{"id":767,"date":"2021-03-31T07:43:59","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T07:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/undinestudios.com\/blog\/?p=767"},"modified":"2021-08-19T14:14:26","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T14:14:26","slug":"city-book-review-roller-rink-starlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/undinestudios.com\/blog\/?p=767","title":{"rendered":"City Book Review: Roller Rink Starlight"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"thisIsMeNow_CBRs_roller\"<\/p>\n

I wrote an editorial review for Roller Rink Starlight<\/em>.\u00a0 It was phenomenal.\u00a0 Here’s my review:<\/p>\n

Despite the title and preface, Roller Rink Starlight<\/em> doesn\u2019t have a whole lot to do with competitive speed skating. Sure, there\u2019s some skating action in here\u2014several chapters are chock full of arcane skating lingo, race times, and second-by-second retellings of pivotal races. But speed skating is merely the thread that ties together the various essays and short stories of this memoir. Author William Hart makes clear he was only particularly skilled in one area\u2014the sprint\u2014and he gradually becomes aware in his final year on the team that even there he was losing his competitive edge (not to mention, his interest in the sport).<\/p>\n

Readers will more often be treated to the inner thoughts of teenage Hart as he navigates high school, religion, and personal relationships in the early 1960s. Although he\u2019s as mercurial, impulsive, self-centered, and hopelessly aroused as the next young man, his experiences are colored by a much older William Hart\u2014a man who has gained valuable insights into his younger self\u2019s thoughts and ambitions. Evaluations of his teenage years are so frank and honest that I sometimes felt like I was sneaking a peek at Hart\u2019s private diary.<\/p>\n

He spends his formative years at his local rink, hanging out with friends and participating in myriad skating activities. Couples skates, playing limbo, things like that. Over time we get to know his friends, the DJ, the owners, his skating team coach, and many other rink denizens. It\u2019s sure to bring fond memories to anyone who spent any number of childhood weekends at a skating rink. As soon as young William Hart strapped on his skates and rolled onto the oval, my own long-dormant memories resurfaced like a basketball suddenly released underwater. The disco balls, the loud music. The circular, carpet-covered benches. That suffused smell of popcorn and sugar and deodorizers. It\u2019s surprising how little skating rinks have changed since the 1960s.<\/p>\n

William Hart\u2019s memoir is as captivating as it is well written, with rich, evocative prose and intriguing snippets of historical events of the 50s and 60s. Anyone who picks this up is bound to be pleasantly surprised by the poignant, coming-of-age tale under its somewhat garish cover. The ending is especially surprising, and I can\u2019t help but wonder whether the final revelation occurred to Hart at the very same moment he typed the last words. This book is highly recommended.<\/p>\n