Breaking the Surface

New York: Random House, 1995. First Edition [stated], presumed first printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xiv, 290 pages. The world's greatest diver offers a candid account of his life and sports career, detailing his troubled youth, the highs and lows of athletic competition, the need to conceal his homosexuality, and life in a post-Olympics era. Greg Louganis (born January 29, 1960) is an American Olympic diver who won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics on the springboard and platform. He is the only man and the second diver in Olympic history to sweep the diving events in consecutive Olympic Games. He has been called both "the greatest American diver" and "probably the greatest diver in history". Eric Marcus (born November 12, 1958, New York City) is an American journalist, podcast producer, and non-fiction writer. He is the founder and host of the Making Gay History podcast, which brings LGBT history to life through the voices of the people who lived it, and he is co-producer of Those Who Were There: Voices from the Holocaust, a podcast drawn from the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University. His books are primarily of LGBT interest, including Breaking the Surface, the autobiography of Greg Louganis, which became a #1 New York Times best seller and Making History: The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Equal Rights, 1945-1990, which won the Stonewall Book Award. He is also the author of Why Suicide? Questions and Answers about Suicide, Suicide Prevention, and Coping with the Suicide of Someone You Know. He has written for a range of publications including The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, the New York Daily News, and the New York Post. Louganis recounted his story in a best-selling autobiography, Breaking the Surface, co-written with Eric Marcus. In the book, Louganis detailed a relationship of domestic abuse and rape as well as teenage depression, and how he began smoking and drinking at a young age. The book spent five weeks at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list. In this unflinchingly honest autobiography, four-time Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis, the greatest diver the sport has ever known, offers a tough story that will break hearts and inspire readers with its powerful story of courage and perseverance. Champions aren't born, they're made. The haunting, searingly candid New York Times bestselling memoir of Greg Louganis' journey to overcome homophobia, colorism, and disability to become one of the best Olympic athletes in the world. Greg Louganis began diving at age nine. At sixteen, he beat out more experienced competitors to win a silver medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. By all accounts, the world was his for the taking. But there was more happening beneath the surface. In his tell-all autobiography Greg invites readers into the harrowing, inspirational true story of his life on and off the diving board. Adopted at nine months, Greg spent most of his life fighting colorism in his community and struggling with late-detected dyslexia. Athleticism was an area in which he thrived—he was in control, he could prove his worth, and he would show the world what he was capable of. But as a closeted gay man living in a violently homophobic world, Greg lived in fear: fear that coming out would mean sacrificing his career and reputation, and fear that by not speaking out he was perpetuating the status-quo. But as his skill as a diver became internationally known, the spotlight he found himself under only intensified his struggles, leading to difficulties with relationships and substance abuse. It took the true spirit of a champion to heal, rise above adversity, and fight for others. A sports memoir and LGBTQ book, in Breaking the Surface Olympic diver Greg Louganis reflects on the highs and lows of his iconic life and career—from testing positive to HIV and going on to win double gold medals at the Olympics, to overcoming astounding prejudice and becoming an LGBTQ+ activist—in a raw, honest exploration of how we define greatness.