On the back jacket of Johnny Weir’s memoir, he writes “There will be scandal.” About what, I’m still not really sure, and I’ve finished reading the memoir.
Known for his flashy costumes and performances, Weir, an American figure skater, is usually witty, brutally honest and unique. In his memoir, Welcome to my World, Weir is definitely brutally honest and certainly retains his uniqueness, but his personality just doesn’t really seem to shine through. The writing is bland, the book doesn’t flow well, and the story seems to lack a concrete timeline.
In short, Welcome to my World does not live up to Weir’s larger-than-life, flashy persona.
Johnny Weir’s Memoir Discusses Skating, Sexuality, Family
Now, don’t misunderstand. There certainly are sections in which Weir reminds the reader that he doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. He discusses his sexuality, some of his relationships outside of skating, and decisions his family has made to help him be successful.
Weir begins the autobiography as a young child and quickly blossoms into a successful teenager. He reminds that reader that he has had to work much harder than many of the other skaters who decided to “play by the rules.”
Instead of being inspirational, however, his reminders come across as whining. Weir doesn’t like to be around people. He can’t share a hotel room on competition trips. If he skates last in a competition, he’s likely to be more of a head case than if he skates earlier. Weir blames his skating inconsistencies on everything from bad skates to missing a bus to his coach to the US skating federation.
I understand that every athlete has rituals and specific, unique needs, but after a while, Weir’s reasons for skating inconsistently started to read like excuses rather than explanations.
Olympic Athletes Overcome Obstacles
Weir is an elite, Olympic-level athlete. Olympians are expected to be the best-of-the-best — the athletes who are not only incredibly talented, but the ones who have nerves of steel. Olympic athletes are the ones who can compartmentalize, separating the problems from the performance. Champions are the ones who can push through problems and come out on top. So why does he spend so much of his book complaining?
Admittedly, Weir is not like any other Olympic athlete. His personality is bigger than most.
Yet, on some levels, he is the same. In Welcome to my World, he writes repeatedly about how seriously he takes his skating. He eats right, works hard and produces beautiful performances.
But no matter how important skating is, Weir has shown that something else is even more important to him — being himself and being successful his way.
Weir spends much of the book going into detail about international competitions throughout his career, lamenting problems at many of them. In the last few pages, Weir attempts to show growth and self-actualization with his performance at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. Despite the nice sentiments, the ending seems a bit trite.
For those who follow Weir closely, the book will probably provide some insight into different decisions made and actions taken by the skater. For those who only follow figure skating casually, the book might be a bore.
Welcome to my World was published in 2011 by Gallery. ISBN: 879451610284
Kristen Nichols - Kristen is a freelance reporter and copywriter covering Olympic and Paralympic sport for Suite101.com. Kristen's love of sport developed ...
