The books I’ve been listening to lately all involve gymnastics and abuse. I didn’t plan it that way. I listened to one, which made me aware that another existed, which reminded me I needed to listen to Dominique Moceanu’s memoir.
Twisted is a nonfiction book that focuses on multiple women who were interviewed to tell their story of being abused at the hands of Larry Nassar, the Michigan doctor who was convicted of sexual abuse and sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. I’d vaguely heard of the doctor before listening to the book, but this audiobook was the first time I learned the details of what Nassar did. I don’t recommend the book to anyone who is easily triggered by abuse stories. The women’s stories will anger and sadden you.
Another book I listened to recently is What Is a Girl Worth? Rachael Denhollander’s memoir of surviving sexual abuse. A teen victim of Nassar who came forward and helped to ignite the furor that got Nassar indicted, Denhollander’s account will enrage you. Why were her complaints not taken more seriously? Why did Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics not have a better system in play to handle abuse allegations? Here are answers to two popular questions that so many of these victims are asked:
Why didn’t you tell someone?
They did tell someone. They told their parents. They told their coaches. They told police. In many cases, the girls and women were gaslighted or simply not believed. Some of the people in charge were blinded by Larry Nassar’s sweet demeanor and professional occupation. He lied and said he was doing pelvic floor manipulation on many of his victims. Pelvic floor manipulation is a real technique, but Nassar wasn’t doing it the right way. Instead, he touched the victims inappropriately. In many cases it was just the victim’s word against Nassar’s.
Why didn’t you come forward sooner?
Many of them did come forward sooner. There are reports from women who reported Nassar as early as the 1990s. He wasn’t officially indicted for anything until 2016.
The third book I listened to is Dominique Moceanu‘s memoir, Off Balance. It focuses as much on her forming a connection with the estranged sister her parents gave up for adoption as it does on Dominique’s gymnastics career. Overall, I enjoyed this one purely for the stroll down memory lane. Dominique and I are the same age, and I remember following the Summer Olympics on television in ’96, the year when she and the other members of the Magnificent Seven won gold in Atlanta. Moceanu does include some details about her training with Bela and Marta Karolyi, the two coaches who trained champions at their Texas ranch for generations. She alleges abuse, and I believe her. It’s competitive gymnastics, a cutthroat world that focuses more on medals than anything else. Moceanu survived physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her father, who pressured her to perform and moved his family across the country several times for her gymnastics training. There’s also an unresolved subplot involving him attempting to hire hitmen to kill both Moceanu’s friend and her coach. (!!!)
Every one of these books is worth a listen.
Monic Ductan 
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