Jumpin' Joe: The Jozef Sabovcik Story

Virginia Gillham is university librarian at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Readers of this “as told to” autobiography will tire of the
profusion of short declarative sentences and be irritated by the
grammatical errors, awkward constructions, and typographical lapses.
There is a story here worth telling, but the reader must work
unacceptably hard to discern it. A talented, headstrong, and frequently
thoroughly unpleasant young man whose most significant formative
relationship was with his grandmother reveals his thoughts and emotions,
analyzes his disastrous marriage, and emerges as a loving and devoted
father. Readers who follow professional figure skating closely, or who
are familiar with the various skaters who played key roles in
Sabovcik’s amateur competitive career, will find the details of this
saga interesting. It’s a pity the saga wasn’t told in a more
compelling, not to mention literate, fashion.