Synopses & Reviews
As the coach during professional football's most storied era, Tom Landry transformed the gridiron from a no-holds-barred battlefield to the highly-technical chess match it is today. With his trademark fedora and stoic facade, he was a man of faith and few words, for twenty-nine years guiding "America's Team" from laughingstock to well-oiled machine, with an unprecedented twenty consecutive winning seasons and two Super Bowl titles. Now, more than a decade after Landry's death, acclaimed biographer Mark Ribowsky takes a fresh look at this misunderstood legend, telling us as much about our country's obsession with football as about Landry himself, the likes of whom we'll never see again.
Review
"[Ribowsky] recounts Landry's life honestly, avoiding both distortion and hagiography while portraying a stoic, flawed man of honor.... A triumph of extensive research and interviews. It will be welcomed by all football fans." Library Journal, starred review
Review
"A meaty biography of one of the NFL's legendary coaches.... [Ribowsky] provides as complete a picture of 'God's Coach' as we're likely to get. A must-read for fans of and, given Landry's impact on the game, for Cowboy haters too." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"In Ribowsky's authoritative biography, Landry appears more stoic king than coach, his ever-present fedora serving as a crown.... Ribowsky's thorough examination of a surprisingly complicated man offers original reporting, which serves here as merely a complement to this impressively researched work.... An eloquent, honest tribute to a football genius." Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
Review
"Fascinating.... Readers looking for a recap of one of football's greatest innovators and coaches will be enthralled." Booklist
Review
"[A] huge and hugely entertaining biography.... Extraordinary.... That Ribowsky, an outstanding biographer with books on Al Davis, Satchel Paige and Howard Cosell to his credit, doesn't idolize Landry across the book's 640 pages makes his judgment all the keener." Allen Barra
Synopsis
"An eloquent, honest tribute to a sports genius." --, Best 100 Books of 2013
About the Author
Mark Ribowsky is the author of books including Howard Cosell and the New York Times Notable Book Don't Look Back: Satchel Paige in the Shadows of Baseball as well as The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal and Ain't Too Proudto Beg: The Troubled Lives and Enduring Soul of the Temptations. He lives in Florida.