I don’t know anything about figure skating but that didn’t stop me from liking this zine, subtitled “Skating Zine For The Obsessed Masses”. The pieces varied from memorable moments in Nagano, to profiles of various figure skaters, to a book review, to a pretty funny article on the topics that would be featured if Scott Hamilton had his own talk show. What made this zine stand out was the tremendous enthusiasm for the sport that shone through in the writing. Though it sometimes bordered on being saccharine – it would have been nice to see some critiques of figure skaters – the writing clearly showed the writer’s knowledge and adoration for the sport and the people involved. It is that enthusiasm that can allow someone who doesn’t care at all about figure skating to suddenly find themselves caught up in the lives of Elena Bechke and Denis Petrov. (KJ)
zine, #4, 20 pgs., Yasmin Siddiqui (editor), $1.75, 28 Roxanne Cres., Toronto, ON, M1V 4H6,