Customer Reviews

The Life of Reilly: The Best of Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Reilly certainly has a view that at times can be labeled as extreme,on both sides of the line. Funny, witty, absurd, irreverent. He hits it from all sides and leaves us laughing in the wake. The book is a compilation (that why I gave it 4 instead of 5)of Reilly's veiws, most of which are or have been shared on the last page of Sports Illustrated. It is hard to put down, highly entertaining, even if you don't agree with the quips, gripes or humor you will find his take on things anything but boring or passe and at times evocative of where sports has been and were it going. Nothing is of limits here, cheerleading, fishing etc. Worth every penny.

Anyone who even read the first few pages of the book would know what I am talking about in my review title. For years, Rick Reilly has been making me laugh on the last page of Sports Illustrated. Now, with this book, I get to relive some of those hilarious moments.

Rick Reilly is one of the best in the business. His writing is funny, off-the-wall, witty, and always informative, even if his subject is not something you really want to be informed about. He has a knack for making light of any subject, and he has written about almost everything imaginable.

This book compiles his absolute best pieces, and they truly are masterful pieces of writing. He uses a very candid language that allows the reader just to take his article in, usually laughing the whole way through.

The Life of Reilly is a perfect book for anyone who is a fan of the columnist, or even for those of you who are sports' fans. This book will make you laugh out loud, as it truly is just pure non-stop enjoyment. This book really is a "can't miss." Besides, anyone chosing Charles Barkley to write the introduction to his book has to be doing something write, er, right!

in my opinion rick reilly's writing is the best in the biz. i have been reading his columns on the last page of sports illustrated since i was eight. he no doubt has a talent for writing and can mix sports and humor in to a wonderful page. his writing appeals to all ages, and is my writing inspiration.

Who wouldn't like Reilly? He is the best in sportswriting. I can't remember reading anyone getting close to his pieces. I read his columns in SI every week, many were reprinted in this book, but I was still rolling on the floor when I read them. A lot of them are funny, some are touching, but they all provoke emotions. Keep it up, Reilly.

I had the privilege of being interviewed several times by Rick when I was a high school track athlete and he was a young flip-flop wearing sports writer for the Boulder Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, Colorado earning his stripes covering high school sports. Even way back then it was obvious that he enjoyed sports writing and it came as little surprise to see him eventually end up as SI's most notable writer. This collection of some of his best (but not all of his best) SI columns is a gem. Not all are "laugh out loud" humorous, but many are (a testament to his versatility as a writer). His postscript comments are also entertaining. After a thorough reading, this book is a keeper. I can't wait for Volume 2.

I always find that the back of each issue of Sports Illustrated is always the page I read first. Especially good ones are the "Perfect Day", the one where Reilly describes a golf outing with President Clinton, and my favorite - the one about the meaning of life, from a sports perspective, of course.

Nobody writes about sport like Reilly. This is a great collection of his Sports Illustrated pieces. If you are a fan of sports journalism, this is a must read for you.

Rick Reilly has a unique gift for communicating his humorous tales. Thumbs up.

Every Thursday I check the mailbox when I get home, see my Sports Illustrated, and go straight for the back page so I can read Mr. Reilly's column. There is a reason he has been named Sportswriter of the Year so many times, he is simply the best. Reilly writes about the humorous, the sad, and the ironic of sports. I laughed at why he hates the Yankees so much, and almost bawled when reading about the Columbine teacher who gave his life for his students. I do some writing myself and even in my dreams I am not half as good as Mr. Reilly is, and never will be. If you are a fan of good, solid writing, pick this book up and read it over and over again.

My brother told me about this book (since he's a life-long subscriber of SI), and I then got it for my boyfriend. I couldn't resist reading Barkley's introduction before gift-wrapping it, and then I ended up reading the whole thing.

I'd only read a few of Reilly's columns before & had always enjoyed them. This book presents the best of the best in the perfect package. Some were laugh-out-loud funny with Reilly's sardonic wit, while others definitely put me in a pensive mood for the next few hours.

The way Reilly writes his columns shows that these stories are about life and that sports are the secondary factor. This book makes the perfect non-maintstream book gift. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't relate to or get something out of Reilly's columns.