's truthful and very informative and written superbly. It is obviously non-fiction, yet at times it tells like a story, including dialogue between characters. I like that because it was entertaining to read it as if it were a story, but you know that all of it is true. I also enjoyed how Brennan didn't write about one skater, then move onto the next, then next, etc, like a chapter per skater. All the skaters' stories were intertwined so the book wasn't predictable at all. Instead, the chapters were divided by time periods-- before 1998, on the road to 1998, etc... Every die-hard figure skating fan should get their hands on this, esp die-hard Michelle Kwan fans like myself!