Synopses & Reviews
A native son of Akron, Ohio, LeBron James seemed like a miracle heaven-sent by God to transform Cleveland's losing ways when he was drafted by the Cavaliers in 2003. But after seven years—and still no parade down Euclid Avenue—he left, announcing his move to South Beach on a nationally televised ESPN production with a sly title that echoed fifty years of misery. The Catch, The Drive, The Shot . . . The Decision.
Out of James's treachery grew a monster. Scott Raab, a fifty-nine-year-old, 350-pound Jewish Santa Claus with a Chief Wahoo tattoo, would bear witness to LeBron's every move, and in so doing would act as the eyes and ears of Cleveland itself. Crude but warmhearted, poetic but raving, hilarious, profane (and profound), The Whore of Akron is both a rabid fan's indictment of a traitorous athlete and the story of Raab's obsessive quest to reveal the "wee jewel-box" of LeBron James's soul.
Review
“There is more passion, anger and sublime writing in Scott Raabs The Whore of Akron than any 50 other books youll read this (or any other year) combined.” < b=""> < i=""> New York Post <> <>
Review
“With all due respect to Frederick Exley, Scott Raab has just written the smartest, funniest, most passionate, loving, hateful, bathetic, honest, and deeply personal sports jeremiad slash memoir of our time…The Whore of Akron is about a basketball player the way Moby-Dick is about a whale.” < b=""> Stefan Fatsis, author of < i=""> Wordfreak <> and < i=""> A Few Seconds of Panic <> <>
Review
“[The Whore of Akron] is very funny. It is also wise...If youve a taste for the sort of overstatement Raab shares with the late, great Hunter S. Thompson, this is perhaps the sports book for you. Keep it on a shelf the kids cant reach.” < b=""> < i=""> NPR <> <>
Review
“A searing manifesto that is impressively pointed and, in the end, even feels fairnot balanced, of course, but justified. . . . . Whether youre convinced [of LeBrons treachery] depends not on whether you care about Cleveland sports, but if you care about sports at all. . . . . Hilarious invective and smart commentary.” < b=""> < i=""> Fortune <> <>
Review
"Hilarious." < b=""> < i=""> Christian Science Monitor <> <>
Review
“A hilarious and profane love letter to fandom, faith, loyalty, and sports in America.” < b=""> < i=""> Parade <> <>
Review
“A (very heated) Fans Notes. . . . . Rollicking and profane. . . . . Raabs sustained attack on James is diverting, [but] it is the authors self-portrait of a man and a fan of serious extremes, one who loves his wife and son as fiercely as he hates most of the rest of the world, that engrosses.” < b=""> < i=""> Sports Illustrated <> <>
Review
“The Whore of Akron isnt really about basketball. Its about addiction and sobriety, marriage and divorce, childhood and parenthood, loyalty and autonomy.” < b=""> < i=""> The Awl.com <> <>
Review
“The book is both poem and polemic, a lyrical inventory of rage and appetite and loss.” < b=""> Jeff MacGregor, < i=""> ESPN.com <> <>
Review
“Mr. Raab sure-footedly turns his monolithic hatred for Mr. James and devotion to Cleveland into a vehicle for exploring his struggles with drugs and alcohol, the mental illness and abandonment that have haunted his family, questions of faith and Jewish identity and the joy of fatherhood.” < b=""> < i=""> Wall Street Journal <> <>
Review
“In pursuing James pre- and post-‘Decision . . . . the author never does complete the subtitles mission to find James soul. Instead, Raab . . . . discovers his own. And, in some twisted sense, maybe ours, too.” < b=""> < i=""> Cleveland Plain Dealer <> <>
Review
“A modern-day Portnoys Complaint. Standing in for the piece of liver is LeBron James.” < b=""> < i=""> Slate <> <>
Review
“As far as I know, a LeBron James is a hat worn by men in the 1920s.” < b=""> Philip Roth <>
Review
“Genius. . . . . Raab is Hunter S. Thompson, Wolfe, and Breslin; every bit as messed up, alienated, angry, bitchy, cruel, and angelic. . . . . The Whore of Akron is a masterpiece.” < b=""> Dan Klores, < i=""> Huffington Post <> <>
Review
