Customer Reviews

The Assist: Hoops, Hope, and the Game of Their Lives

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I am not usually a reader, but I had a hard time putting this book down. Swidey does an excellent job capturing what has been an incredible story in Boston over the past few years. It's about basketball but, it is also about so much more. He describes how the aftermath of school desgregation in Boston has left the public schools in crisis, and how having someone who cares can make such a huge diffrence.

This is not just a book about basketball. Ask anyone who ever played a sport, and they can probably tell you how much their coach influenced their life. At a time in life when boys are becoming men, a positive male role model, whether it be a parent, coach or a teacher, can make all the difference. Neil Swidey's insider's view of the lives of the players, their families and Coach O'Brien was both heartwarming and disturbing. But this is not unique to Boston. All over the country, we continue to spend money building more jails instead of improving our schools, after school programs and parks. This is a good read for young or old. And not just men.

I almost couldn't put the book down. Finished it in three nights. Anyhow, the writing style is fantastic and the story is compelling. Lots of ups and downs. The best part is that the book is about real people. Definately read this book.

A brutally honest look at the world of an inner city high school through the eyes of the basketball team. From the dysfunctional shool system, lack of parental role models, and the impact of the overworked legal system. it is all here. This is an enlightening look at the sacrifice and dedication of a high school coach and the overwhelming odds he must face. I have read many high school basketball books, and this ranks right up there. Great job by first time author Neil Swidey.

If you look at the cover of this book you would think this is a book about basketball, but you would be wrong. Actually, the parts about basketball get in th way of the real story about people lives. Jack O'Brien is the head coach of Charlestown High School, but this book is so much more than just his story. His players and the principal of the school have fascinating stories too. I found this book very hard to put down. For his first book, Neil Swidey did an outstanding job! I loved this book!

Neil Swidey's THE ASSIST chronicles three years in the life of coach Jack O'Brien and the players of Charlestown HS in Boston. O'Brien is a minature high school version of a young Bobby Knight--obsessive, compulsive, and brilliant. It is his way or no way. And the results, at least the wins, are a staggering five state championships. But like the "rabbit hunter" that Knight has always been, so O'Brien never knows when to let something drop. His greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. Swidey did his job as a writer when you realize that half the time you loathe this coach and the other half of the time you respect him.

But, as many have said, this is more about life in the inner city than about basketball. The young men who are his players are so overwhelmed with the disfunctional nature of their family lives combined with the violence of the streets that O'Brien's controlled environment becomes something of a safe haven. This is their way out. But even when they make it out, they struggle because they have become accustomed to his constant oversight.

The book ends with the bizarre situation of O'Brien stepping down as the coach and then wanting his job back. It that sense the book ends in an unsatisfactory manner. But, in another sense, it's the perfect ending in that there are no easy solutions at Charlestown.

Swidey, a truly embedded journalist, follows the daily lives of a Charlestown, Mass. basketball team - with particular attention dedicated to their coach - Mr. O'Brien. The book, as noted by others, is much more than another story about basketball. In the background, his book provides atmospherics on the racial tensions that have impacted Mass. for the last several decades. At the forefroent, this non-fictional account reveals the inter-workings of a small community. In Charlestown, elements of academic bureaucracies interact with high school athletics, and these bed partners marry, or sometimes divorce, with community norms and regional policies and protocols. Swidey reveals that one man, Coach O'Brien, has dedicated his life to understanding the aforementioned societal system and makes it work to the advantage of his under-appreciated and largely African American basketball squad. Coach O'Brien, an Irish Catholic, is no ordinary coach or man. His passion for Charlestown's basketball players extends well beyond the basketball court - and deeply penetrates his players' personal, professional and academic lives. Swidey also explains the life stories of several basketball players, but pays particular attention to "Hood" and Ridley, the co-captains of the Charlestown basketball team. They come of age under the tutelage of Coach O'Brien and illustrate both the best and worst of their community. O'brien, however, transcends his community and leads his team through personal, academic, and basketball trials and tribulations. His struggles are eloquently captured by Swidey and used in a fashion that highlight and expose nuances and complexities in our society that we, as Americans, are yet to fully understand. The ending of this work it not necessarily happy or sad, but very realistic and relevant to our lives in the 2000's. The topical order of the book, however, left some room for improvement. The narrative jumped from one Swidey character to the next and slowed down the story at some points in the work. Other than this minor distraction, the work provided an insightful and raw account of the American landscape in New England.

First off, I must confess that I just purchased the book and haven't read it yet. But I did have the wonderful opportunity of meeting both Mr. Swidey and Mr. O'Brien (along with Mr. Swidey's delightful parents) at the Medford Public library this last week. They did a wonderful job telling the story of the challenges facing these kids. I hope the book is at least a quarter as good as their discussion and I am pretty sure it will be!

This book juxtaposes basketball and real life. In doing so Swidey provides a multiple perspectives.

Sometimes the reader is present almost as a fellow team member during very private times in the coaches and player's lives; both on and off the court. You know what music they are listening to - the complex dynamics that are playing out under the surface - what they are thinking during emotionally charged situations. The author has an uncanny ability to bring the reader into these young adult's lives.

Other times Swidey provides a 360 helicopter vantage point that allows the reader to see all character's points of view at the same time; and an ability to see how relatively small events in the present; have big consequences as events unfold.

From either point of view the story is compelling. While based around a basketball coach and his team's on and off court struggles - it is more accurately about a good but flawed man's attempt to help good but flawed kids navigate their urban maze.

The Assist: Hoops, Hope, and the Game of Their Lives

I BOUGHT THIS BOOK BECAUSE JACK O'BRIEN WAS MY SON'S COACH IN SALEM. MA; BY THE 1980'S. HE IS THE BEST AND MOST CARING TEACHER I HAVE EVER MET IN MY LIFE. HE USED TO WRITE LETTERS TO ME,(I WAS IN PR BY THAT TIME) TO LET ME KNOW ABOUT MY KIDS IMPROVEMENT EVERY SINGLE WEEK. HE REALLY CARED FOR THEM AS A FATHER DOES FOR HIS OWN. I HAVEN'T SEEING MR.O'BRIEN FOR MANY YEARS, BUT THIS BOOK'S AUTHOR MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO KNOW ABOUT ALL THE GREAT THINGS HE KEPT DOING FOR BOSTON'S KIDS AFTER MY KIDS LEFT THE STATE.I AM REALLY VERY GREATFUL TO THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK AND TO AMAZON.COM FOR MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO KNOW ABOUT THE ACTUAL WHEREABOUTS OF MR O'BRIEN.

I REALLY ENJOYED READING THE BOOK VERY MUCH. I AM ONE OF THOSE GREATFUL PARENTS, AND THE LEIBOWITZ KIDS ARE TODAY WHAT GOD HELPED THEM TO BE, BECAUSE MR O'BRIEN WAS THERE WHEN THEY NEEDED HIM THE MOST. I HEARTFULLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK, AND WISH EVERY TEACHER, NOT ONLY EVERY COACH, COULD BUY AND READ THIS BOOK AND FOLLOW COACH O'BRIEN'S EXAMPLE. WHEN I CAME TO MA. TO VISIT MY CHILDREN, HE PICKED ME UP AT THE AIRPORT, TOOK ME TO SEE MY KIDS, AND HELPING THEM OUT AS HE USUALLY DID. HE IS ONE OF A KIND.