oregonian staff

Perfect for fans of I, Tonya starring Margot Robbie and Allison Janney, this first full scale biography of Tonya Harding explores one of the most provocative figures in figure skating at the height of the controversy—centered on the 1994 attack on Nancy Kerrigan—that made Harding a household name.
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Championship figure skating, despite its surface appearance of pristine elegance, is a ferociously competitive sport, full of bitter rivalry and personal antagonism. Olympic glory means everything: fame, money, and the admiration of millions.
 
Every skater who goes for the gold has drive and tremendous competitive spirit, but few more than Tonya Harding. In Fire on Ice, you will learn about Harding’s hardscrabble childhood—a childhood racked by abuse, money problems, and unceasing pressure and belittlement by her mother. And you will learn how Tonya Harding made herself into one of America’s best skaters.
 
Here is a young woman whose fierce ambition was, in the end, her downfall. Her story is a tale of sacrifice and overcoming obstacles, of the strength of competition and the blindness of ambition. In the thin ice over which Tonya Harding always glided, we could not help but see an American story, and all of America was watching.