Description
Book SynopsisThis collection marks the return to print of John Lardner, one of America's press box giants, a classic stylist whose wry humor and tireless reporting helped elevate sportswriting to art. The brilliant W.C. Heinz called Lardner ""the best of us."" This book shows why.
Trade Review"If this collection of 49 sports pieces is a true measure of John Lardner's talent, it's almost scandalous that the work of Ring's oldest son has not appeared in book form for some 50 years. . . . A collection well worth the wait."—Alan Moores,
Booklist"In these days of chest-thumping anthropoids on ESPN, it does one's heart good to read Lardner (son of Ring) once again and to be reminded that there really was a golden age of sportswriting."—Henry Kisor,
The Recluctant Blogger"Fortunately for us, John Schulian, a distinguished sportswriter in his own right. . . has put together an invigorating sample of Lardner's best sportswriting, [
The John Lardner Reader is] a generous and representative blend of Lardner's
Newsweek columns, newspaper stories and freelance magazine pieces."—Alex Belth, SI.com
"While his fellow sportswriters were perfecting new techniques in the line of hero worship, Lardner was exploring sporting celebrity as performance, a way of hiding private obsessions and defeats, and a love, above all, of money and the high life. That he wrote about what he saw with such a light, clean touch doesn't diminish the basic darkness of his vision. Lardner, his mind on a time already past, saw LeBron James, the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Alex Rodriguez coming. He was appalled."—Tim Marchman,
Wall Street Journal"Lardner, who unfortunately died 50 years ago a couple of calendars short of his 50th birthday, fortunately has Schulian in his corner and reintroducing his work to a generation of scribes who could benefit from the opportunity to step back and reassess their craft."—Tom Hoffarth,
Los Angeles Daily News "The
John Lardner Reader is a terrific book because the best of John Lardner is extraordinarily good. And nobody should dismiss even the worst of him. . . . It is a great joy to see his work recollected and republished."—Bill Littlefield,
Boston GlobeTable of ContentsForeword by Dan Jenkins
Acknowledgments
Introduction by John Schulian
Part 1. In a Class by Themselves
Down Great Purple Valleys
"The Haig": Rowdy Rebel of the Fairways
Part 2. Bats and Brawls
Babe Herman
Good-by to All That
Memoirs of Old Satch
Most Blood for Your Money
The Home of the Bean and the Kid
The World's Richest Problem Child
Hard-way Bill on the Mississippi
They Walked by Night
Baseball Eye
Passing of an Unlicensed Hero
The All-American Rookie
Ball Fans and Other Primates
Memoirs of a Mild Fanatic
Razor Blades Amok
The Space Revolution
Part 3. Cauliflower Alley
Morgan on Jaws
Bag Hits Baer
The Boy Bandit
Upsy Downsy
Death of a Simian and a Scholar
The Case of the Chilly Giant
Mr. Percentage
Life with Eddie
The Sweet and the Tough
John Arthur Johnson
Fun at the Scales
Now Pitching for Bartlett's
When in Doubt, Hang the Judge
No Scar, No Memory
Part 4. Cautionary Tales
The Life and Loves of the Real McCoy
Mysterious Montague
Battling Siki
Part 5. Other Precincts
The Roller Derby
Sleeper for 44
The Old Postgraduate Try
Rooney's Ride
An Angel on Horseback
Little Bill
Strong Cigars and Lovely Women
What Was That Again?
Mr. Jacoby and the National Folly
The Best of the Browsers
Maybe in Memoriam
The Life of T-ts Sh-r
What Price Olympic Peace?
Part 6. Two for the Money
Titanic Thompson
The Sack of Shelby
