Synopses & Reviews
Review
"Drawing on the sports playbook idea, where one play combined with another and another leads to a single, unified, successful act, Luther writes about the prevalence of rape and assault on college campuses as a combination of many factors. She discusses the role coaches, universities, sponsors, the police, and other authority figures play in perpetuating a subculture in which the aggressive acts of sports players, particularly gifted football stars, are often ignored because 'boys will be boys.'" Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Unsportsmanlike Conduct is an important book by an important
writer. Jessica Luther's place as both sports fan and empathetic
observer makes her perfect to explore the shameful ways universities and
their athletic programs address sexual assault, as no one could say she
doesn't love football. She just loves people more, as she should, and
this book is an important mirror to make us question how sports became
more important to the world than the women who make life possible." Bomani Jones, ESPN
Review
"Highly relevant, hard-hitting, much-needed information that reveals the widespread existence of rape by sports players on college campuses." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
"Of all the many problems facing college football, the most severe by far is the shocking number of rape cases involving athletes. And, as Luther makes abundantly clear in this impeccably researched volume, those numbers are only the tip of the iceberg, thanks to the contagion of cover-ups instigated by coaches and university officials, often with the support of police . . . Most important, Luther devotes part two of her book to changing the playbook, offering specific suggestions like fire people and hire women that throw down a gauntlet to those in power. Unsportsmanlike Conduct is not always easy to readthe text necessarily relies on numerous statistics and detailed summaries of court casesbut, nevertheless, it is almost certainly the most important sports book of the year."
-- Booklist Starred Review
"Highly relevant, hard-hitting, much-needed information that reveals the widespread existence of rape by sports players on college campuses."
--Kirkus Reviews
"We as a society owe a great debt to Jessica Luther. She has spent the last several years of her professional life dedicated primarily to reporting on the epidemic of sexual assault in college sportsfootball in particular. Her debut book Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape, published on Dave Zirin s Edge of Sports imprint at Akashic Books, isn t simply a tell-all; she has rewritten the playbook for collegiate sports culture, giving survivors and supporters a reason to be hopeful about rooting for our teams without further sacrificing who we are."
-- The Establishment
The latest from Akashic's Edge of Sports imprint.
Football teams create playbooks, in which they draw up the plays they will use on the field. Playbooks are how teams work and why they win. This book is about a different kind of playbook: the one coaches, teams, universities, police, communities, the media, and fans seem to follow whenever a college football player is accused of sexual assault. It's a deep dive into how different institutions--the NCAA, athletic departments, universities, the media--run the same plays over and over again when these stories break. If everyone runs his play well, scrutiny dies down quickly, no institution ever has to change how it operates, and the evaporation of these cases into nothingness looks natural. In short, this playbook is why nothing ever changes.
Unsportsmanlike Conduct unpacks this societal playbook piece by piece, and not only advocates that we destroy the old plays, but also suggests we replace them with ones that will force us to finally do something about this issue.
Political sportswriter and Edge of Sports imprint curator Dave Zirin (the Nation) has never shied away from criticizing that which die-hard sports fans hold dear. The Edge of Sports titles will address issues across many different sportsfootball, basketball, swimming, tennis, etc.and at both the professional and nonprofessional/collegiate levels. Furthermore, Zirin brings to the table select stories of athletes journeys and what they are facing and how they evolve both in their sport as well as against the greater backdrop of one s life s odyssey.
"
Synopsis
"Jessica Luther studied history and the classics before marshaling her writing talent toward of-the-moment topics like sexual assault and college sports culture. Now she s an investigative journalist, working from her adopted hometown, Austin, Tex., in what is perhaps the nation s most college-obsessed state. Ms. Luther s new book, Unsportsmanlike Conduct, examines the programmatic manner in which sexual assaults are swept under the rug by institutions both on campus and in the media."
--New York Times
A significant and riveting look at how one of the greatest cultural tragedies of the millennial generation--the silencing of sexual violence against women on campus--is nurtured by a system of cover-ups and corporatized crises management.