"Visceral and raucously funny. . . . . Perhaps the best book ever written about the ragged world of sports obsession. . . . . Raab recounts, with electrifying insight, past and present instances of remorse, reconciliation, relapse, revulsion and, inevitably, a dare-not-to-mention-too-loud longing for simply the possibility of redemption." < i=""> The Cleveland Leader <>
Review
“[A] pleasure to read. Raab is an inspired, energetic writer. . . . . The Whore of Akron is a poignant exploration of sports fandom. Its insane. . . . . And its also redeeming. . . . . After reading The Whore of Akron, youll be hard pressed to think sports dont matter.” < b=""> < i=""> Time <> <>
Review
“The Whore of Akron is hilarious, heartfelt and wincingly honest. This is the best kind of book, one that surprises.” < b=""> Buzz Bissinger <>
Review
"Readable...Compelling...Laugh-out-loud [funny]... the book easily could have spiraled into something unseemly -- But Raab manages to engage readers by weaving in his personal story even as he travels to Miami to chronicle James' every move in his first season with the Heat." < b=""> < i=""> Associated Press <> <>
Review
"Spellbinding. . . . . Compelling. . . . . Gleefully vulgar. . . . . Raab does not merely insert himself [into the narrative], he envelops it. The Whore of Akron bears little resemblance to any sports book I've ever read. It is far more similar to Charles Bukowski's Hollywood than anything David Halberstam or John Feinstein has ever written." < i=""> Cavs: The Blog <>
Review
"Hilarious." < i=""> Christian Science Monitor <>
Review
“Indelicate and unhinged...The Whore of Akron soars because Raab is unflinchingly honest, naked with emotions and embarrassments most of us keep penned inside.....at its heart, this is a book about loyalty, and why attachments count. Basketball could use a little more of Raabs disorderly passion.” < b=""> Jason Gay, < i=""> Wall Street Journal <> <>
Review
“[A] splenetic wonder…For all of its rousing, air-clearing invective, The Whore of Akron is strangely celebratory, making a particuclarly Jewish-American case for family and place, and for waiting and hoping past the point of reason.” < b=""> Will Blythe, < i=""> New York Magazine <> <>
Review
“A powerful storyteller in full command of his game...wonderfully immoderate.” < b=""> < i=""> New York Times <> <>
Review
“The Whore of Akron reads like Frederick Exleys A Fans Notes on brown acid. Raab is a bastard, but hes a funny bastard.” < b=""> < i=""> The Onion <> <>
Review
“Hilarious.” < b=""> < i=""> Christian Science Monitor <> <>
Review
“The Whore of Akron reads like Frederick Exleys A Fans Notes on brown acid. Raab is a bastard, but hes a funny bastard.” < b=""> < i=""> The Onion <> <>
Synopsis
After 52 long years, the city of Cleveland finally has a new championship team, thanks to LeBron James and his Cavaliers. Scott Raab--Cleveland super-fan--has suffered for every one of those five decades of drought. In the tradition of Frederick Exley's cult-classic sports book A Fan's Notes, The Whore of Akron is Raab's hilarious and unhinged plea for deliverance from all those years of pain. Traveling from Cleveland to Miami and back again, Raab heads out on an obsessive quest to uncover the soul of one of today's greatest basketball players: LeBron James, the man who finally brought Cleveland out of sporting exile.
Synopsis
Who is LeBron James? In the wake of his suddendeparture from Clevelands hopeful Cavaliers to join Pat Rileys Miami Heat,this is the question that is burning in the hearts of basketball fans aroundthe country. Now, in the tradition of Frederick Exleyscult-classic sports book A Fans Notes, journalist Scott Raab travels from Cleveland to Miami and back again in anobsessive quest to uncover the soul of one of todays greatest basketballplayers—and answer the question once and for all, “Who is LeBron James?”
About the Author
Scott Raab, a writer-at-large for Esquire since 1997, is a graduate of Cleveland State University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. His work has been widely anthologized, including in The Best American Sports Writing. Born and bred in Cleveland, he now lives in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. This is his first book.