Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to the twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind.
Buzz Bissinger selects the very best writing on a vast variety of competitive endeavors, from baseball to weightlifting, skating to demolition derby. Herein today's foremost journalists -- among them Gary Smith, Elizabeth Gilbert, Bill Plaschke, and Rebecca Mead -- throw revealing light on a pantheon of stars: Shaquille O'Neal, Bobby Fischer, Mike Tyson, the San Diego Chicken, and more.
About the Author
Glenn Stout has been the series editor of The Best American Sports Writing since its inception and has written three illustrated biographies with Richard A. Johnson: Ted Williams: A Portrait in Words and Pictures, Joe DiMaggio: An Illustrated Life, and Jackie Robinson: Between the Baselines. He is a columnist for Boston Baseball, and the acclaimed author of Red Sox Century, Yankees Century, and The Dodgers. His work has appeared in many regional and national magazines and newspapers.Buzz Bissinger is the author of Friday Night Lights and A Prayer for the City. Formerly a reporter for the Chicago Tribune and the Philadelphia Inquirer, he has won the Pulitzer Prize and the Livingston Award, among other honors. He is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and lives in Philadelphia.
Table of Contents
Contents Foreword ix Introduction by Buzz Bissinger xiv
Elizabeth Gilbert. Lucky Jim 1 from GQ
Bill Plaschke. Fowled Away 18 from The Los Angeles Times
Gary Smith. The Ball 28 from Sports Illustrated
David Grann. Baseball Without Metaphor 50 from The New York Times Magazine
S. L. Price. The Lone Wolf 69 from Sports Illustrated
Rene Chun. Bobby Fischers Pathetic Endgame 87 from The Atlantic Monthly
Alexander Wolff with Don Yaeger. When the Terror Began 111 from Sports Illustrated
Juliet Macur. Power Pact 133 from The Dallas Morning News
Bill Donahue. End of the Run 144 from Outside
Bill Plaschke. Veteran Finds Greens Peace 155 from The Los Angeles Times
Josh Sens. Good Karma, Bad Golf 162 from Golf Digest
Elizabeth Kaye. Servant of the Cause 166 from Los Angeles
Rebecca Mead. A Man-Child in Lotusland 184 from The New Yorker
James McKean. Playing for Jud 204 from Witness
Ron C. Judd. Race a Memorable First for Seventeenth Man 217 from The Seattle Times
Susy Buchanan. Appetite for Destruction 222 from Phoenix New Times
Stephen J. Dubner. Life Is a Contact Sport 235 from The New York Times Magazine
Peter Richmond. Rulon Gardner Wants a Third Helping 247 from GQ
Michael Leahy. Gambling Man 258 from The Washington Post
Mark Kram Jr. I Want to Kill Him” 274 from The Philadelphia Daily News
Bruce Feldman. Out of Control 282 from ESPN: The Magazine
Michael Agovino. My Dad, the Bookie 293 from GQ
Ted Levin. The Birds at Oriole Park 302 from Washingtonian
Terry Pluto. His Role on Team Is Beyond Words 308 from The Akron Beacon Journal
Beth Kephart. Of Sound and Ice 315 from The Washington Post Book World
Biographical Notes 321 Notable Sports Writing of 2002 325