No Ordinary Joe: The Biography of Joe Paterno [Paperback]

Michael O'Brien (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1999

Author Michael O'Brien authoritatively paints the consummate Paterno portrait, the result of more than ten years of work that included 137 interviews and study of 150 previously published works. Paperback includes an epilogue that reviews the 1998 season in which Paterno won his landmark 300th career victory.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Certainly one of the best-known coaches in college football, Paterno became an assistant at Penn State in 1950 and head coach in 1966. And he has stayed there ever since, despite offers from both colleges and professional teams. Through the years he has compiled a record of 298-77-3, but is probably more respected because of his insistence that the aim of college is primarily a college education and only secondarily a headline on the sports page, so he and his staff drive their players as hard for academic excellence as for gridiron success. Paterno no longer uses the term much, but after a couple of years as head coach he began to preach the gospel of the Grand Experiment, adding to his reputation as a friend of the intellectuals (he's a Brown graduate himself). It's difficult for an author to avoid writing a hagiography about Paterno, but O'Brien (Hesburgh), a history professor at the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley, tries, although he finds few warts. The only objection is the structure of the book, which interrupted the history of the team for four chapters of analysis and details about the man and his family and then returns to the main subject in the closing chapter. It's as if O'Brien were afraid the material in that excursus would not hold reader interest.

Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558537155
• ISBN-13: 978-1558537156
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 0.9 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #703,530 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Paterno revealed shows depth behind his Buddy Holly glasses. October 2, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Joe Paterno looks like a geek, sounds like a Messiah, coaches like Lombardi, inspires like Audy Murphy and takes a jock sport to a level of development that transcends gland cases slamming together for the name of school spirit in front of millions of fans and numerous commercial sponsors. How do I know... I read this great assembly of Paterno in and out of his coaching shoes. If you want to be inspired, yet don't want the flag-waving hoopla of bombs and causes, this book will have you helping little old ladies cross the street in no time. Paterno's life is inspiring, dammit. He is no ordinary joe.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Paterno in 3-D April 27, 2000

By Justin J. Catanoso

Format:Paperback

This is no breezy read for Nittany Lion fans to dip into during lulls in tailgating. Rather, O'Brien's book on Paterno is a prodigious work of research, richly detailed, exhaustively documented, and persuavive in its ultimate, but not surprising, conclusion. Though the author refers to his subject as "Joe" throughout the book, he's no starstruck fan. He comes by his points honestly, much like the coach's father, Angelo Paterno, would have urged: "Think, think harder." O'Brien has produced an insightful, three-dimensional portrait of Paterno, perhaps the most complete chronicle of the coach's life ever written. Along the way, he establishes himself as a credible and dispassionate observer. There are plenty of books on Joe Paterno and Penn State football. Most are highly polished works of campus public relations. "No Ordinary Joe" stands out from the crowd as perhaps the most insightful, most balanced, and ultimately, most satisfying of them all.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great subject matter makes a great book. June 7, 2001

By Sean Claycamp

Format:Hardcover

I have always said that if I had a son worthy of playing big-time college football, I'd send him to Penn State to play for Joe Paterno. My thoughts haven't changed a whip since reading this book. Michael O'Brien does a wonderful job in detailing the life and philosophy of one of the most colorful and downright good people to ever live.

O'Brien pulls no punches. Paterno is brash, at times mean and expects a lot out of his players, but he is also a loving father figure to players and the student body. Paterno is no saint though. If you don't produce, you are in trouble... but isn't that the way of the world. His philosophy, richly detailed in a chapter on Patero's coaching style, should be copied by the Spurriers and the Sabans of the world.

I haven't read any other O'Brien books, but I definitely will be looking for them on my next trip to the book store. This book is a quick read, but it makes you feel good about the world again when you realize that there are still people like Paterno out there that don't compromise themselves for money and fame.

Now I just wish O'Brien would write a book on Coach K because if I had a son that was good at hoops I'd send him to Duke.