Review of "World Class"

Like everyone else who follows sports, I was shocked and saddened to learn about Grant Wahl's death during the 2022 World Cup.  When I saw a book that is a collection of his writing was coming out, I requested a review copy and got it!  It lived up to what I expected.  Here is my review of "World Class."

Title/Author:

“World Class: Purpose, Passion and the Pursuit of Greatness On and Off the Field” by Grant Wahl

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review: When Grant Wahl died suddenly from an aneurysm while covering the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the entire sports world was in shock and in mourning.  He was well known for his passion for writing about soccer and being the voice for those who were not heard.  This book is a collection of Wahl’s writing on those topics from many different sources.  His best known work was writing for Sports Illustrated, and many of the pieces are from the magazine, but there are also articles from Substack, his college classes and other sources.

What struck me the most about this collection was not the quality, as that was expected to be superior in a collection of Grant Wahl writing.  It was not that the topics were varied and not just about soccer and college basketball, the two sports that Wahl covered during his time at Sports Illustrated.  It even wasn’t that his articles would often champion causes like social justice for marginalized groups like LGBTQ+ or migrant workers.  No, what I really liked about this book and each of the articles was the passion that Wahl put into each article.  That was mentioned throughout the book – that a reader could see that Wahl was writing with a purpose.  Often, the forward of a book written by a relative or colleague of the author will state this – but in this case, it was absolutely the truth. 

There are several powerful pieces scattered throughout the book.  One of the best had nothing to do with sports and was a submission of Wahl’s when he was in college.  He wrote an account of a person for whom he held great regard – Vietnam War correspondent Gloria Emerson. It was an assignment for a non-fiction writing class, but it was so good and received so much positive feedback that it was kept amongst his other writings.  Two others that I believe should be noted are his Substack writings on the conditions faced by workers in Qatar preparing for the 2022 World Cup and his portrait of American teenage soccer player Freddie Adu, who did not live up to the hype given to him during his career in Major League Soccer and is now playing for any European team who will sign him. 

One doesn’t have to be a soccer fan to enjoy Wahl’s work on the sport.  The same goes for his other pieces in this book – if a reader simply enjoys excellent non-fiction writing in which the passion of the author is clear, then that reader needs to read this book.  

I wish to thank the publisher for providing a review copy of the book. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.

 

Link: World Class: Purpose, Passion, and the Pursuit of Greatness On and Off the Field: Wahl, Grant, Gounder, Dr. Céline: 9780593726761: Amazon.com: Books