Show Me a Hero: Great Contemporary Stories about Sports [Paperback]

Jeanne Schinto (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0892552093 | ISBN-13: 978-0892552092 | Publication Date: April 1995 | Edition: 1st

A collection of twenty-one sports stories which explore aspects of everyday life experiences.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This collection is not so much about winning and losing, teamwork and competition in the sports arena as it is about facing these issues in the bigger game of life. Jonathan Baumbach's "The Return of Service" follows a session of father-and-son tennis in which the son views his parent's dual role as competitor and instructor. The troubles inherent in coming of age are a theme throughout: in Toni Cade Bambara's "Raymond's Run," an inner-city girl who is "serious about my running and don't care who knows it" comes to a greater appreciation of the disabled brother entrusted to her care. Through truly witty dialogue, Ann Packer traces a teenager's attempt at making the cheerleading squad and the mechanisms of her inevitable failure in "Horse." There are plenty of well-known writers here-Garrison Keillor, Susan Straight, John Sayles, Mark Helprin, Ellen Gilchrist, Ethan Canin and John Edgar Wideman, to name a few. Although each writer's voice is distinctive, editor Schinto grouped pieces by both theme and writing style, resulting in a collection in which stories read as cohesively as the chapters of a novel.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA?A fine collection of 21 short stories. While competition is a central theme, all of the selections explore the most basic human emotions in situations familiar or readily imaginable to YAs. Many are about coming of age, and how competing in a sport affected the difficult transitions to adulthood. Several discuss strong and weak family situations; others describe athletic competition as the catalyst in overcoming personal or physical weaknesses. The stories are nicely balanced. The personalities are evenly divided between male and female characters who depict the many walks of American life; baseball, football, golf, cheerleading, boxing, bowling, tennis, and running are among the sports represented. While many of these stories are about young people, some poignantly describe the effect of aging. A thought-provoking anthology.?Catherine Noonan, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 265 pages
• Publisher: Persea Books; 1st edition (April 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892552093
• ISBN-13: 978-0892552092
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,085,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)