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.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
If you want to grow to hate sports just read this book:
This book presents an incredibly grim view of sports. Is there no good sports writing that actually deals with sport or do writers today only deal with the personalities and the pains of sports? If you want to kill any joy left of sports in your life then open up this book and let these writers open your eyes to everything negative they can find in sports. Even the "uplifting" stories present a world crashing down around people who have only 1 positive outlet in life, the sport they play.
2003 Collection Might Be the Best Yet:
I've read most of the "Best American Sportswriting" annual collections since the series began back in 1991. The 2003 edition might just be the strongest yet. Guest editor Buzz Bissinger has put together a strong collection of stories that probe beyond the headlines to focus on the place of sports in our society. The book starts out with the awful tale of a former triathlete turned quadroplegic ("Lucky Jim") and rarely loses intesity from there. Other highlights include a profile of the man behind The... more info
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