{"id":16825,"date":"2019-10-16T09:09:19","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T13:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/?p=16825"},"modified":"2019-11-13T22:38:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-14T03:38:00","slug":"review-adam-rippons-beautiful-on-the-outside-conveys-a-tone-of-authenticity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/2019\/10\/16\/review-adam-rippons-beautiful-on-the-outside-conveys-a-tone-of-authenticity\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Adam Rippon’s Beautiful on the Outside<\/i> conveys hard-won authenticity"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Lorrie Kim, special to Figure Skaters Online
\nHeader photo copyright: Grand Central Publishing<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
(Photo copyright: Grand Central Publishing)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yes, you will probably laugh out loud reading Adam Rippon<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0Beautiful on the Outside<\/i>.\u00a0 (That happened to me five times, twice in public.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re hoping for a sassy gay voice with this book, you\u2019re in luck.\u00a0 Double luck if you were also hoping for gems of skate-mom wisdom from Kelly Rippon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There is a smattering of inside dirt, all the more delightful because it is meticulously worded and beyond reproach.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ll cry, but I did.\u00a0 Once when Rippon paid tribute to Johnny Weir and Rudy Galindo for how they contributed to the sport before him as out gay men, and once when a story about Rafael Arutyunyan showed that Rippon had earned this coach\u2019s respect and affection.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most of all, this book gives you a close-up view of how this Olympic medalist\u2019s mind works.\u00a0 He acknowledges that he\u2019s not \u201ca normal human, but then going to the Olympics is not something normal humans do.\u201d\u00a0 More than any other skating memoir I\u2019ve read, this one demonstrates that championship skating requires just as much mental strength as physical training.\u00a0 Rippon\u2019s mental discipline is phenomenal, as is his ability to reframe setbacks and learn from them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The structure of the book is beautiful, like Rippon\u2019s cheekbones.\u00a0 It starts off with a profanity in the first sentence, to keep things humble.\u00a0 His painful 2014 U.S. Nationals, when he didn\u2019t qualify for the Olympic team, comes at the exact midpoint of the book.\u00a0 From that point, the humor revs up until, by the end, I guarantee that you will laugh.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It all started in childhood, of course, when tiny Adam dreamed of being like a woman he saw pictured on a popcorn tin, skating outdoors in a long black coat, a bonnet, and a white muff: \u00a0\u201cThe muff would obviously be the key to my success.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Enter Kelly Rippon, mother of six:\u00a0 \u201c\u2019We\u2019re not going to get a muff,\u2019 my mom said.\u00a0 \u2018You don\u2019t need a muff.\u00a0 Where do you even buy a muff?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even as a small child, Rippon had elaborate plans for family talent shows, but they were often foiled because \u201cthere was always at least one Rippon child having some sort of meltdown\u2014maybe my brother was crying or my sister shit her pants.\u201d\u00a0 I raised my eyebrows at that.\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t his sister feel singled out, with a sentence like that?\u00a0 I needn\u2019t have worried; I soon encountered a major recurring theme of this book.\u00a0 Suffice to say that nobody need feel singled out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Everything you suspected about Kelly Rippon\u2019s Olympic-level parenting is true.\u00a0 With six kids, she made it to every child\u2019s school play or recital.\u00a0 I can\u2019t even do that with two kids.\u00a0 She once caught Adam engaging in rink gossip and cured him by making him watch a four-hour documentary on the Salem witch trials.\u00a0 She insisted on dinner as a family every night.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
(Book cover photo by Peter Yang) (Photo copyright: Hachette Book Group, Inc.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then I read about how she reduced her son\u2019s commute as a young teen\u00a0and<\/i>\u00a0saved money:\u00a0 using connections she\u2019d developed on her own, Kelly Rippon found more paying students for Rippon\u2019s coach at their local rink, then started a hockey program at that rink, booked \u201ca ton of rooms at a local hotel\u201d for that program, and got that hotel to reward her with a free room once a week.\u00a0 Then she was able to get Rippon\u2019s coach to travel to them and stay there, at times, instead of him always taking the bus to train with her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Give that woman a medal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adam was her equal, though.\u00a0 He was in sixth grade when she told him she couldn\u2019t drive him to the rink in the mornings because she had to feed and clothe his five siblings and send them to school with their lunches.\u00a0 He got them up early, fed and clothed them himself, packed their lunches, dressed his preschool sister\u2019s hair in \u201ca crown of braids,\u201d then woke his mother and informed her she could drive him to the rink.\u00a0 He did this every morning until he moved out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This prepared him well for a boss move in his final training year:\u00a0 he singlehandedly changed coach Rafael Arutyunyan\u2019s haphazard scheduling structure.\u00a0 He coordinated schedule information from every other student, made a master plan for the season, presented it to this formidable coach, then held his breath.\u00a0 Arutyunyan adopted it whole.\u00a0 This seems, to me, as grand an achievement as a quad lutz.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This kind of story gives insight into the degree of organization it takes to be an Olympic-level athlete.\u00a0 No wonder Rippon was able to sustain a near-superhuman public appearance schedule during his first professional year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI would watch old interviews the hosts had done, and I would see who their favorite guests were.