Brace for Impact
A Memoir
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- ¥1,100
発行者による作品情報
A powerful and redemptive story of how the dazzling world of roller derby helped one young woman transform her fear and self-doubt into gutsy, big-hearted, adventurous living
“A universal story of healing and triumph, made all the more beautiful, wild, and free by Gabe’s fierce love for roller derby and her team, who become her family.”—ABBY WAMBACH, Olympian, activist, and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Wolfpack
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Book Riot
Growing up queer in a conservative Midwestern town, Gabe Montesanti never felt comfortable in her own skin. A competitive swimmer, she turned to perfectionism and self-control to create a sense of safety, only to develop an eating disorder and constantly second-guess her instincts. When she enters graduate school in St. Louis, she is determined to put the baggage of her childhood behind her. With no prior experience, she joins Arch Rival, one of the top-ranked roller derby leagues in the world. Gabe instantly falls in love with the sport’s roughness, intensity, and open embrace of people who are literally and figuratively scarred. She soon finds community and a sense of belonging, reveling in the tattoos, glitter, and campiness.
But when Gabe suffers a catastrophic injury, she can no longer ignore the parallels between the physicality of roller derby and the unresolved trauma of her upbringing. Rendered inactive, forced to be still, Gabe realizes she needs to heal her emotional wounds as much as her physical ones; she must confront her fear and self-diminishment in order to feel truly alive.
Told with unflinching honesty and a giant dose of wonder, Brace for Impact is a tender, inspiring memoir about the everyday heroism of pursuing a life less ordinary, and the deeply human need to be at peace with who you are.
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This propulsive debut from Montesanti explores queer belonging, body image, and emotional healing through the exhilarating lens of roller derby. While pursuing an MFA at Washington University of St. Louis, a 22-year-old Montesanti heard about a local roller derby league looking for recruits. Though unfamiliar with the sport's nuances, she understood its "unpredictability and violence" and saw in it a space to embrace her queerness. Calling forth the same dedication that fueled her as a competitive youth swimmer, Montesanti dove into derby. "I was looking for a community, but I also wanted to feel pain," she recalls. "I wanted to hit." As Montesanti's passion veers into obsession, her recollections of her childhood—ruled by a religious mother whose psychological abuse left Montesanti "punish myself for my failure to justify my fear: four hours of swimming laps... skipping meals, bingeing and purging"—lend heart-wrenching context. As she writes, "No derby meant no structure, no exercise routine, no chosen family." However, her bracing story veers from fraught to exuberantly cathartic when, after recovering from an injury on the track, Montesanti resolves to wield her pain as power, reclaiming "the way the Church had silenced me—both as a woman and as a gay woman," by anointing herself the derby moniker Joan of Spark. This spirited coming-of-age account brims with joy and resilience.
