The Great Eight: How to Be Happy (Even When You Have Every Reason to be Miserable) by Scott Hamilton with Ken Baker

I finished this book 2 days ago... after procrastinating for about a week. And now it is time to write the review and I have to say that it has been really difficult to figure out what I was going to say about this book. This is the first book that was sent to me for review from the "Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers" program at Thomas Nelson Publishing.  I certainly don't want to "bite the hand that fed me" so to speak, and I should say before I get to the meat of this review that I am truly grateful for the gift of the book.  And I may have built up an over-expectation about the book, too.  I was really excited about it because I grew up watching Scott Hamilton skate and liked him very much.  I thought he must have been a pretty smart and very funny guy because he always skated to the "funny" routines.

All that being said, there was very little humorous in this book. I know that not everyone's life is sweetness and light.  I also know that Scott had it particularly rough.  Or, if I didn't, I surely do now!  I actually found myself struggling to get through the book, to be honest.  One of the first reasons why is that for a book about being happy, there is a lot of terribly depressing stuff in it.  He goes into great detail, over multiple chapters, (and very often repeats himself) about his many illnesses, the pain and suffering they caused his family, and the sacrifices they had to make for him in order to be a skater. Then he talks about how, when his adoptive parents could no longer afford to support his career, he found another "mother and father" type of couple to sponsor him.  He talks about how he turned a place he was supposed to temporarily crash at for a few weeks with a kind hearted family into his home for YEARS.  He talks about how his father died alone in a hospital because he was busy working in his job hosting at the Olympics. He talks about how sorry he was that his mother didn't live long enough to see him become wealthy and successful.  He even goes so far as to talk about the "folly" of a female audience member who was applying make up while he was skating one of his last shows - after having just been diagnosed with a brain tumor!  He had made no announcement, there was no way for this woman to know how "momentous" this occasion was for Scott.  And yet, "her folly" for having the audacity to be applying make up of all the terrible things! (gasp) 

I always thought when you were putting on a show it is about the audience enjoying it, not about you.  It seems there is very little in Scott's life, if this book is any indication, that isn't just all about Scott.  I know you are saying, "But it is a book about Scott Hamilton's life and how he found happiness!! Of COURSE it is all about Scott!!" And to an extent, you would be right.  But, I found it all to be egotistical, selfish and superficial. He seemed to revel in name dropping and mentioning all the glamorous jobs he has had over the years working in t.v., film and skating. As if that would lend him some credibility in being an authority on being happy... even though he goes to great pains to state that it does not.  If it does not, then why point it out?

Throughout the book, he sprinkled in Christian thoughts, Bible quotes and ways in which he believed his "Almighty Coach" (that's his name for The Lord) has helped him out in his life. How coincidence and happenstance all came together for him on many occasions to help him out of a bind... and all because of his "Almighty Coach".  This was very hard for me to read.  I have always thought of Christianity as being a humble religion, and good Christians themselves as being humble people in the extreme. It seems from this book that Scott is anything but humble. Yes, he is charitable... and he will be happy to tell you all about his charity work. The Christians I grew up with would look on that as being boastful.  Overall, the biblical quotes and "inspirations" seemed to be a facile overlay onto the structure of the book.  He does say that he came late in life to Christianity, so perhaps that is why it seems as though God is an afterthought in his life.

The structure of the book I am sure started off as a good idea. Skating figure eights, the great eight rules for happiness.  But, it became bogged down in multiple retellings of the same stories over and over.  Perhaps it would have benefitted from a more chronological structure?  I don't know... it is sort of hard to see the forest for the trees.  

Another problem I had with the book was the vocabulary. It seemed as if someone told the authors, "Now, no more than a 6th grade vocabulary level.  They won't understand you if you use big words or try to grasp complex subjects."  The simple fact of the matter is, as depressing as some aspects of Scott's life have been, there is real potential here for deep thought and real heartfelt analysis.  There is very little in life as complex as life and death, faith and belief in The Lord.  But this book just skates over everything as though it were just one more thing on a checklist.  Wife- check.  Church- check.  Kids- check. Money- friends- celebrity... check, check, and check.  

Now, with all of the things I didn't like out of the way, here is one thing I *did* like about this book. It has good advice.  If you read it, the advice will make sense to you and it could be inspiring to many.  It has great potential.  And hopefully you won't get bogged down in all the other stuff like I did.  I would give this book a read just for the advice, because I believe you can solve problems in your own life quicker and easier if you learn from the mistakes of others.  But I wouldn't read it just to learn more about Scott Hamilton.

At this point, I've had about as much of Scott as I can stand.

To sum up, as the primary reviewer for "Sherry's Blurbing Book Blog", I give "The Great Eight"...

2 (out of 5) stars!!

I would be interested in reading what others thought of this book.  If I am dead wrong, I sure would like someone to tell me so.  If you saw it a different way, drop me a line and tell me your perspective.  Because I really did WANT to like this book.  It's just a damn shame that I didn't.  I suppose the only thing I can be thankful for is that there is no possible way my little review could hurt someone with as much star power as Scott.  I do wish him and Ken Baker all the best in their future endeavors.

Wishing you the best of books,

Sherry