\u00a0 I would write four or five jokes for each appearance and try to get at least two of them into the conversation.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t want it to look too obvious, like I was straining to get to the punch line, but I wanted to have material prepared.\u00a0 See?\u00a0 That was another thing I learned from competing\u2014to do the hard work in the dark so I could shine in the light.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Figure skating\u2019s emphasis on technical elements, transitions, flow and glide translated well to his post-skating career, as it often does.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One striking passage involves a life lesson from legendary choreographer David Wilson.\u00a0 Rippon demonstrated Wilson\u2019s choreography with a flawless skate that had a single stepout, and this tiny mistake bothered him so much that he broke character in frustration.\u00a0 This brought on a rant from Wilson, who was furious about the disrespect it showed to the work and the audience.\u00a0 It was painful, but it helped Rippon mature past the trap of perfectionism, an enormously empowering move.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But enough about hard work.\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry, there\u2019s drama, too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re wondering if former coach Nikolai Morozov appears in this book, the answer is yes.\u00a0 From alcohol overuse, to dating of students, to evidence that Morozov was often behind on his rent, the mentions are restrained, but choice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, Rippon was desperately broke and hungry.\u00a0 Interviews have mentioned that he used to live on free apples from his gym, but I didn\u2019t know until now that he\u2019s actually allergic to apples.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, Rippon did have a chaste romance with Yuna Kim for a while; they were compatible in many ways.\u00a0 Normally, as an Asian woman, I wouldn\u2019t appreciate a white man claiming, \u201cI, too, am a shy, beautiful, timid Asian girl,\u201d but in Rippon\u2019s case\u2026well, fair enough.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, Rippon discusses his coming out process.\u00a0 He\u00a0mentions an entire network of support behind him, including officials and staff from U.S. Figure Skating, such as the fiercely supportive Barb Reichert, director of external relations.\u00a0 He thanks choreographer Cindy Stuart, friend and fellow world junior champion Derrick Delmore, and Randy Gardner\u2019s husband Jay Gendron, as well.\u00a0 This kind of network is not new, but the support from USFS is a more recent phenomenon.\u00a0 Rippon\u2019s memoir, in conjunction with earlier memoirs from Johnny Weir and Rudy Galindo, chronicle this development in the sport\u2019s U.S. history.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He also discusses a few relationships with men, with a generosity toward his younger self that is absolutely beautiful.\u00a0 If there is anything that young LGBTQ+ folks take from Rippon as a role model, let that gentleness be part of it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the other hand, Rippon can be wickedly funny, as well.\u00a0 Kudos to him for writing about an unpleasant ex in a way that is thoroughly satisfying (he deserved it!) without being actually vengeful at all.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, there\u2019s diva humor.\u00a0 He recounts being pleased that when he broke his ankle, at least he had had a pedicure the day before, so he looked good for the X-rays.\u00a0 And then when he left the rink to heal the injury, he cleaned out his locker and left conspicuous vacuum tracings around it because \u201cI\u00a0wanted it to look like someone had died.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rippon doesn\u2019t focus so much on medals.\u00a0 He barely mentions winning Nationals; it\u2019s not about winning.\u00a0 He discusses the process, instead, especially the mental aspect.\u00a0 He recovered from his injury at the Olympic Training Center, where there are countdown clocks to the Olympics everywhere, but he took their ubiquity as incentive to time his recovery, not as a source of stress.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The entire book conveys a tone of authenticity, but it\u2019s not artless.\u00a0 Nor is it performative, although it is conscious of performance.\u00a0 Rippon\u2019s authenticity, instead, comes across as an intentional strategy: \u00a0hard-won, mindful.\u00a0 After so long in the sport, he has learned that being inauthentic\u2014skating to please others rather than the self, skating to convey a false image, skating while hiding secrets\u2014can only hold the skater back.\u00a0 You can see the proof of this strategy when you watch his rock-solid Olympic programs.\u00a0 He stays mentally present for every moment.\u00a0 He paces himself; he does not rush; he breathes.\u00a0 This is phenomenal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rippon mentions saucily, several times, that his birthday is coming up:\u00a0 November 11, to be exact.\u00a0 What would make a good gift for someone who\u2019s made so many of his skating dreams come true?\u00a0 Can somebody get Adam Rippon a really nice muff?\u00a0 Girlfriend deserves one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lorrie Kim ran Rainbow Ice, the first website devoted to LGBTQ issues in figure skating, from 1998 to 2006.\u00a0 She has written about figure skating for the\u00a0<\/i>Advocate,\u00a0<\/i>Outsports, and\u00a0<\/i>Icebreaker:\u00a0 The Autobiography of Rudy Galindo\u00a0with Eric Marcus.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lorrie Kim, special to Figure Skaters Online Header photo copyright: Grand Central Publishing   Yes, you will probably laugh out loud reading Adam Rippon\u2019s\u00a0Beautiful on the Outside.\u00a0 (That happened to me five times, twice in public.)   If you\u2019re hoping for a sassy gay voice with this book, you\u2019re in luck.\u00a0 Double luck if…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[290],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16825"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16850,"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16825\/revisions\/16850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}