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Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite
Out of My Scull by Danielle Battaglia is a delightful memoir of a woman who takes up the sport of recreational rowing in her fifties. Having tried many adventurous sports, Danielle sees the rowers gently passing by the restaurant balcony on a perfect evening and concludes that this is a sport she would like to try. When the local rowing club on the Christina River in Wilmington, Delaware, has an open day, she signs up for the lessons. Little does she realize how recreational rowing will play such an enormous part in her life for the next twenty-five years. Long past the truly competitive stage of rowing, Danielle just wants to revel in the peace and tranquility of gliding down the river in her single, double, or quad scull. She and her fellow new recreational rowers are quickly introduced to the terminology, dangers, and difficulties of propelling a thin, no-keel projectile backward down a river, all while desperately trying to avoid the ultimate embarrassment of tipping the boat over and taking a swim in the polluted waterway. It’s new and exciting but also incredibly daunting for someone entering the sport at such an advanced age. Danielle, though, is nothing if not determined and as time passes she learns how to handle the hierarchy of a rowing club, not to mention the hideous spandex rowing suits that reveal every lump, roll, and crease.
Out of My Scull is a wonderful collection of funny vignettes that highlight not only the unique vagaries of the sport but also the pleasure and relief from stress that rowing seems to offer many of its participants. Danielle Battaglia does a wonderful job of explaining many of the technical aspects of rowing and sculling that will be foreign to many readers. I’d always assumed that once in the boat, it was just a simple matter of powering through the water as fast as your arms could row. This couldn’t be further from the truth and the author wonderfully, often through self-deprecation, explains the many intricacies of mastering a sweep boat or a scull. This is a genuinely funny book, full of humorous anecdotes which will appeal to many readers. What impressed me was the deep friendships that developed between the women who made up the quad scull team known as the Pink Panthers. The story of overturning on the river and waiting to be rescued, while having no idea what was lurking beneath the surface, was genuinely scary and I know exactly how I would have reacted in the same situation. This is a simple, fun read that will also inspire those reaching advanced years and yet still wanting to be active. I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.