MY SERGEI

Can a woman in her early twenties write memoirs worth listening to? She can if she's "Katia" Gordeeva, Olympic Gold Medal winner, wife and figure skating partner of the late Sergei Grinkov. In dark, measured tones narrator Irina Lechova expresses the full measure of Katia's shock and grief at the loss of her entire life after the sudden death of Grinkov--her best friend, her husband, her skating partner, the father of her child. "No one who has such a wonderful life," she reflects with deep Russian drama, "should expect it to last." Not only do we learn a lot about the spartan world of athletics in the Soviet Union, Lechova's haunting delivery projects beyond the loving words of the text, suggesting shades of loneliness in an old-fashioned marriage (by American standards) with a large age difference between the partners. Listening to Lechova's completely credible performance, one wishes Katia all the best as she continues to create "her new life." E.K.D. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN 97]