Down and Derby: The Insider's Guide to Roller Derby

When most Americans hear the words "roller derby" today, they think of the kitschy sport once popular on weekend television during the seventies and eighties. Originally an endurance competition where skaters traveled the equivalent of a trip between Los Angeles and New York, derby gradually evolved into a violent contact sport often involving fake fighting. But after nearly dying out in the nineties, derby has been making a comeback. From a mere handful of leagues in the United States just a few years ago, there are now more than 17,000 skaters in more than 400 leagues around the world, with hundreds of thousands of die-hard fans. Down and Derby will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the sport. Written by veteran skaters as both a history and a how-to, Down and Derby is a brassy celebration of every aspect of the sport, from its origins in the late 1800s, to the rules of a modern bout, to the science of picking an alias, to the many ways you can get involved off skates. Informative, entertaining, and executed with the same tough, sassy, DIY attitude—leavened with plenty of humor—that the sport is known for, Down and Derby is the first and last book on derby you’ll ever need.

Author Biography

Alex Cohen initially thought she wanted to be an actress, so she studied theater at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. She went on to study theater at Brown University, but became way more interested in Eastern Religions—which is what she earned her B.A. in with honors in 1993.

Jennifer Barbee joined the LA Derby Dolls in October 2003, rechristened herself Kasey Bomber, and became the co-captain of the fun-loving Trust Fund Terrors. Since roller derby was still the early days of its revival, Jennifer made it her mission to unite the Dolls in spirit with all the other leagues across the country. Many airline miles, toasts to success, and skating-induced blisters later, she took that mission one step further by helping to organize the first national roller derby convention, Rollercon, in Las Vegas in 2005. After several exciting seasons, Jennifer retired from team skating in 2008 to focus on coaching, and refocus on writing for publications such as Blood and Thunder Magazine. In 2009, she was hired to help train actresses Ellen Page, Juliette Lewis, and Drew Barrymore for the derby-inspired film Whip It! Her co-trainer, and good friend was Alex “Axles of Evil” Cohen. The seeds of Down & Derby: An Insider’s Guide to Roller Derby were planted during the many hours of down time on the film’s set in Michigan, and the friends became writing partners.