Customer Reviews

Hate Mail from Cheerleaders and Other Adventures from the Life of Reilly

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the second book by Rick Reilly that collects the best of his weekly Spors Illustraded back-page column. "Hate Mail From Cheerleaders" (320 pages) brings exactly 100 of those columns, from the last 7 years, in no particular order or chronology.

Some of these columns are simply funny and quick-for-a-laugh (such as "White Like Me" on why it's ok to mock white guys but not blacks or Asians, or "He Loves Himself Barry Much", which needs no explaning). Others, though, are meant to make bigger points ("Blind Justice" on the Nets' Jason Williams "accidetnally" shooting his limo driver). Yet other columns are inspirational, and that's putting it mildly: young kids living with certain handicaps yet overachieving with help of others ("Trumpeting the Father of the Year", "Strongest Dad in the World", etc.), assisting a good cause such as collecting money for mosquito nets in Nigeria ("Nothing But Nets"), etc.

The great thing is that for most of the columns, Reily gives an updated Postscript. In the postscript of his controversial 2004 column on the death of NFL player Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, Reilly writes "I don't write about sports. I write about people who happen to be in sports. I write about human joy, sorrow, religion and politics as it weaves itseld through sports." This book is HIGHLY recommended for anyone looking for a good summer book to read on the beach or wherever.

It's great! A mix of his funniest and most touching articles. He's also written a little updated post script at the end of each one with a little more insight or info...

Love it!

Rick Reilly has a gift of striking at the heart strings of his readers. At the same time he can be extremely funny and that is what makes this such a good book. He includes many different stories which makes it an easy read. I highly recommend this book to all.

I have read Rick Reilly on and off in SI for years. I am not a regular subscriber, so my readings of his work have not been consistent. I was getting ready to take a trip and wanted something that would be fun to read. I saw the 5 star reviews (on Amazon) of Rick's book but I was somewhat skeptical about getting it. As a University of Tennessee alumni and fan I had been upset when he had written an article slamming Pat Summit (legendary UT women's basketball coach) about "running up the score" on one of the Lady Vols opponents. Despite all this I decided to take a chance. I needed a good read on my vacation, and I knew he was a good writer, and I needed have a laugh or two while flying, or more often than not,sitting in the airport during another delay.
This book is far more than I expected. This book is very funny, but many of his articles are very touching, and he exposes the best and the worst in the people involved in sports. Sports are the venue, but it is his insight into the people that make the stories so compelling.
As a big fan of the late Jim Murray's writing, I never believed there would ever be another sports writer that good, but I think Rick is getting to that level. A great read, a must read, for any sports fan, period! Every bit a 5 star rating and more.

When I receive my weekly SI, I quickly flip to the back page to read Rick Reilly's column...I'm always bummed it's only one page. Now I have a whole book to read back through some of Reilly's best work. The postscripts he adds are "the rest of the story." Great reading...I can hardly put it down.

I'm only about a third of the way through this collection of columns by Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly, and already I feel like I've gotten my money's worth.

Reilly is a great writer, with a great ability to take any sport or sport story and weave it into a true human interest piece. Even if you don't like sports, these quirky, funny, and inspirational stories will keep anyone's interest.

Be sure to give this a look, as well as Reilly's other books.

If you are a fan of his columns then you will be a fan of this book.

Very quick read, and it will definately make you laugh...

My husband gets sports illustrated every week, and every week I flip to the back and read the life of Reilly. What a great writer he is. I enjoyed this book very much.

This book is not for sports nuts only! Rick Reilly is a SI columnist. I am not a sports fan, well the Triple Crown and the Olympics, but other than that I follow no sports. But I adored this collection. The columns run the gamut from funny, mocking, outraged to heartwarming and heartbreaking. This is a great collection for any reader, sports nuts to book nuts!

I have read this book going 5 times now. The only other book that I've read more is "Ball Four". Reilly makes me laugh and cry all in the same column. I even make my wife read some of the stories and she don't complain (which is not like her)