Press
Booklist Starred Review
Issue: November 1, 2009
The Sugarless Plum: A Ballerina’s Triumph Over Diabetes.
Karz, Zippora (Author)
Nov 2009. 288 p. Harlequin, hardcover, $22.95. (9780373892037). 792.802.
After learning to dance in Thailand during her dad’s army tour, Karz studied at George Balanchine’s
School of the American Ballet, the training ground for the New York City Ballet. At 17, she danced as the
Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and at 20 she danced in company cofounder Jerome Robbins’
Goldberg Variations. Loving the “order and control” of dance, Karz was shaken to the core when she was
diagnosed with diabetes at age 21. Failed attempts at self-healing were followed by insulin injections and
blood tests throughout her demanding routine of classes, rehearsal, and evening performances—all in
secret to conceal the severity of her illness. Six years later, after she’d toured internationally despite
frightening fluctuations in blood sugar levels, she remained in the corps de ballet, then was promoted to
soloist. One of the pleasures in this empowering journey of talent and determination is Karz’s faultless
writing; it’s never awkward or stilted even when she provides medical and technical dance facts. This
winning memoir will appeal strongly to readers interested in dance, health, and artists’ memoirs.
— Whitney Scott
The Sugarless Plum: A Ballerina’s Triumph over Diabetes Zippora Karz. Harlequin, $22.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-373-89203-7
In 1987, when Karz was 21 and dancing in the corps of the prestigious New York City Ballet, she began to suffer constant thirst and dizziness, frequent urination and oozing sores under her arms. After an initial misdiagnosis and months of denying the seriousness of her condition, Karz faced the devastating reality that, as a type 1 diabetic, she would have to take insulin injections for the rest of her life, check her blood-sugar levels at least 10 times a day and was at a high risk for infection and even amputation. Karz details the ups and downs of her childhood, illness and 16-year NYCB career, from a low-blood-sugar episode that almost derailed a performance in Copenhagen to dancing with George Balanchine himself at a School of American Ballet rehearsal; being cast as the Nutcracker’s Sugar Plum Fairy; and her promotion to soloist six years after her diagnosis. Karz’s prose is simple, and although ballet fans may wish for more insider gossip, Karz offers a satisfying portrait of a dancer making her mark at a competitive world-class company. Diabetics and athletes in particular will gain inspiration from her perseverance, acceptance and control of a debilitating disease.
Sandy Nathan’s Review at Amazon.com
Interview at Sound Medicine with Barbara Lewis
Time Out New York: Dance By Gia Kourias
Interview With Diabetes Forecast Magazine
Click on the links below to order
The Sugarless Plum
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