A review by amymo73
In the Water They Can't See You Cry by Amanda Beard

4.0

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.