She stood, frozen, at the edge of the diving board. At an
early age, Joanne Faries demonstrated absolutely no athletic ability. In Athletic
Antics, her latest humorous memoir, the author describes riding her
bicycle into the back of a car; climbing trees and sliding (not on purpose)
down them scraping every inch of her body; plus surviving the duress of junior
high field hockey, lacrosse, and volleyball.
YMCA swim achievements (Tadpole, Minnow, Fish, etc.) were
halted by the diving board and the teacher nemesis, Ruthie. Would Joanne move
on to accomplish Flying Fish and Shark? Could she squint enough to see the
other end of the pool?
There are men who sing hallelujah upon the birth of a
left-handed son, a future Hall of Fame pitcher. Left-handedness can be a
blessing or curse. In archery class, being left-handed did not result in a
murder, but it came close. In regards to tennis, Joanne's initial serves
baffled her opponents and nabbed a few wins.
Joanne used every English teacher pass excuse possible to work
on school newspapers or yearbook, but sooner or later she faced the horror of
gymnastics and had to inch her way across the four inch by sixteen-foot balance
beam of death. Track and field was not her forte, nor was basketball, soccer,
or any sport involving one's hands and/or feet.
As a follow up to her memoir My Zoo World
about her fear of animals in an animal loving world, Joanne Faries looks at her
athletic life in quirky fashion. Laugh at her foibles, identify with her
unattractive gym class attire, and fall off the ski tow rope (on the wrong
side) with her. Athletic Antics covers an assortment of sports,
and according to her Wii Fit Plus, Joanne Faries cannot walk a straight line.
kindle version
Congratulations, Joanne!
ReplyDeletethanks. Always a kick to have a new book in the world
DeleteYay, book! Congratulations :-) Your tree-climbing expertise sounds oddly like my own...
ReplyDeleteouch!
DeleteCongrats. I remember you reading some of the stories - hilarious look back on difficult moments.
ReplyDeleteAnn
thanks. TWW was a help back in the day
DeleteGood luck! I hope you sell a bazillion copies.
ReplyDeleteAw, shucks. You KNOW how much I like commas... thanks. :)
thanks - you are a good blog friend
DeleteCongrats on the new book
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! This sounds like a fun one to read. :)
ReplyDeleteI like to think it's a quick read - lots of very short chapters, so you can glide through it on a summer day
DeleteI just read about your book on Susan's page and it's so great to meet you. Gym class was my worst nightmare in school so I know I will be able to relate to your book. I'm still traumatized by volleyball LOL.
ReplyDeletethanks so much. Nice to meet you. We could have been friends - junior high gym was the worst. You will laugh at those chapters.
DeleteCongratulations on your new book! It sounds cute!
ReplyDeleteCongrats! Sounds like a fun read. :-)
ReplyDeletei was just at susan's blog - excellent post there and the book sounds like fantastic follies! congrats!
ReplyDelete