Amazon.com Review
In
Body Politic: The Great American Sports Machine, critically acclaimed sportswriter, essayist, and novelist David Shields focuses on race and cultural relations, as observed in the media's portrayal and myth-building of sports, particularly professional basketball and baseball. Although no sustaining contention ties the chapters of the book together, Shields attempts to explain the place in popular American culture, as created and influenced by TV commentators and the figures themselves, of such known iconic quantities as: Howard Cosell, Phil Jackson, Charles Barkley, and Japanese baseball imports Ichiro Suzuki and Hideke Matsui. Also included are chapters on Howard Schultz, Chairman of Starbucks and a principal owner of the Seattle SuperSonics; the perceived dichotomy between East Coast (hard) vs. West Coast (soft) athletes and teams; baseball players whose careers have ended because of tics that cause them to suddenly flub routine throws; a brief analysis of the most popular American sports films; and the tattoo culture of basketball and racial themes in its advertising.
The book mainly consists of Shields's musings on quotes from and about sports figures, which do not always support the matter-of-fact interpretations he would like us to believe. He (wisely) decrees: "whoever owns the story tells its meaning"--which leaves room for your own judgment and speculation on what was said, and meant, by the sources. Somewhat thin but entertaining nonetheless, Body Politic provides interesting, evocative material and food for thought on what professional sports, and star athletes, are all about. --Michael Ferch
From Publishers Weekly
As a professional sportswriter, Shields (Black Planet: Facing Race During an NBA Season) does more than simply record wins and losses, and in this volume, he takes a serious look at how Americans view sports. He analyzes the temperament, behavior and attitudes of both players and coaches. He is especially interested in clashes—racial, cultural and regional. When writing about basketball, Shields wonders about the prevalence of black players, many of whom grew up without a father. As he discusses the skirmishes between blacks and whites, he observes, "Black players, especially, get tired of, especially, white coaches yipping at them. Players complain that most coaches don’t speak to them ‘man to man’; most coaches can’t fathom how their tirades can carry racial connotations to players." With stylish prose, Shields also discusses, among others, basketball legend Charles Barkley, Seattle Mariners’ right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, and Kayla Burt, a college basketball player whose promising career was curtailed by heart surgery. Shields’s polished writing and his coverage of more significant matters than just a win—race relations, teamwork, etc.—is solid. Had the book a more unified theme, instead of reading like individual essays, it would have wider appeal.
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