Alone: The Triumph and Tragedy of John Curry
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.90 (802 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1408853566 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 352 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-08-19 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
“A terrific read, filled with juicy detail and driven by sympathy for a man who who was feted as a national hero but was extremely hard to like.” The Times“Given that many who best knew Curry were, like him, lost to AIDS, it's impressive Jones was able to craft such an intimate portrait.” Metrosource Magazine“A moving and explosive biography of an ice skating genius.” Manchester Evening News“Movingly told.” Choice Magazine“A fascinating exploration of a tragic talent.” Attitude“The biography, approved by his family, delves into the complex, tormented character of Curry, his jealousies, tantrums, and fractured relationships with all but a few who passed through his life, and his never-ending struggle for acceptance.” International Figure Skating Magazine“Alone is more than a sports biography It is a timely reminder of the fine boundary between sport and art and the courage it took, and still takes, to be a gay athlete.” Sunday Times
And yet the man was--and would always remain--an absolute mystery to a world that was dazzled by his gift. Surely, men's skating was supposed to be Cossack-muscular, not sensual and ambiguous like this. Overnight he became one of the most famous men on the planet and changed ice-skating from marginal sport to high art. So much more than a run-of-the-mill sports biography, Alone reveals the restless, impatient, often-dark soul of a man whose words could lacerate, whose skating invariably moved audiences to tears, and who--after succumbing to AIDS, as so many of his fellow artists and friends--died of a heart attack at just forty-four years old.. It is a story of childhood nightmares, furious ambition, sporting genius, lifelong rivalries, homophobia, Cold War politics, financial ruin, and deep personal tragedy. Short-listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award.One winter's night in 1976, millions of people all over the world watched John Curry skate to Olympic glory on an ice rink in Austria. Curry himself was an often-tortured man of labyrinthine complexity. For the first time, Alone untangles the extraordinary web of his toxic, troubled, brilliant--a
In 2011, his first book, The Ghost Runner, was published to widespread critical acclaim. It was short-listed for the William Hill Sport Book of the Year, and won the "Best New Writer" category at the British Sports Book Awards. Bill Jones has spent most of his working life making award-winning international documentaries with Gra
MASTERFUL WRITING / DIFFICULT SUBJECT If nothing else John Curry was a complex miasma of a man. John Curry the skater and John Curry the man seem not to be one and the same. His short turbulent life has been vividly exposed in this excellent biography. Bill Jones has captured the man with every nuance of his personality and put it in black and white.A genius with a dark side Curry is transcended on to the page in a meticulously researched biography with a straightforward text that is sympathetic but not maudlin.Two passages especially exemplify John Curry, the artist and the man: "Pioneering art oft. "Fascinating and heartbreaking." according to Kimberly Weiss. One of the best written bios I've read. It managed to show his flaws while remaining sympathetic. The story itself is fascinating. John tried to invent a whole new form of highbrow ice entertainment but didn't have the temperament or business acumen to manage a troupe. Recommended to all skating fans.. "Wonderful book" according to Tina. I am a huge figure skating fan and I had heard about Curry over the years without ever really knowing anything about him.This book does an excellent job of detailing John Curry's life. From the very first paragraph, I was hooked. The author writes with respect, but does not shy away from Curry's darker side. In fact, this book goes into quite a lot of detail about Curry's mood swings, his lack of respect for people and his inability to be happy, no matter what happens.The skating parts of the story are excellent, making me feel as though I am watching Curry perf