Jaime Schultz
In this exploration of the history of women in roller derby, Michella M. Marino highlights the shifting, often contradictory dynamics of gender, sexuality, and race in US sport and society. Expertly told and carefully researched and including a wealth of oral history interviews with athletes, coaches, managers, children of skaters, and fans, this is a fascinating study of an understudied phenomenon.
Maddie Breeze
This book is an absolute gem, meticulously researched and certain to become the authoritative text on the history of roller derby in the USA. Using a combination of oral history testimonies and fascinating archival sources, Marino approaches roller derby as an important cultural institution and examines the twists and turns of almost one hundred years of the sport with curiosity, generosity, and impressive rigor. The book stands out for its consistent attention to the way tensions around gender, class, and race across twentieth-century America were transacted and negotiated by skaters and wider roller derby communities. Roller Derby: The History of an American Sport achieves the remarkable feat of not only giving an account of the captivating conflicts, triumphs, and frustrations of roller derby itself but also offering readers a fresh perspective on the much broader issues that shape our lives and define our cultures.
Susan Cahn
"Michella Marino’s original and compelling history of roller derby shows us how the coed sport skates on a precarious balance of challenging and reinforcing the dominant culture. In doing so, Marino untangles the gender, sexual, and racial dynamics of US sport culture itself. Deeply researched, this lively narrative is a must-read for those interested in gender, sport, spectacle, and American culture.
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Devoney "Stone Cold Jane Austen" Looser
Roller Derby: The History of an American Sport is both a powerful history and a great read. It brings alive the origins, growth, and complex evolution of an unusual and very real sport, which tends to be either loved to distraction or regrettably misunderstood. As one of those who loves roller derby to distraction, I was wowed by the author’s colorful stories, original interviews, and incisive analysis of gender, race, class, and sexuality. Readers, skaters, athletes, feminists, and fans of all kinds will want to high five Michella M. Marino (aka Coors Lightning) for this meticulously researched, force-filled, and fascinating book.
