Description
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2015 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing
The much-anticipated debut from the Pulitzer Prize–winning
New York Times reporter,
Boy on Ice is a moving human story and behind-the-scenes account of a life lived in the glare of sporting fame.
Trade Review"A fine, impeccably researched book." -- Stephen Brunt - New York Times
"Devastating… Heartbreaking because it shows us, in tender detail, a life consumed by our unholy appetites…
Boy on Ice is a startling indictment of the groupthink that prevails within America’s vast athletic industrial complex." -- Steve Almond - New York Times Book Review
"A haunting tale." -- Ed Sherman - Chicago Tribune
"Devastating…Expos[es] the violent tradition that pushed this young man to the brink." -- Kate Tuttle - Boston Globe
"A thorough, compassionate, if ultimately devastating profile of Derek Boogaard." -- Kurtis Scaletta - Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Meticulously reported and beautifully written." -- Bryan Cronan - Christian Science Monitor
"Anything written by John Branch is a compelling must-read.
Boy on Ice is transcendent and riveting and his best work yet." -- Al Michaels, Sportscaster
"Punch by punch, pill by pill, the dread mounts in John Branch's brilliantly reported account of Derek Boogaard, a modern-day gladiator who gave everything for a career in hockey, not least of all his hauntingly short and quietly kind life." -- Will Blythe, best-selling author of To Hate Like This is to be Happy Forever
"Fascinating and chilling. In meticulous detail, John Branch creates a blood-drenched parable for the hidden human toll of sports violence staged for our entertainment. The rise and fall of Derek Boogaard—quintessential NHL goon—is unlike any sports biography you will ever read." -- Steve Fainaru, best-selling coauthor of League of Denial
