Title/Author:
“Losers: Dispatches
from the Other Side of the Scoreboard" edited by Mary Pilon and Louisa
Thomas
Tags:
Various sports,
professional, Olympics, essays
Publish date:
August 18, 2020
Length:
304 pages
Rating: to
4 ½ of 5 stars (excellent)
Review:
The title of this book
– "Losers" – makes it sound like this will be a very depressing,
somber type of book. However, the excellent
collection of stories gathered and edited by Mary Pilon and Louisa Thomas (who
also contributed one of the stories) doesn't have that sense of dread. There
are also contributions by two very famous authors, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and
Gay Talese. The latter's story is his
well known writing about boxer Floyd Patterson after his losses to Sonny
Liston.
Yes, this is a
collection of stories about athletes or fans whose teams or accomplishments
didn't land them in the winner's circle and yes, some of them can be quite sad.
Thomas' story about her grandmother who suffered through abuse by her husband,
but she also had a mostly successful business raising championship horses, is
probably the most depressing piece in the book. There are other tales of woe of
varying degrees, but not all of them are of this nature. Another one that comes to mind is the story of
a cage fighter who never won a fight (before the days of MMA/UFC) who faked his
own death to avoid paying debts but eventually was caught. This one was written
by Pilon.
Indeed, some can be
uplifting and cheerful in their tone, despite the fact that the subject of the
story did not end up as the winner. The
best example of this type of story is on marathon runner Dick Beardsley, who is
one of the most famous second place finishers when he was runner-up to Alberto
Salazar in the Boston Marathon.
One aspect of the book
that is especially pleasing is that a wide variety of sports and playing levels
are featured in the book. One of the more unusual stories is one about a
matador who was nearing the end of his bullfighting career. There are stories about famous losses, such
as a Boston fan's recollection of Bill Buckner's famous error in game six of
the 1986 World Series. That particular
story is interesting in that the author sounds like they are longing for the bad
old days when Boston teams were mediocre instead of the champions they now
are. Of course, a book on losers wouldn't
be complete without a story on the most famous losers, the Washington Generals. For those who are not familiar with them,
they are the team that faces the Harlem Globetrotters in their shows. Despite what one may believe, the story
illustrates the Generals as good basketball players and talks about a game in
which the Generals actually walked off the court victorious.
As is the case with any collection of essays or stories, not every one of them will appeal to every reader. That was the case with this reviewer for a few of the selections. But there were far many enjoyable ones than duds and they were fun to read. One doesn't have to be a big sports fan to enjoy this collection as many of the stories touch at the heart and soul of the "losers" in various sports.
I wish to thank
Penguin Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an
honest review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
Buying Links:
No comments:
Post a Comment