One Jump at a Time

by Nathan Chen

[nannah]

I was fortunate enough to be watching skating live (on TV) when Nathan Chen was dubbed the Quad King, and since then he's been one of my favorite figure skaters. So, naturally, I had to read this book. It's also in the negatives now — or at least it was when I started writing this, so there's no better time for a book like this.

As much as I admire Nathan Chen, though, and think he is one of the most down-to-earth Olympians out there, like many other reviewers I think that storytelling isn't among his strengths. The book by itself is pretty flat, the text is rather dry, and he takes you along his journey as if he were reading a bulleted list.

That's not to say I didn't get anything out of it. The insights into how intense and involved an athletes career is — and how it's a journey of many people, not just the person competing — were very interesting. I also very much enjoyed whenever he spoke of his mother; that's when I felt the most emotion from him.

It's not a book for someone who isn't interested in the nitty-gritty details of how the points system works in skating, or how each jump breaks down into little parts, etc. You are kind of walked through each of his thought processes in every skating season.

But for a fan of the sport and a fan of this athlete in particular, it was a nice book to read once.