--Playboy.com
In Unsportsmanlike Conduct, Luther] draws on years of research and reporting to outline what she calls the playbook all the standard, predictable ways that football programs, universities, the NCAA, and sports media typically respond when athletes are accused of rape or assault. It s an infuriating, exhaustively researched catalogue of problems, from denial and toothless language to ignoring or discrediting the victim.
--Elle.com
"The most important sports book of the year."
--Booklist, Starred Review
Highly relevant, hard-hitting, much-needed information that reveals the widespread existence of rape by sports players on college campuses.
-- Kirkus Reviews
The latest from Akashic's Edge of Sports imprint.
Football teams create playbooks, in which they draw up the plays they will use on the field. Playbooks are how teams work and why they win. This book is about a different kind of playbook: the one coaches, teams, universities, police, communities, the media, and fans seem to follow whenever a college football player is accused of sexual assault. It's a deep dive into how different institutions--the NCAA, athletic departments, universities, the media--run the same plays over and over again when these stories break. If everyone runs his play well, scrutiny dies down quickly, no institution ever has to change how it operates, and the evaporation of these cases into nothingness looks natural. In short, this playbook is why nothing ever changes.
Unsportsmanlike Conduct unpacks this societal playbook piece by piece, and not only advocates that we destroy the old plays, but also suggests we replace them with ones that will force us to finally do something about this issue.
Political sportswriter and Edge of Sports imprint curator Dave Zirin (the Nation) has never shied away from criticizing that which die-hard sports fans hold dear. The Edge of Sports titles will address issues across many different sportsfootball, basketball, swimming, tennis, etc.and at both the professional and nonprofessional/collegiate levels. Furthermore, Zirin brings to the table select stories of athletes journeys and what they are facing and how they evolve both in their sport as well as against the greater backdrop of one s life s odyssey.
"
Synopsis
"Not to reckon with Luther's book would be an abdication not only of one's moral faculty but also of one's fandom . . . Luther doesn't just want to save future victims; she wants to save college football." --New York Times Book Review
"Highly relevant, hard-hitting, much-needed information that reveals the widespread existence of rape by sports players on college campuses." --Kirkus Reviews
Football teams create playbooks, in which they draw up the plays they will use on the field. Playbooks are how teams work and why they win. This book is about a different kind of playbook: the one coaches, teams, universities, police, communities, the media, and fans seem to follow whenever a college football player is accused of sexual assault. It's a deep dive into how different institutions--the NCAA, athletic departments, universities, the media--run the same plays over and over again when these stories break. If everyone runs his play well, scrutiny dies down quickly, no institution ever has to change how it operates, and the evaporation of these cases into nothingness looks natural. In short, this playbook is why nothing ever changes.
Unsportsmanlike Conduct unpacks this societal playbook piece by piece, and not only advocates that we destroy the old plays, but also suggests we replace them with ones that will force us to finally do something about this issue.
Political sportswriter and Edge of Sports imprint curator Dave Zirin (the Nation) has never shied away from criticizing that which die-hard sports fans hold dear. The Edge of Sports titles will address issues across many different sports--football, basketball, swimming, tennis, etc.--and at both the professional and nonprofessional/collegiate levels. Furthermore, Zirin brings to the table select stories of athletes' journeys and what they are facing and how they evolve both in their sport as well as against the greater backdrop of one's life's odyssey.
About the Author
Jessica Luther is an independent writer and investigative journalist living in Austin, Texas. Her work on sports and culture has appeared in the Texas Observer and the Austin Chronicle, and at Sports Illustrated, Texas Monthly, Vice Sports, Guardian Sport, and Bleacher Report. Luther's work gained national attention in August 2015 when writing for Texas Monthly; she and Dan Solomon broke open the story about a Baylor football player on trial for sexual assault, a case known by only a few in the community and not reported in the media for nearly two years.