Customer Reviews

Forty Minutes of Hell: The Extraordinary Life of Nolan Richardson

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Five REVEALING Stars!! A wide-ranging, in-depth look at the life and times of famed National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame coach Nolan Richardson, known for his highly influential "Forty Minutes of Hell"-style of basketball coaching. Coach Richardson's unique life experiences, as detailed by author Rus Bradburd, is full of triumphs and tragedies, during which time he became the only coach to win the 'coaching trifecta' of a National Collegiate Division I Basketball Championship, a National Invitational Tournament Championship, and a National Junior College Basketball Championship. This well-researched book is full of previously unknown stories about Coach Richardson, Coach Don Haskins of UTEP fame, and many sports personalities from the Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Arkansas areas, as well as on the national level. The book begins with his 'infamous U of Arkansas press conference' that touched off a firestorm of debate across the nation's sports TV and talk radio shows, resulting in the bizarre firing of Richardson as head coach of the University of Arkansas varsity basketball team after years of excellence, that probably should not have happened. The book also covers the torturous lawsuit and the aftermath of the judgement. But it also details the influence of his grandmother; the evolution of Richardson's 'aggressive basketball' coaching style; the glory years of his involvement with many teams, coaches, and players; his trailblazing activities amid the racial and social problems of the times; the tragic death of his influential teenaged daughter from leukemia; and the importance of his friends and family life. A well-written, very nostalgic look at Coach Richardson's life that also contains much new information. Highly Recommended. Five DETAILED Stars!! (This review is based on an Amazon.com Kindle download in "Text-to-Speech" mode.)

"Forty Minutes of Hell" is great reading, even for the non-sports fan. Nolan Richardson's life is a saga of grit, determination, and basketball coaching brilliance with no compromise of personal integrity. Bradburd's account of this multi-championship winning coach is thorough and as fast-paced as Richardson's famous game. Richardson's controversial statements about race are not ducked. In fact the book begins with his famous/infamous press conference at the University of Arkansas in 2002 which was a prequel to his termination there. Like any hero, Richardson is not perfect, and Bradburd doesn't gloss over Richardson's mistakes. The El Paso chapters will surprise many readers--it's a city with a rich basketball tradition, alongside its Mexican-dominant culture and its prescient civil rights litigation. What Nolan Richardson has accomplished is truly amazing--coaching the winning teams of all three major college basketball titles and storming his outspoken way into sports history.

Rus Bradburd's telling of the life (so far) of legendary basketball coach Nolan Richardson is partly a basketball story, from a junior college in hardscrabble West Texas to Final Fours and a national championship at Arkansas. More importantly, though, it's the story of a man from a poor neighborhood in El Paso fighting through daunting obstacles to achieve the pinnacle of success in a place where many wished him to fail, and the scars left by those battles. Perhaps most importantly, this book tells the story of a nation's struggles with racism, both subtle and overt, over the last half-century. Because of people like Nolan Richardson, much progress can be seen; as Bradburd's book makes clear, however, fear and bigotry remain alarmingly present in our country. This is an important book, for basketball fans and non-fans alike.

I couldn't care less about basketball, but I loved this book. Basketball is simply a lens - a brilliant lens in Bradburd's expert hands - through which the author examines fifty years of racial relations, politics, history and civil rights struggle. Nolan Richardson is a fascinating character -- complicated, visionary, driven, irascible. At times he appears the most disciplined man alive and at others, out of control. He is portrayed as utterly human in dealing with a doomed marriage, a sick child or school politics. At the same time, he can become larger than life in breaking barriers and attaining impressive firsts on and off the court. His story, America's story in the second half of the last century, is full of heroism and flaws, anger and compassion.

This is an epic story, and you don't need to like basketball to find Nolan's story riveting any more than you need to love war to find yourself transfixed by Achilles'.

Rus Bradburd's Forty Minutes of Hell is well written, wholly engaging, and a lively read. Nolan Richardson is a fascinating figure, but he had sort of dropped out sight; at least he'd dropped off my radar screen. This book suggests why that's a crime. I knew that Richardson was a good coach, but I had no idea just how much he accomplished as a coach and as a black man in the south willing to speak his mind.

If you are a Coach Richardson fan, you will find this book quite interesting. A book you can sit down and read in no time. After reading you will understand that all he has said through the years is true.

I thought this was a pretty good book. I loved Noland and still do. It is a good rehashing of all the old stuff and the first part of the book gives you a good look at why He acted the way he did sometimes.

A facinating eye opening history of the game of basketball and the history of the African American struggle to play the game at the top and the almost impossible wish to coach basketball in a predominately white mans world. From my home in Australia most of my comments were that of utter astonishment as I thought all that went on prior to world war 2.

Excellent read about a courageous man that overcame adversity of being a Black man in America.

I left this book on the plane. I was so excited to read it, being a HUGE fan of Nolan's. I must say I was hugely disappointed. I was there - at the games, at the University, at the airport to meet the plane when the players came back - win or lose. We are not all Frank Broyles. We are not all racist. We are not the cause of Nolan Richardson's problems. How sad that incredible era in our sports history is not celebrated more. I feel for Nolan and the difficulties he faced in breaking ground in the NCAA. But how disappointing that it was not mentioned that the whole culture of Razorback basketball forever changed because of Nolan. That fans still talk about his exciting style of play and often wished for his return. That fans acknowledge that it was Nolan that 'built that house'.

I agree with the previous poster. Until you talk to the real fans, the real sportswriters, the real people of Arkansas, you have no clue writing such a biased and one-sided story.

We still LOVE Nolan! And I would guess he still loves us since he has chosen to make this his home. I just wish the book had included that bit of history in the story.