Starred Review in Kirkus Reviews June 15, 2006

"As 'memoir' becomes an increasingly prevalent category—despite, or because of, a recent contretemps over a particular title—it's no surprise to find several coming from publishers of gay/lesbian works.

Don Weise, senior editor at Carroll & Graf, which typically publishes about 20 gay-themed books a year, had no hesitation in picking out his favorite book for the coming season. The History of Swimming, a memoir by Kim Powers, is billed as "a harrowing and moving account of the author's frantic search for his twin gay brother, who disappears from New York City one weekend." Powers is already confirmed for a Good Morning America interview with Diane Sawyer, and has found another booster in author Adriana Trigiani. "The main reason I love this so much," says Weise, "is that, though it will definitely appeal to a gay readership, it's such a bigger book in so many ways—it will easily find a mainstream audience. It's for anybody who's ever had a troubling sibling relationship, or a difficult family relationship of any kind—and that's got to be just about all of us!"
-- Publisher's Weekly 5/8/06

"This is a riveting memoir, sensitive, wise and unsparring. "The History of Swimming" teaches so much about lives where the 'beams of love" are interlaced with jagged glass. Twin brothers, joined forever in hope and pain and laughter -- and longing -- for the place they can swim in the sun."
-- Diane Sawyer

"Kim Powers has written a personal and powerful memoir about life with his twin, detailing their relationship from the womb to adulthood with unfettered honesty. With the eye of a crack journalist and the heart of a loving brother, Kim has written a story that will appeal to those who have loved "the least of their brothers": the addict, the mentally ill, and the emotionally distant."
-- Adriana Trigiani, author of "The Big Stone Gap" trilogy