The golden girl: Marion Jones's glory shines through in her memoir

Black Issues Book Review, Nov-Dec, 2004 by Fred Lindsey

Marion Jones: Life in the Fast Lane, An Illustrated Autobiography by Marion Jones with Kate Sekules Warner Books, July 2004 $24.95, ISBN 0-446-52455-7

For more than a decade, Marion Jones--with her five-feet-eleven inch, lean, copper-colored flame--was hailed as the "the Fastest woman on the planet." At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, she became the first woman to ever will five medals at one Olympics. That year, the Associated Press and ESPN named Jones "Athlete of the Year." A happy, infectious glow from these accomplishments will reflect on Jones's fans upon reading her illustrated memoirs.

Life in the Fast Lane chronicles the ups and downs of Jones's life. Although one suspects that the publication of the book was intended to coincide with and build upon the 2004 Olympics--during which she won no medals this time--it still reads like an "awe-inspiring life story," which should be very appealing to the younger set and enlightening to the venerable.

Undeniably, Jones is a great athlete. And in many respects, her roller-coaster reality is typical of her strong will to succeed, and she exemplifies her robust fight to be the best. This extraordinary woman's career was shaped by these things: her early track disappointments, her high-school and college basketball success, her triumphs at the University of North Carolina, her physical injuries, the missed 1996 Olympics, and her 2000 Olympics victory. The absence of her father, the loss of her stepfather, her marriage to and divorce from shot-putter C.S. Hunter, the recent connection to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) drug scandal, and the disappointing showing at the 2004 Olympics have also impacted her life, however.

Life in the Fast Lane is straight-forwardly written, and it includes more than 300 pictures. It reaches out for something more enduring than to simply say that Jones is "just" a great athlete. She deserves to be commended. Yet it has to be said that this record of her existence is far from complete. At age 29, Marion Jones's life is still on the launching pad, as she continues to carry her signature smile that seems to say "everything will be all right."

Fred Lindsey is an assistant professor of cultural studies at John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill, California.

Noteworthy Title

How to Play Tennis: Learn How to Play the Williams Sisters' Way by Venus and Serena Williams DK Publishing, August 2004 $19.99, ISBN 0-756-60582-2

The championship-winning Williams sisters offer instruction and inspiration in this easy, step-by-step guide for building basic and advanced tennis-playing skills. The book, which is geared for readers age 8 and up, also includes more than 500 action photographs.