I Dream in Blue: Life, Death, and the New York Giants (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: stunt coordinator, Super Bowl, New York, Tiki Barber (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The 2006 New York Giants were a team whose victories, though not plentiful, offered much hope, and whose ugly losses, far too plentiful, seemed oddly uncharacteristic for a team with such evident talents. Few teams were so frustrating, few talented teams had such poor chemistry, and few playoff teams made so many pivotal mistakes. If they weren't the championship team rabid fan Director clearly hoped for when he commenced this seasonlong memoir, the combination of the author's past Giant-related tribulations and the interest of a team imploding result in a diverting read. A fan of Jeremy Shockey and Tiki Barber, lukewarm but hopeful on Eli Manning and positively brutal on coach Tom Coughlin, Director suffers his way from the Albany training sessions through the promising 6-2 start and the bewildering 2-6 second half to the playoff loss to the Eagles. A more apt title might have been Director's frequent plea of desperation, Someone make a play. In his narrative, Director, a onetime editor of Sport magazine and coproducer of the sitcom Mad About You, combines the hangdog obsessive who is an axiom in such books with an otherwise cool veneer of a Santa Monica entertainment veteran. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Director, a writer and TV producer, is a lifelong fan of the NFL's New York Giants. His memoir describes following the Giants throughout the 2006 season, a roller-coaster year in which the team started strong, collapsed, lost an unsatisfying play-off game, and endured the midseason retirement announcement of star-running-back Tiki Barber. What makes this account come to life isn't the play-by-play, though; it's Director's reflections on the nature of fandom—and the mysterious rites in which children are brought into the club by fathers, uncles, and siblings. It's a scenario that has been played out in the childhood of many youngsters who, as adults, wonder why—despite all logic—the final score determines whether one feels aching emptiness or fleeting fulfillment. In addition to looking closely at his own reactions to his team, he provides a jaunty capsule of the Giants, a football club founded in the Depression on a $500 investment by an Irish bookie. A funny, perceptive, and humble examination of why we're fans. Don't miss it. Lukowsky, Wes

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harper (August 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061209139
• ISBN-13: 978-0061209130
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #651,515 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Giants Fan Loved It, April 21, 2008

By	Lauren Russell (York, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Roger Director's book is most definitely a stream of disconnected musings about his neverending love of the New York Football Giants. Barring a few questionable facts (Eli was not drafted by the Giants), his book is a touching glimpse into the heart of every true Giants fan. From the questionable conception of the team to Tiki's retirement, Director provides a fresh look at the Giants, including the trials that come with being a fan of this fine team. He questions without criticizing and provides an insider look into training camp. A must-read for any Giants fan. I've read it twice and intend to repeat before each NFL season. Go Big Blue!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I Dream in Tiki/Shockey, April 15, 2008

By	Big Blue Review - See all my reviews

A curious book that reveals more about the author's worship of temporal player/idols than his knowledge or understanding of football. Updated with new material covering the Giants SuperBowl win; however the original 2006/2007 text demonstrates an astounding dearth of understanding or insight into the mechanics of the team's soon-to-be-found success. Tiki Barber is lauded as the ultimate and indispensible heart of the offense, and Shockey is cast as a better-than-Bavaro, passionate renegade who is only limited by the narrow-minded and petty Coach Coughlin.

Fast forward twelve months, and Coughlin's superstar-less Giants propel themselves to an improbable SuperBowl win. Meanwhile the under-performing Shockey and loud-mouthed Barber are forgotten goats for many Giants fans.

In fact Director has little to teach about football or the Giants, as this book is in-and-of-itself a commentary on America's (and the author's) obsession with individual celebrities.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Roger Director is no Fred Exley, September 17, 2007

By	Bob Fitzsimmons (New York City) - See all my reviews

Despite a number of egregious factual innacuracies, I enjoyed reading Roger Director's I Dream in Blue. That said, nobody familiar with Fred Exley's masterwork A Fan's Notes is likely to confuse that book with this one. It's a nice, at times funny, memoir that should appeal to Giants fans old and young, but beyond a fascinating speculative take on the circumstances surrounding Tim Mara's purchase of the franchise, I Dream in Blue offers little insight into the Giants that has not been covered in greater detail in other books.