Matt McAvoy Book Review

William Hart is an excellent writer, accomplished and professional; in a way, that makes this otherwise standard coming-of-age memoir a slight cut above.  In point of fact, I call it “coming of age”, but truthfully the characters are much younger than this – for this reason the content of this book didn’t really sit right with me at times, and readers are warned in this respect.  It is pretty vivid in its the sexual content, and I found this a little uncomfortable, because in the main William and his friends were quite early teens when most of it is set.  Sexual exploration and teenage libido play a very big part in this book, even more so than the speed skating which ties it together, and whilst not graphic, are I think the primary theme of Roller Rink Starlight (“starlight” referring to the bleachers where the kids make out).  The sex wasn’t presented as controversial or naïve childish fumblings by its author, but rather more matter of fact than that, which I found perhaps slightly more disturbing.

Other than this, and the races William occasionally participates in, the rest is pretty easygoing filler – another teenage years autobio which authors tend to write more for their own catharsis than any commercial venture – not that the genre isn’t a popular one, particularly in the U.S., when set in the more popular moments in their recent history: the rock ‘n’ roll then Kennedy years.  I felt there was a missed opportunity to expand on these events much more, though in William’s defence here there are many, many memoirs written more about the times than the subject; William’s is the opposite way around, and credit to him for that.  Still, it has all the formula ingredients of an American memoir: teenage sex; teenage drinking; high school sports; Vietnam and left-wing politics.  For fans of this genre it is an incredibly well written, if not overly eventful example, and worth a read.