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Sports Illustrated: Going Deep: 20 Classic Sports Stories By Gary Smith ( Sports Illustrated )
Release Date: 2008-09-16
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Product Description
For a quarter century, Gary Smith has left the readers of Sports Illustrated spellbound and speechless with his compelling long-form storytelling. A four-time winner and nine-time nominee of the National Magazine Award (magazine journalism's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize), Smith writes just a handful of pieces a year for the sports weekly. Each is more than worth the wait: with his unparalleled ability to go both inside and outside his subjects, Smith is a modern master of nonfiction writing. It's no wonder that he once drew the most votes in a national poll of sports editors as the writer they'd most want to hire. Smith's stories have appeared in the annual Best American Sports Writing anthology series nine times over the course of the 16-edition series, the most of any contributor. Now comes Sports Illustrated: Going Deep: 20 Classic Sports Stories, by Gary Smith, a collection of Smith's most powerful pieces. Handpicked by the author, these 20 stories showcase the richness of his reporting and the compassion of his craft. In "Shadow of a Nation" Smith depicts the struggle of Jonathan Takes Enemy, a young Crow Indian basketball player hoping to escape the reservation. In "Damned Yankee" Smith details the saga of John Malangone, the player who might have replaced Yogi Berra as the New York Yankees catcher until a terrible secret from his childhood unraveled his career. In "Blindsided by History" Smith tells the tale of the racial grenade flung in the laps of America's best schoolboy team in 1957 and the absurd solution that segregationists cobbled together to preserve two Arkansas traditions: Friday night football and racial separation. This 416-page anthology - highlighted by all four National Magazine Award winners and a foreword by the author - is rich with heart and humanity.
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 wonderful writing ( parker@truman.edu )
I loved Smith's earlier collection, Beyond the Game. Since reading that half a dozen years ago, I have looked for more Smith. This is it.
Be advised, however, that several of the 20 chapter/articles are duplicates -- maybe as many as six. Mia Ham, Damn Yankee, Fidrych, Runners, Ali, and the Deep Divers. All great stories, and perhaps worth reading twice?
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 Going Deep Goes Deep
Gary Smith combines his great powers of observation and research to truly go deep into the subjects of these stories. He makes non-fiction seem like fiction in subtle ways.
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A Great Collection from a Great Author
Having had the privilege of sitting down and being interviewed by Gary Smith for one of the stories included in this book, I can appreciate the passion, and compassion, exhibited in each of the 20 stories. Sans the ego of other renowned authors, Gary Smith is a pristine example of one who is able to reach into the nooks and crannies of the lives of those he interviews without harrassment or intimidation. He can, with kindness and a true sense of humbleness, put one at ease and elicit the minute details involved in people's lives that bring these stories alive. It's so neat to be able to read the stories of the mighty and the meek in the same book. Regardless of your stature in life, Gary Smith has the unique gift of making the meek feel their story is important and can make a difference in other peoples lives. There are lessons to be learned from each of the 20 stories and will be appreciated by those who love sports stories, or just love great stories.
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