Subject Guides » Books » Reading Lists » Sports Fever 2011

Nonfiction about sports, with an emphasis on new titles, selected by Dylan Gaffney. November 2011.

• Iron War: Dave Scott, Mark Allen & the greatest race ever run
  By: Matt Fitzgerald
  The 1989 Ironman® World Championship was the greatest race ever. In a spectacular duel that become known as the Iron War, the world's two strongest athletes raced side by side at world-record pace for a grueling 139 miles.
  VAT.F576i 2011
  
  
• Fenway 1912: The Birth of a Ballpark, A Championship Season, and Fenway’s Remarkable First Year
  By: Glenn Stout
  A centennial tribute to the beloved ballpark shares the behind-the-scenes story of its tumultuous origins and first year, sharing coverage of such topics as the unorthodox blueprint that belies the park's notorious quirks, the construction contributions of local citizens and the history-making World Series battle between the Red Sox and the Giants.
  VKB3Z.St76f 2011
  
  
• Distant Corners: American Soccer’s History of Missed Opportunities and Lost Causes
  By: David Wangerin
  Traces the history of soccer in the United States, looking at both the professional and college levels, as well as how the sport has risen and fallen in popularity over the years.
  VKSO.4W184d 2011
  
  
• Major Taylor: The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World
  By: Andrew Ritchie
  The first African-American sportsman outside boxing to become internationally famous, Taylor's life story is one of the most fascinating stories ever told about any athlete--white or black.
  VIW.R51m 2010
  
  
• Duel in the Sun: Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley and America’s Greatest Marathon
  By : John Brant
  An account of the 1982 Boston Marathon traces the dramatic competition between its top two contenders and how their triumphs gave way to battles with depression and painkiller addiction.
  VIG.B735d 2006
  
  
• Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu: John Updike on Ted Williams
  By : John Updike
  On September 28, 1960, a day that will live forever in the hearts of fans, Red Sox slugger Ted Williams stepped up to the plate for his last at-bat in Fenway Park. Seizing the occasion, he belted a solo home run- a storybook ending to a storied career. More than just a matchless account of that fabled final game, Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu is a brilliant evocation of Williams' competitive spirit.
  VKB.31W675u 2010
  
  
• Soccernomics: why England loses, why Germany and Brazil win, and why the US, Japan, Australia, Turkey and even Iraq are destined to become the kings of the world's most popular sport
  By: Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski
  VKSO.K964s 2009
  
  
• Bike Snob: Systematically and Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling
  By: Eben Weiss
  Bike Snob treats readers to a laugh-out-loud rant and rave about the world of bikes, its history and hallmarks and its wide range of bizarre practitioners.
  VIW.W436b 2010
  
  
• When the Game Was Ours
  By: Larry Bird and Magic Johnson with Jackie MacMullan
  With intimate, fly-on-the-wall detail, "When the Game Was Ours" transports readers to an electric era of basketball and reveals for the first time the inner workings of two players--Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic" Johnson--dead set on besting one another.
  VMAB.B532w 2009
  
  
• The Downhill Lie: A Hacker’s Return to a Ruinous Sport
  By: Carl Hiaasen
  Hiaasen’s chronicle of his shaky return to this bedeviling pastime and the ensuing demolition of his self-esteem—culminating with the savage 45-hole tournament — will have you rolling with laughter.
  VKG.H52d 2008
  
  
• Chasing Dean: Surfing America’s Hurricane States
  By: Tom Anderson
  Two childhood friends from small-town Wales meet in Miami for a summer road trip they've always dreamed of—to chase the swell of a hurricane all the way up the East Coast in search of once-in-a-lifetime surf.
  VGB.An24c 2011
  
  
• Basketball Junkie: A Memoir
  By: Chris Herren and Bill Reynolds
  At basketball-crazy Durfee High in Fall River, Massachusetts, junior guard Chris Herren carried his family’s and the city’s dreams on his skinny frame. College ball led to the Pros, to a family and to heroin. Chris Herren tells how he nearly lost everything, and how he found a way back to life.
  VMAB.31H433b 2011
  
  
• Six weeks in Saratoga: how three-year-old filly Rachel Alexandra beat the boys and became horse of the year
  By: Brendan O’Meara
  The inside story of how a three-year-old filly captured the hearts of racing fans and cemented her bid to be named Horse of the Year.
  VJR.Om2s 2011
  
  
• The Big Scrum: How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football
  By: John J. Miller
  In its infancy during the late nineteenth century, the game of football was still a rough and dangerous work in progress. Objecting to the sport’s brutality, a movement tried to abolish the game. President Theodore Roosevelt helped to save the game that would become America’s most popular sport.
  VKF.4M615b 2011
  
  
• Ghost Wave: The Discovery of Cortes Bank and the Biggest Wave on Earth
  By: Chris Dixon
  Rumors and warnings about Cortes Bank abound, but among big wave surfers, this legendary rock is famous for one simple (and massive) reason: this is the home of the biggest rideable wave on the face of the earth.
  VGB.D643b 2011

Compiled by: Dylan Gaffney. Forbes Library. Summaries from ContentCafe. Images from Google Images. November 2011.

Category: Reading Lists