2024 the best american sports writing review
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(as of Nov 16, 2024 14:01:09 UTC - Details)
For more than twenty-five years, The Best American Sports Writing has built a solid reputation by showcasing the greatest sports journalism of the previous year, culled from hundreds of national, regional, and specialty print and digital publications. Each year, the series editor and guest editor curate a truly exceptional collection. The only shared traits among all these diverse styles, voices, and stories are the extraordinarily high caliber of writing, and the pure passion they tap into that can only come from sports.
Publisher : Mariner Books; First Edition (October 2, 2018)
Language : English
Paperback : 352 pages
ISBN-10 : 1328846288
ISBN-13 : 978-1328846280
Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.89 x 8.25 inches
Reviewer: WDX2BB
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Perhaps the best in the bunch
Review: I've been reviewing books in this series for several years, and reading them since its inception in 1991. They've all been good; I think there was only one that received less than a four-star rating.It's with a little surprise, then, that I can say this offering of "The Best American Sports Writing" might be the one of the best of the entire bunch. I don't have the other 27 copies handy, but I feel rather confident in going that far.That's because of the story selection. Jeff Pearlman is this year's editor, and he has selected stories that make a strong impact. Let's make that word stand out a little bit - IMPACT.It would be easy to guess that all of the stories that reach the "finals" in terms of inclusion in the book are well done, year after year. Then it becomes a matter of individual taste as to which articles turn up in the book, and which ones are left to the honorable mention portion of the book. It's easy to guess that Pearlman did a particularly good job of finding stories that hit readers hard in many cases.Muhammad Ali can still fascinate us, even in death, thanks to Tom Junod's moment-by-moment description of his death and the timeline to his burial. Speaking of funerals, there are a bunch of them in the story of a plane crash of a South American soccer team from Sam Borden. Football head injuries receive a young face from Reid Forgrave. Steve Friedman profiles a woman who just can't stop running - and there are many answers to the "from what?" that lurk at the end of that sentence. You've never heard of boxer Ed "Bad Boy" Brown, but you'll find it tough to forget his story. The list goes on from there. Some certainly will say the dramatic side of sports and life is over-represented here, but the stories must be considered well done.Still, not every story is a gut-punch. Wright Thompson is a regular in the series, and his look at basketball legend Pat Riley as someone not quite in the winter of his life is detailed and fascinating. We know Dave Kindred can make the phone book interesting, but mix him with someone like Lefty Driesell - speaking of a lion in winter - is fun and poignant. And how about Cody Decker, one of those minor league baseball lifers who is still trying to crack the big leagues on the wrong side of 30?The percentage of readable, interesting stories wasn't quite perfect. One of the few that didn't work for me was David Roth's attack on the National Football League, "Downward Spiral." There's an argument to be made there, but it should have been more clear and more simple. But in the very next story in the book, Tyler Tynes comes through with "There Is No Escape from Politics." There's just as much rage there, but the argument is better. Tynes forces you to at least listen, which is crucial.Pearlman obviously is on something of a role this year. His book on the United States Football League was terrific, and now he's here with a connection to another bit of reading in "Best American Sports Writing 2018." Time to bet on the lottery, Jeff. Don't miss this frequently fascinating anthology.
Reviewer: Chaim Wachtel
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Another great edition
Review: Another year, another great collection of sports writing. My only criticism is that too many of the stories dealt with concussions or tragic death... Would have preferred more topics being covered. But most of the concussion and tragic death stories brought me to tears
Reviewer: wbateson
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: An opposing opinion
Review: I have EVERY issue of this series. I could not disagree with the other reviews more. I found this to be one of the best editions, if not the best. Yes, several (but by no means all, or even most) of the stories are sad and in some cases tragic. The editor, Jeff Pearlman, wrote in his introductions that he prefers stories where the reader has to work, thinking about what the author writes. I do too.
Reviewer: DH
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Better than the last couple, but still lacking
Review: This book series has just gone downhill. As reported by other reviewers, too many articles on concussions. This was also the case in the last couple of ones as well. Enough already- we get it. Most of the other articles in this edition were just really sad, and you felt down after reading them.Mr Stout: How about this: let the readers take all the entries and reduce them down to the top 50, and then the editor can select the remaining. How about it?
Reviewer: hellodrken
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: ENJOYABLE READ
Review: PASSED THE TIME DURING WHICH THERE WAS NO POWER FOLLOWING ZETA
Reviewer: Razor M.
Rating: 1.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Sports writing for people who hate sports.
Review: I have a copy of every volume in this series, all the way back to the first one from 1991, and I have never read a more depressing collection of articles. It seems as if the guest editor was trying to make sure that readers shared his obvious hatred of all thing sporting (ironic, since he is a sportswriter). We have 1) multiple articles on concussions in football 2) a high school football player who died on the field from a cause that is most likely not related to football, but football is blamed anyway 3) two articles on women who are obsessed with running, to a degree where it is possible it has taken over their lives and even may have ruined their relationships 4) a long and detailed article on the funeral preparations for Muhammad Ali (including far too much on the embalming process) and 5) a long anti-NFL screed, tying in politics, protests and patriotism, all from a single perspective.Of course, what modern sports writing collection would be complete without multiple anti-Trump articles, the height of current sports writing.Very few of the articles included celebrate sports in any way. Almost the only positive story was Steve Rushin's love letter to his wife.In the preface, the series editor mentioned that of the 25 articles in this collection, 15 were included, not from the list from the series editor, but included at the request of the guest editor. If fact, for the first time I can recall, the series editor specifically encouraged readers to seek out and read articles listed in the Notable Sports Writing of 2017 appendix.Hopefully, next year's edition will be back to the previous standards.