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

Review of "Hairpins"

I find fictional books on racing, no matter what type of racing, to be quite realistic in their descriptions of what drivers experience in their cars and this book is no exception.  Here is my review of "Hairpins"

 

Title/Author: “Hairpins: A Formula 1 Racing Novel” by Wayne Kerr

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review: Formula 1 racing, much like other forms of auto racing, is mostly a male-dominated sport but there are some women who are breaking barriers and succeeding in the business.  This fictional novel by Wayne Kerr centers around a young woman, Nikita (Niki) Madera, and her races in the highest level in the sport.

Niki, her McLaren teammate Martin LaConte and Alfa Romeo driver Joshua (Shu) Wheeler are characters that are well developed in the story and there is a budding romance between Niki and Shu despite the fact that they are teammates.  There are other important characters to the story, such as Niki’s best friend and manager Lynn and Camryn Cardinal, another female driver.

However, the main selling point of the book is what happens in the racing simulator and on the track.  There is a lot of detailed information on what Niki, Shu and the other drivers are doing.  This includes conversations between the driver and spotter, the strategies made by each team and great detailed explanations on the cars, the tracks and the various hazards that each driver faces.  The reader will really feel like they are part of the team or sitting in the cockpit of the car or simulator through most of the book.  There is enough technical talk that knowledgeable race fans can learn more, but not so technical that novice or non-fans can still understand what is happening.

If one is looking for a dramatic, character-driven story, this is not the one.  But for an excellent description of a driver’s experience during a Formula 1 season, then this is the book for that reader.  Despite the story being fictional, the description of the tracks, cars, and race teams feels very realistic.

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

Review of "Schoolboy"

Even though I read a lot about baseball in the early and mid 20th century, I had never heard of Waite "Schoolboy" Hoyt until obtaining this book.  Learned a lot about his life and some about his baseball career.

Title/Author:

“Schoolboy: The Untold Journey of a Yankees Hero” by Waite Hoyt with Tim Manners

Rating: 

3 of 5 stars (Okay)

Review: This is a unique memoir in that the subject of the book died before the book was actually assembled.  Tim Manners took many clippings and notes from former major league pitcher Waite Hoyt and put them together in a manner that reads like a memoir by Hoyt.  Manners deserves a lot of credit for pulling off this project as it does describe Hoyt’s life completely in the first-person narrative.

Maybe it is because of this formatting that while the book mostly describes Hoyt’s life in chronological order, I found it a slog to get through the pages.  Knowing that Hoyt was an important member of one of the greatest baseball teams in history, the 1927 New York Yankees, I expected more about his baseball career and that team.  The parts that do describe any part of his time with that team are mostly about his interactions with teammates, especially Babe Ruth.  However, one of the more interesting parts of the entire book did involve a member of that team, but well after both men had left the Yankees.  When Hoyt was trying to get back into baseball shape one winter, he decided to do so at a local skating rink.  Who did he see at the rink who was also skating as part of his conditioning?  None other than Lou Gehrig!

The encounter with Gehrig, which covers an entire chapter, is an example of how the book reads – some baseball, but mostly topics that are important to Hoyt’s life but are not really part of the game.  There are very interesting events that would not have occurred in Hoyt’s life had he not been a ball player such as meeting Al Capone, but if one is looking for a book on Hoyt’s baseball career, this doesn’t delve into that very deeply.  That is surprising for a memoir, and at times the book does feel tedious to read, but it still deserves some praise just for putting together Hoyt’s complete story.

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

Link: Amazon.com: Schoolboy: The Untold Journey of a Yankees Hero: 9781496236791: Hoyt, Waite, Manners, Tim, Costas, Bob: Books