Chalked Up: Inside Elite Gymnastics' Merciless Coaching, Overzealous Parents, Eating Disorders, and Elusive Olympic Dreams
by Jennifer Sey
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 93)
Read in June, 2008
The title makes it sound as if this is going to be one of those muckraking, voyeuristic looks at the sport in general (which are, you know, awesome), but it's actually essentially a memoir. The merciless coaches, overzealous parents, eating disorders, etcetera, are by and large her own. Unlike most sports memoirs, it appears to actually have been written in its entirety by Ms. Sey, which definitely has an upside as well as a downside. Just to get the down out of the way, she's obviously a gym...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
fans of memoir, gymnastics, family relationships
Most gymnasts and gym fans seem to hate this book because it just sheds even more negative light on the sport. And I see where they're coming from but it's really not that bad on the whole. She does admit at the end that she has a love/hate relationship with gymnastics, and that's completely relatable and honest.
People have also accused the book of being "full of lies" and I don't know how true that is, but she insists this is how she perceived her experience and I believe her. ...more
People have also accused the book of being "full of lies" and I don't know how true that is, but she insists this is how she perceived her experience and I believe her. ...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone looking forward to the upcoming Olympics
I got really into this book. It appealed to the same part of my drama-digging brain that liked "Dancing on My Grave" by Gelsey Kirkland when I was 13. (Omigod, did anyone else read and obsess over that dumb book?)
Sey's writing is confident and straight-forward, tinged with just the right amounts of self-pity, pride, and pathos. She moves her story right along, teasing the reader with flash-forwards of even more miserable moments in her career/bondage as a gymnast in the 80s.
Se...more
Sey's writing is confident and straight-forward, tinged with just the right amounts of self-pity, pride, and pathos. She moves her story right along, teasing the reader with flash-forwards of even more miserable moments in her career/bondage as a gymnast in the 80s.
Se...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
overachievers, athletes, couch potatoes
with the summer olympics starting in a few weeks, i was excited to read this and gain some insight on what it's like to compete...or at least what it's like to undergo the relentless training required for athletes of this level.
jennifer covers eating disorders, performing (and winning!) with injuries like broken ankles and bleeding hands, moving her family around to accommodate her training, stealing laxatives from fellow gymnasts, and pushing herself beyond any sane limits. her tolerance fo...more
jennifer covers eating disorders, performing (and winning!) with injuries like broken ankles and bleeding hands, moving her family around to accommodate her training, stealing laxatives from fellow gymnasts, and pushing herself beyond any sane limits. her tolerance fo...more
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Read in May, 2008
I'm not rating this book because I read it for work, but anyone who follows gymnastics would probably be interested in what this author has to say. Jennifer Sey was the 1986 U.S. National Gymnastics Champion. She grew up in the NJ suburbs of Philadelphia and trained at an Allentown gym, the Parkettes. In her memoir, she recounts the verbal abuse she suffered at the hands of her coaches and the eating disorder that was aggravated by that abuse, as well as the twice daily weigh-ins they required. ...more
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Read in June, 2008
I found this an interesting book to start, but feel it was more the shock that kept me going. One of the things I was struck by was that when nervous Jennifer (starting perhaps before she was 8)would gnaw on the inside of her cheek until an ulcer the size of a quarter would develop, it would become infected then her lips would start to puff out. She used to enjoy peeling large sections of skin off from her hands that had become blistered and from hangnails. Also, by the time she was 17 she wo...more
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I'm a complete sucker for books about women's sports, especially autobiographical ones. Still, I wasn't sure I cared about gymnastics until I picked up this book and read a little. Jennifer Sey's voice drew me in. If you have ever felt the need to be outstanding at a sport, or in turn wrestled with the feeling of never being good enough, you'll gain some insight from her perspective on self and achieving in sport.
This book is also a damning description of the sport, with its eating disorders...more
This book is also a damning description of the sport, with its eating disorders...more
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Read in July, 2008
This is a perfect read for our upcoming Olympics...Author Jennifer Sey was an elite gymnast for about 10 years. She chronicles the scary side of competing in the sport - eating disorders, no life outside the gym, and her body will be forever damaged. I cannot imagine EVER having my kids in this lifestyle - not to mention the parents have no life either with all the carpooling to practices, etc. An even better gymnastics read? "Little Girls In Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Eli...more
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Read in June, 2008
Some parts of this brought back good memories of my old days as a (not very accomplished) gymnast; other parts just make me relieved that I wasn't very accomplished and could enjoy the flying and competition with only a little self-imposed pressure rather than the tremendous pressure described here. It's a cautionary tale, told with candor - and if a few minor details hadn't interrupted the narrative for me (year of wedding different in text and picture caption?), it would have flown more gracef...more
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Read in June, 2008
overall it was interesting, but i sort of felt like there were gaps where there shouldnt be, especially as she got older. but maybe thats just me.
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Memoir of Jennifer Sey, 1986 National Champion in gymnastics. Shows the brutal side of the sport, including horrific injuries and eating disorders, and PRESSURE.
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I always wanted to be a gymnast. I heard that the best ones were short. I qualify. However, I am wide too. Dang.
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Read in May, 2008
So far I'm only one chapter in and I can tell it's going to bring back lots of memories of my old gymnastics days.
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Horrifying, but fascinating. You can see Jennifer Sey's performances and the famous fall on YouTube.
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I was pretty into gymnastics as a kid, so I'm looking forward to reading this memoir of a gymnast.
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This was hard for me to read. I wanted something badly, too, and suffered from perfectionism.
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A very interesting look at the world of competitive gymnastics, written by a former gymnast.
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It's like PLEDGED or AMERICAN BAND... but with gymnastics!
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