The Long Program: Skating Toward Life's Victories

Fleming has been in the public eye for some 30 years since she won the Olympic Gold Medal for figure skating in 1968. She went on to perform in the Ice Capades and also became a television commentator. More recently, Fleming's appearances have been for a very different purpose: she's become a spokeswoman for cancer survivors. Here, Fleming discusses her entire life from her first skating lessons at age nine, touching on her disciplinarian father and domineering mother, her long marriage, her skating career and her treatment for breast cancer. Fleming sees herself as competitive but very shy, and recognizes that it took years for her to stand up for herself. She's quite honest, even when discussing painful subjects. About letting her mother take charge of her wedding, Fleming recalls: ""As with most things, she took the reins and produced the whole thing down to the last detail. I just let her do it. It was the price of peace.... Looking back though, I wish I had the self-assurance then that I have now, I wouldn't have let Mom totally run the show."" Fleming describes her father: ""My dad's way of dealing with this was to be as happy-go-lucky as possible--with plenty of help from his buddies and the bottle."" Unfortunately, the book proceeds not chronologically but by random recollections. Readers will learn about Fleming personally, but this autobiography offers few substantial insights into the competitive world of figure skating. (Oct.)