Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Let me say this, I didn't know how messed up Amanda Beard was. Really, I mean that as a compliment. Because from my view as a fan (and a person who interviewed and met her once) she seemed perfect, charmed and slightly aloof. This was a powerful memoir of a female athlete who had success early and sustained it, but with difficulty. She reveals her inner demons, mostly in the form of self-doubt and body issues. I never would have thought that the famed and celebrated Olympic swimmer who posed in men's magazines would feel horrible about her body. Most powerful to me, someone who tries to be health and fit, was her description of one of her photo shoots. She starved herself for two weeks to lose weight to look right for the photos. However, she noted that her "athletic image" in those photos bore little resemblance to what an actual athlete's body needed to look like to be successful. That hit home. So too did her talking about how much those photos are about lighting and photshop. It gives a totally different perspective on what those pictures of female athletes mean.
Did not learn very much about her Olympic experiences. And this memoir is not entirely about that so that is not a complaint but it is something that I had hoped for.
It seems as if there was a lot of blaming of her boyfriends for many of her woes. She seems very co-dependent and judgemental. The airing out of the names of people who rubbed her wrong all the way back in high school was a letdown.
I felt like the fact that she was primarily raised by her father and not her mother was the elephant in the room. To act as if that was not the source of her negative self-image was confusing and ridiculous. She also does not seem to accept responsibility for her own decisions in regards to her drug usage.
The book itself was poorly written. Not to say that she actually wrote it. With the information she shared about her learning disorder and practice schedule I am amazed that her parents allowed her to be essentially uneducated. Amanda comes across as entitled and dense. Her Father bought her a home when she was in college yet she hardly mentions studying and was more concerned with having her friends and boyfriend live with her. Not that she had to study because it seems her teachers were passing her along because of her athletic abilities. Wow.
It seems as if there was a lot of blaming of her boyfriends for many of her woes. She seems very co-dependent and judgemental. The airing out of the names of people who rubbed her wrong all the way back in high school was a letdown.
I felt like the fact that she was primarily raised by her father and not her mother was the elephant in the room. To act as if that was not the source of her negative self-image was confusing and ridiculous. She also does not seem to accept responsibility for her own decisions in regards to her drug usage.
The book itself was poorly written. Not to say that she actually wrote it. With the information she shared about her learning disorder and practice schedule I am amazed that her parents allowed her to be essentially uneducated. Amanda comes across as entitled and dense. Her Father bought her a home when she was in college yet she hardly mentions studying and was more concerned with having her friends and boyfriend live with her. Not that she had to study because it seems her teachers were passing her along because of her athletic abilities. Wow.
While maybe now the most "we'll written," this story really hit home. I really love how honest it was, about the good time, as well as the bad. I love the sport of swimming, and greatly respect all professionals, but Amanda's story really rung true. It was so frank and honest, I kept thinking throughout the book, "shoot, that could have been me!" Love it. So glad to hear her life story. It literally made me laugh out loud as well as cry throughout.
3 1/2 stars but I'm feeling generous so I'll round up. As far as athlete memoirs go, this was pretty well written. I almost wonder if she had a ghost writer, mostly because she divulges that she has mild dyslexia and always struggled in school and with reading. Going through the book, I thought that she was incredibly self aware and sounded like perhaps she'd been through a great deal of therapy. This turns out to be accurate. I respect her for her journey and seeking help though many times I wanted to shake the crap out of her and scream "Look at what you are doing to yourself!" I'm glad that everything has worked out and it sounds like she's in a really good place now.
The memoir I read is called “In the Water They Can’t See You Cry”, the story of Amanda Beard. Overall I thought the memoir was a work of art. It brings a raw element to the Olympic and competitive athletes. The first element of the memoir I found to be its best attribute was its self- discovery aspect. When you read through the story, you watch as Amanda grows into herself, she allows herself to change. You are introduced to a girl who struggles through school, but knows her place in life; she does what she loves with no care in the world whether it’s proper in society. You as a reader are taken on a journey of ups and downs, you learn that the person how started the story is a different one when they finish. Struggling with dyslexia allows you to see into her personality, she could have easily given up, but she fought to keep her grades with the help of her dad. Having two failed relationships do not stop her from finding love, her views on what was important changed, her views of herself changed. Throughout high school and college society put a lot of pressure on her. The memoir allows us to see how people can feel alone even if they are surrounded with people that love them. The emotions and feelings throughout the book were bottled up inside, you have a greater understand of how the mind works. This memoir touches on so many relevant topics found in society, especially high school. When Amanda meets her husband Sacha, you can see how her character starts to change, her character arc is forming. She is discovering the truths in front of her. Sacha allowed her to find happiness. She found help; he helped her change and realizes the ways she was coping weren't the only ways. He made her understand the beautiful person she was inside and out. This shows the memoirs self-discovery part.
The second element of the memoir that was very important is conflict. Well in college Amanda Beard met her first boyfriend. He swept her off her feet, being everything to impress her. He was courting her to his fullest ability. But when they started dating, and his career/swimming got worse, he became destructive. Alcohol and drugs became his pride. He introduced Amanda to a world she never expected to be in. Throughout the lies, arguing and drugs they still stayed together. When Amanda went to meet his parents she realized, that she was not the girl for him. He neglected her as a person and caused her to self-destruct; cutting and bulimia were her coping mechanisms. As Amanda grew through the story the reader understands that her road to victory wasn't golden or easy. She found herself heading into an area of self-destruction. We as an audience start to realize, many of her feelings are what we hear within our minds. The conflict of her life brings a certain perspective to the memoir. She pushes her issues inward, she blocks out people but during the novel she learns to love herself and what she has been blessed with. The story is inspiring; she shows us the grief, depression, as well as the happiest part of her life. We learn that every conflict or challenge she has overcome has only strengthened her into the women she is today.
