Fleder, Rob. Fifty Years of Great Writing: Sports Illustrated 1954-2004. New York: Sports Illustrated Books. 2003. Print.
First Sentences:
Description:
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Halberstam, David. The Best American Sports Writing of the Century
The fact that the great piece has shown up again and again in SI is the result of a contentious conspiracy between the magazine's writers and their editors..The way magazine journalism is supposed to work is that the best editors match the perfect idea with the idea writer and wait for a brilliant run of words. This is followed )with plenty of time before deadline) by the simple exercise of hooking paragraphs and helping with the diction here and there. Nothing to it. Right.
Description:
If you've ever had a burning desire to become a published writer, a reality check might be in order. Consider reading Fifty Years of Great Writing: Sports Illustrated 1954-2004 (edited by Rob Fleder) to see how skilled writers ply their craft.
Can anyone write as well as the writers represented in pieces contained in this volume? Frank Deford, Alexander Wolff, George Plimpton, Roy Blount Jr., George Plimpton, Leigh Montville, Roger Kahn, Dan Jenkins, and Steve Rushin. There are even articles by authors not on the Sports Illustrated staff you may have heard of, including William Faulkner, Garrison Keillor, Jimmy Breslin, and Wallace Stegner. All you aspiring authors, match your own thoughts and words with any one of these writers and stories, then select a new career.
And the wonderful events and people they write about! Casey Stengel and his woeful Mets; Roger Bannister and John Landy facing off in a race as the only men ever to have broken the four-minute mile; Arnold Palmer's U.S. Open win by overtaking Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan; Yogi Berra as manager of the Yankees giving off quotes that are compared to the words of yoga masters; Bobby Thompson's homer.
But even better is when a writer pulls you into a story about something that previously you had no interest in. Archie Moore at the ancient age of 37 making his boxing debut at Madison Square Garden; the Rattlesnake Roundup at Mangum, OK; playing a baseball game with retired former Chicago Cub players; a cross-country car trip with basketball great Bill Russell; the death of racehorse Secretariat.
There is plenty of humor as well. the Lake Woebegone Whippets facing Babe Ruth; the mysterious Sidd Finch throwing his 150-mph fastball; high-speed driving on the deadly Nurburgring track in a convertible with a motorcycle sidecar.
Sports may not be the be all or end all of the world, but these short works by masterful writers make these athletes and their contests seem larger than life as well as deeply intimate. They touch an inner respect many of us hold for those who struggle, compete, fail and triumph to rise to the top of their profession.
Can anyone write as well as the writers represented in pieces contained in this volume? Frank Deford, Alexander Wolff, George Plimpton, Roy Blount Jr., George Plimpton, Leigh Montville, Roger Kahn, Dan Jenkins, and Steve Rushin. There are even articles by authors not on the Sports Illustrated staff you may have heard of, including William Faulkner, Garrison Keillor, Jimmy Breslin, and Wallace Stegner. All you aspiring authors, match your own thoughts and words with any one of these writers and stories, then select a new career.
And the wonderful events and people they write about! Casey Stengel and his woeful Mets; Roger Bannister and John Landy facing off in a race as the only men ever to have broken the four-minute mile; Arnold Palmer's U.S. Open win by overtaking Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan; Yogi Berra as manager of the Yankees giving off quotes that are compared to the words of yoga masters; Bobby Thompson's homer.
But even better is when a writer pulls you into a story about something that previously you had no interest in. Archie Moore at the ancient age of 37 making his boxing debut at Madison Square Garden; the Rattlesnake Roundup at Mangum, OK; playing a baseball game with retired former Chicago Cub players; a cross-country car trip with basketball great Bill Russell; the death of racehorse Secretariat.
There is plenty of humor as well. the Lake Woebegone Whippets facing Babe Ruth; the mysterious Sidd Finch throwing his 150-mph fastball; high-speed driving on the deadly Nurburgring track in a convertible with a motorcycle sidecar.
The most unsettling thing about driving 142 mph on the German autobahn in James Bond's convertible with the top dropped is not the sudden realization that your head juts above the windshield, so that any airborne object -- a pebble, a lug nut, the shedding payload of a flatbed truck -- will forever be embedded in in your coconut, like the coins and keys you sometimes see in the hot asphalt of city street.This volume contains my favorite sports writing of all time: Ted Williams' final game by Leigh Montville, tributes to sportswriter Jim Murray (whom I read every day growing up) by Rick Reilly; and owner Bill Veeck by William Barry Furlong. To read about your heroes in words so clear, so powerful, so honest is the joy of this volume.
Sports may not be the be all or end all of the world, but these short works by masterful writers make these athletes and their contests seem larger than life as well as deeply intimate. They touch an inner respect many of us hold for those who struggle, compete, fail and triumph to rise to the top of their profession.
This is an illusionary business...The fan comes away from the ballpark with nothing more to show for it than what's in his mind, an ephemeral feeling of having been entertained. You've got to heighten and preserve that illusion. You have to give him more vivid pictures to carry away in his head. [Bill Veeck]
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Halberstam, David. The Best American Sports Writing of the Century
The absolute finest is sports writing from the best writers ever, including Frank Deford, Red Smith, Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Cannon, W.C. Heinz, Richard Cramer, and even Hunter Thompson, Covers major events and personalities from all areas of sports. Fantastic, a must-read for any sports lover or just someone who appreciate good writing about interesting topics.
