"The Tonya Tapes" by Lynda Prouse. Paperback - List: $18.99; 300 pages; Published by World Audience; Publication date: May 2008; Dimensions 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches / 23 x 15 x 2.3 cm; ISBN: 978-1934209806 After a long delay, the wait is finally over. Tonya's own autobiography has finally been released! Based on the candid and sometimes startling conversations that YOU were never meant to hear, THE TONYA TAPES, written by award-winning author, Lynda D. Prouse, chronicles the life of the world’s most infamous female athlete - TONYA HARDING - revealing for the first time the whole truth of her difficult and sometimes amazing life on and off the ice. Based on actual, extensive interviews with Tonya Harding, and written with her collaboration, this is her story! The Tonya Tapes can be ordered directly from the publisher, World Audience, or via major on-line bookstores. |
"Thin Ice; The Complete, Uncensored Story of Tonya Harding, America's Bad Girl of Ice Skating" by Frank Coffey & Joe Layden. Mass Market Paperback, 180 pages [22] p. of plates; Published by Pinnacle Books/Kensgtn Pu/Penguin Usa/Windsor Pub., Corp (Note: this appears to have been released by several publishers - each source seems to say something different). Publication date: February 1, 1994. Dimensions (in inches): 6.87 x 4.14 x .60; ISBN: 0786000619. List: $4.99 Also available in an abridged form on 2 Audio Cassettes; Published by High Top Sports Production; Publication date: May 1, 1994; Dimensions (in inches): 7.08 x 4.51 x 1.04; ISBN: 1567030327; Frank Coffey, Y. Coffey; List: $16.95 |
"Fire on Ice: The Exclusive Inside Story of Tonya Harding" by Abby Haight, Julie Vader. Published by Times Books. Publication date: February 1994 ISBN: 0812924576 Two quicky paperbacks, rushed out in early 1994 to capitalize on interest in Tonya in the wake of the Whacking. Both of these are now deleted, though there were several hundred thousand copies of each title printed, so it should be possible to still find them. The audiobook version of "Thin Ice" sounds as if it's still available, as it's widely advertised. Haight & Vader are reporters for the Oregonian, Portland's daily newspaper. |
"Women on Ice: Feminist Essays on the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan Spectacle" by Cynthia Baughman (Editor). Hardcover - List: $79.95; Published by Routledge; Publication date: August 1995; ISBN: 0415911508. Paperback - List: $18.95; Published by Routledge; Publication date: October 1, 1995; Dimensions (in inches): 8.91 x 6.01 x .65; ISBN: 0415911516
A turgid, pretentious feminist analysis of the T&N affair. Some interesting ideas here, but it is rather repetitive and it's full of alot of pseudointellectual jargon like "heterovisual" and "scopophilic" (which are, by the way, real words that are actually used in the book - I'm not making them up). And some of it is definitely a bit high on the bollocks quotient, such as the bit in which one contributor reinterprets the "broken shoelace" incident as a voyeuristic S&M fantasy. The Kissling article (below) covers much the same ideas more sensibly in much less space. Worth a read if you can get it from the local library, but only the most hard-core Tonyaologist or feminist studies student would want their own copy.
"Inside Edge: A Revealing Journey into the Secret World of Figure Skating" by Christine Brennan. Hardcover - 319 pages; List: $23.00; Published by Scribner; Publication date: January 1, 1996; Dimensions (in inches): 9.59 x 6.49 x 1.14; ISBN: 0684801671. Paperback - 336 pages; List: $12.95; Published by Anchor; Publication date: February 1, 1997; Dimensions (in inches): 7.95 x 5.18 x .79; ISBN: 0385486073.
The book the US Figure Skating Association doesn't want you to read. Brennan, a journalist who covers figure skating for the prestigious "Washington Post", spent a year writing this controversial expose that reveals that Tonya was just the tip of the iceberg. Includes chapters on Tonya and a certain other skater, plus lots of background on many of the most famous skaters of the 70's, 80's and 90's - very useful reading for new fans of the sport. Also features a chapter on the allegedly widespread problem of AIDS and HIV amongst members of the skating community - this appears to be the part that upset most people. The USFSA was so desperate to scuttle this book they (temporarily) revoked Brennan's press credentials shortly after it came out (of course, they claim it was for some other reason - but despite several letters between Brennan and the USFSA, she never got a straight answer from them as to exactly what they were upset about). The ban was eventually dropped after about six weeks when other journalists sided with Brennan. The paperback edition includes an extra chapter on this and updates things a bit. Followed by a sequel, "Edge of Glory", in 1998.
"The Black Stone" by Robert Urbanek. Paperback - 198 pages; Published by Neva Press; Publication date: January 1996; ISBN 0-9648395-0-4.
Tonya Harding is actually the reincarnation of Lee Harvey Oswald - at least, that's the central theme of this political thriller about a plot by Saddam Hussein to develop a new superweapon. Personally, we don't think that there's much similarity between Tonya and Oswald at all - for a start, Oswald never did a triple axel nor are there any known photographs of him wearing a topless wedding dress - but there is one aspect which Tonya and Oswald do have in common: both of them were used as patsies by much bigger interests. The book also claims to reveal disturbing new information about why JFK was assassinated (and we presume it's not because he was considered a shoe-in for the 1964 Ladies title). We haven't read it so we can't say how it compares with that other great work of American fiction, the Warren Commission report, but if you're into cigarette smoking men, grassy knolls & white Fiat Unos this could be the book for you! Appears to be out of print, but you can enjoy the bizarre conspiracy theory rantings of the author about Tonya and other subjects at his web site, www.tonyahardingshotjfk.com.