The third element is narrative structure. Narrative structure is a literary element. Since this is a memoir, it is written with a one person narrative. It is in the perspective of the writer Amanda Beard. This method was useful in portraying the overall theme of the memoir. The narrative text structures are the plot and the setting. The structure allows the reader to hear her thoughts, and understand her point of view. She describes her situation, we feel her pain, sorrow, happiness, and overall we understand her choices. This memoir is a roller coaster of emotions; it’s about striving for perfection. We learn of the pressures and struggling an Olympic swimmer overcomes. WE learn about how the media affects a person attitude towards them. The reader understands what lengths people have to go until they find peace. We learn about coping mechanisms and how people can handle the overall stress. This book is about beating the odds, it’s about being the best you can be, and the most important it’s about learning to love your imperfections.
Overall I think this memoir, is a big success. It relates to some of the hardest topics to discuss. It tackles the elephant in the room efficiently. The memoir challenges everyone to accepting of their flaws. Amanda was just having fun in 1996, but that all turned dark when she became a fourteen year old celebrity, a status that she neither wanted nor knew how to handle. The memoir itself sheds light on topics every person encounters throughout their life. When reading this book I realized many things, taking in only negative can only ever produce a negative, people are not always as they seem and that your imperfections make you beautiful. I felt the last chapter of the book showed the most character change and self-discovery, Amanda comes to fully embrace who she is, and well realizing that being a mother to a beautiful baby boy Blaise and a devoted wife is the things that bring her the most lasting joy and fulfillment, just like her love of swimming. I enjoyed the memoir, and highly encourage others to read for pleasure. It isn't just a memoir about an Olympic; it’s about the emotional journey to get to the top.
The second element of the memoir that was very important is conflict. Well in college Amanda Beard met her first boyfriend. He swept her off her feet, being everything to impress her. He was courting her to his fullest ability. But when they started dating, and his career/swimming got worse, he became destructive. Alcohol and drugs became his pride. He introduced Amanda to a world she never expected to be in. Throughout the lies, arguing and drugs they still stayed together. When Amanda went to meet his parents she realized, that she was not the girl for him. He neglected her as a person and caused her to self-destruct; cutting and bulimia were her coping mechanisms. As Amanda grew through the story the reader understands that her road to victory wasn't golden or easy. She found herself heading into an area of self-destruction. We as an audience start to realize, many of her feelings are what we hear within our minds. The conflict of her life brings a certain perspective to the memoir. She pushes her issues inward, she blocks out people but during the novel she learns to love herself and what she has been blessed with. The story is inspiring; she shows us the grief, depression, as well as the happiest part of her life. We learn that every conflict or challenge she has overcome has only strengthened her into the women she is today.
The third element is narrative structure. Narrative structure is a literary element. Since this is a memoir, it is written with a one person narrative. It is in the perspective of the writer Amanda Beard. This method was useful in portraying the overall theme of the memoir. The narrative text structures are the plot and the setting. The structure allows the reader to hear her thoughts, and understand her point of view. She describes her situation, we feel her pain, sorrow, happiness, and overall we understand her choices. This memoir is a roller coaster of emotions; it’s about striving for perfection. We learn of the pressures and struggling an Olympic swimmer overcomes. WE learn about how the media affects a person attitude towards them. The reader understands what lengths people have to go until they find peace. We learn about coping mechanisms and how people can handle the overall stress. This book is about beating the odds, it’s about being the best you can be, and the most important it’s about learning to love your imperfections.
Overall I think this memoir, is a big success. It relates to some of the hardest topics to discuss. It tackles the elephant in the room efficiently. The memoir challenges everyone to accepting of their flaws. Amanda was just having fun in 1996, but that all turned dark when she became a fourteen year old celebrity, a status that she neither wanted nor knew how to handle. The memoir itself sheds light on topics every person encounters throughout their life. When reading this book I realized many things, taking in only negative can only ever produce a negative, people are not always as they seem and that your imperfections make you beautiful. I felt the last chapter of the book showed the most character change and self-discovery, Amanda comes to fully embrace who she is, and well realizing that being a mother to a beautiful baby boy Blaise and a devoted wife is the things that bring her the most lasting joy and fulfillment, just like her love of swimming. I enjoyed the memoir, and highly encourage others to read for pleasure. It isn't just a memoir about an Olympic; it’s about the emotional journey to get to the top.
medium-paced
I couldn't put this book down. You don't typically think about feeling sorry for a 4-time Olympic athlete, but wow, Amanda Beard had a rough go of it. It was encouraging to see her overcome her issues though, and also to see how she repeatedly defied odds to keep making the Olympic team. (Although it was painful reading her justification of doing nude photos for Playboy--that's NOT art, that's just giving in to the sexual objectification of women! Grrrr. /feminist rant)
this was OK just. yeah. the intro just raw dogging sh was very shocking. wording could have been more delicate for me maybe i’m just too gen z sensitive it just was not the book for me.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I've always adored the Olympics, and really enjoyed watching Ms. Beard's career through them all, and since my Olympic fix got delayed a year, and I have not much to do these days, it was time to finally read In the Watery They Can't See You Cry. Ms. Beard wrote with a co-author, so I'm not sure how much of it is her own words and how much of it is what Ms. Paley turned her story into. I would give this 3.5 stars, if it was an option, because it's incredibly interesting and also heartbreaking to hear her story. It goes to show you, that, like always, you don't always know what's going on with someone else unless you walk a mile in their shoes, or bare feet, as the case may be with Ms. Beard.