Kate Torgovnick, CHEER!: Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders author: Mr. Media Interview

Summary: Kate Torgovnick is a former Jane magazine editor who now writes for The New York Times, Page Six Magazine, and Time.com. She recently published her first book, CHEER!: Inside the Secret World of College Cheerleaders. It' s a narrative non-fiction romp through the world of competitive cheerleading that Joyce Carol Oates called, "a spirited, fascinating, at times disturbing and always absorbing book." USA Today added, "Torgovnick has done an excellent job of reporting, bringing readers into this world most would never see." Competitive cheerleading has evolved from shaking pom-poms into something close to an extreme sport. Cheerleaders face severe risk to do the activity they love—back, head, and neck injuries are all too common—and according to many of the cheerleaders in the book, the risk is a huge part of the appeal. The aesthetic on college cheerleading squads is to have teensy women and huge men and both genders feel a tremendous amount of body pressure—the women often develop eating disorders or pop diet pills to stay skinny, and steroid use is surprisingly frequent among the men. And since there is no four-year eligibility rule, some cheerleaders cheer for 6, 7, even 8 years in college. More than anything, this is a book about a group of people who ride the fine line between passion and obsession.