Now I Can Die in Peace : How ESPN's Sports Guy Found Salvation, with a Little Help from Nomar, Pedro, Shawshank, and the 2004 Red Sox review:1 stars (blah blah) - I used to like the Sports Guy before he got all cocky. You may live in a sports mansion, but your writing style is piss poor.4 stars (Tremendous upside potential) - I'm a Yankees fan, but after living in Boston for a couple of years I can appreciate the pain and agony that Red Sox fans have endured.
Very funny and entertaining- not the least bit bland which is so typical of books that focus on sports.5 stars (Give this one a Pullet Surprise* (see footnote)) - Oh man, what a great book! Bill Simmons is not just one of our best sportswriters, but he's one of our best writers, period. This book epitomizes "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." As a sometime New Orleans Saints fan, I can identify so much with everything Simmons writes about. Except the thrill of victory part.
At any rate, Simmons writes straight from the gut in a way that any true sports fan can embrace. It helps if you are a Red Sox fan, but that is not a pre-requisite.* (see another footnote) If you have ever faithfully rooted for a team that always breaks your heart, and then, suddenly, they win it all, what do you do? How do you react? Probably a lot like Simmons.
Packed with footnotes that are as funny and insightful as the original prose, this book will provide the reader with some grin-inducing entertainment and also food for thought. What you get here is a highly personalized, almost impressionistic, account of the ultimate triumph of the Red Sox and the city of Boston. It reminds me of a couple of other fine sports-related books I've read recently that tell a grand tale by focusing on small vignettes and details.* (See yet another footnote.)
Bottom line...pick this one up ASAP, before the dreaded Yankees makes some kind of freakish comeback.
FOOTNOTES:
1. "A Pullet Surprise" is how one young high school student once spelled the name for the highest award for journalism.
2. In the 2004 ALCS, everyone in the known universe, outside of the Bronx, was a Red Sox fan. Anakin Skywalker was spotted wearing a "Yankees Suck" t-shirt in a dank Tatooine cantina.
3. Other recommended books include:
"Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season" by Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King
"The Devil Wears Pinstripes" by Jim Caple
"Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer" by Warren St. John (a stellar, hilarious book about fandom in general) |
