MetaChat - Sports bio recommendations.

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28 April 2007

Sports bio recommendations. →[More:] Today, I bought this bio of Pete Maravich and so far it's excellent. I'm also working my way through this bio of Sonny Liston. They're both looks at sports figures who were extremely famous for a brief period and then faded from the public consciousness, yet seemed to define their epoch, since sports, like movies or popular music is a great prism through which to view the zietgeist of an era. Bith books are also extremely well written by professional authors, not hacks. Anybody have any other recommendations in the same vein?

post by: jonmc at: 19:30 | 10 comments

How about Jim Bouton's Ball Four? It's an autobiography, not a bio, but definitely a well-written, entertaining picture of a very specific moment (and personality!) in baseball and the culture at large.

posted by scody 28 April | 20:41

Already read that one, scody.

posted by jonmc 28 April | 20:44

Not precisely what you're asking for, but I think you might like the autobiographical writings of Bill Lee. If you've never read him, start with The Wrong Stuff. I also like Mike Magnuson's writing. His Heft on Wheels is about bicycling.

posted by box 28 April | 20:50

Is that the same Mike Magnuson who wrote The Right Man For The Job? Cause I really liked that book.(I've read Bill Lee's stuff, too, but you're on the right track)

posted by jonmc 28 April | 20:56

About Three Bricks Shy of a Load is an old favorite of mine. Roy Blount Jr. spend a year living with the Steelers to write the book.

posted by octothorpe 28 April | 22:23

He died seven years before I was born, but I completely dug David Maraniss's bio on Roberto Clemente. When I went Mother's Day shopping at my local Borders the other day, the paperback version was available on the 3 for 2 shelf.

Not a sports-bio, but if you've not read it, Bill Buford's Among the Thugs is a *must* read IMHO. I know I'm not alone there.

posted by ufez 29 April | 00:43

Also, jon, it kind of devolved, but this recent SpoFi LockerRoom thread may be of interest, especially if you're looking for recommendations of books for non-mainstream sports.

posted by ufez 29 April | 00:49

David Halberstam's recent death has re-focused attention on his works, but I remember "The Amateurs: The Story of Four Young Men and Their Quest for an Olympic Gold Medal" as being eminently readable, if that qualifies, and his 2005 book "The Education of a Coach" is a pretty good look at the New England Patroit's Bill Belichick, if that doesn't pain a NYC boy unduly.

posted by paulsc 29 April | 01:02

Two Ali books you might like: Michael Marquese's Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the '60s, which is sort of a cultural biography, or a historical essay or something; and Ali Rap (George Lois, ed.), which juxtaposes catchy Ali quotes with journalistic photography.

posted by box 29 April | 10:06

A hockey-fan friend of mine (her 'blog) recommended Jason Cohen's Zamboni Rodeo, and even though I still really don't "get" hockey, it's lively, rollicking, sobering and saddening by turns.

posted by PaxDigita 29 April | 21:24

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