| Title | : | The Best American Sports Writing 2011 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0547336969 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780547336961 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2011 |
First, Best, and Best-Selling
The Best American Sports Writing 2011 Reviews
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Some of these stories were extraordinary - fascinating subjects, very well-written, and totally worth reading the volume for those. Others were less compelling, but most were interesting, and you could see why there were included.
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I get this anthology every year and enjoy reading some of the best work that has skipped past me over the past year. That said, there was a section in the middle of the book where I simply flipped past 3 or 4 stories in a row. Some of the outdoorsy stuff is fantastic and some of it seems to be a stretch.
As a sports writer myself, I found Bill Plaschke's "A gift that opens him up" to be inspiring and wonderful...all condensed into a quick 5-minute read.
Others among my favorites...
Michael Farber's "Eight Seconds"
Jason Fagone's "The Dirtiest Player"
Tom Friend's "The Old College Try"
Howard Bryant's "Dusty Baker a Symbol of Perseverance"
Chris Ballard's "The Courage of Jill Costello"
On the bad list...
I have no idea who Yoni Brenner's "Trick Plays" was included in the Best of...it seemed like a failed attempt at something clever that you would find in a college paper somewhere — just idiotic. -
When it comes to sports there are always winners and losers. The winners here are the writers themselves as well and editors who chose what to include. The book was full of excellent writing and it was obvious that careful and intelligent decisions were made on just who should be in this collection. But the looser here has to be the people in charge of proof reading the e books at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. My edition contained a disgraceful amount of typos. Who does Houghton have working on their e books , a bunch of third graders ? Seriously, they should be embarrassed with this product. I actually feel like I deserve a refund.
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This was a very diverse collection, taking you into realms beyond mainstream sports and athletes. From the perspective of the base-jumper to the world of the transgender, there are a lot of new angles to discover as a reader.
Like the other collections, this edition had its share of good and blah moments, but overall was novel enough to keep me intrigued. Leavy took a risky approach of avoiding big-time sports and athletes, but it paid off. -
This is probably the fourth or fifth year in a row that I've read the sports writing collection and this, by far, was the least compelling collection so far. I couldn't really tell you why, but for me at least, the stories didn't catch my attention, didn't leave me scratching my head or feeling moved at the end, unlike the other collections.
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Weakest of the 20+ editions of TBASW but still worth reading as there are several great pieces. The last 2 editions haven't been as strong. I'm wondering if the Web has drained much of the great long-form sports writing or if the editors haven't figured out how to find the great stuff in a world where a good chunk of the great writing is getting published online.
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I had been reading older Best American Sports Writing books, and perhaps I got spoiled. This collection relied very heavily on blog posts and online publications. While I can acknowledge that there is some online sportswriting talent, I felt that this was certainly one of the weakest of the Best American books I've read thus far.
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One of the best -- maybe THE best -- of the "Sports Writing" books. Selected articles not only portray the inspirational ("Own goal" -- homeless USA soccer tournament), but the criminal ("USA swimming coaches molested and secretly taped dozens of teen swimmers". All in all, an excellent book compiled from many sources.
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I read this series every year and this edition was one of the best. Ranging from the psyche which brings on daredevil feats, life's tragedies, a world cup of homeless soccer, and a well respected surfer with Aspergers syndrome nearly every story captivated me and/or made me think.
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Not all of the stories are great, but there are enough really, really good articles in here that it's worth reading. Especially liked the articles about the boxer who was an organ donor, the Cal crew coxswain and the creator of Madden football.
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For sport stories, the writing and quality was uneven. There were a couple of very interesting stories, like the coxswain and boxer who died that gave his organs to others. Other than that, readable stories were pretty good.
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Despite it taking me four full months to finish this, found it super enjoyable! Especially loved the pieces on free diving, surfing, skating, lacrosse, rowing, and hockey. Oh and the Madden franchise, oddly enough.
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Contains a piece about Cal coxswain Jill Costello and her fight for life. May we all stove to live as fully as she.
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A mixed bag. As it should be. Worthwhile.
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More baseball and hockey, less skateboarding.
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A few too many human-interest pieces that seemed almost nauseatingly precious and life affirming.
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Liked! Fancy Family Book Group.
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not as good as 2010, last 2 stories were the best
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One of the best volumes in this anthology. Many more hits that strikeouts. Highly recommended if you enjoy excellent sports writing.
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Best American Sports Writing 2011 was another excellent collection of writing in both print and online sports. I have the 2012-2014 volumes and need to get cracking.
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can't wait to read this book
