Customer Reviews

Sports Illustrated Monday Morning Quarterback: A fully caffeinated guide to everything you need to know about the NFL

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A confession: I know and admire Peter King. Another confession: I'm a professional writer, and when I want to read for pleasure, I either crack open another Elmore Leonard or, Mondays, at lunch, treat myself to Peter's MMQB. No one knows football like Peter King, and it's a treat to have some of his best columns collected in a book. If you haven't read him, I envy you the pleasure of encountering his voice for the first time -- expert yet unaffected, knowing yet curious, and funny, always funny, often laughing at himself with as much gusto as he pokes fun at some of the athletes in these pages. Reading some of these columns a second time gave me as much pleasure as reading them on line. Better in fact, because they seem more resonant on the printed page. Some of his most poignant work is here too. "Family Matters," his column on the death of James Dungy, Tony Dungy's son, still gives me pause, makes me reflect. Peter, of course, is writing about a lot more than football. He's a chronicler of American culture. Sometimes his lens is the game, sometimes the life of a player. Here too are riffs on coffee and airplane rides and -- how can I put this delicately -- even his colonic caper. He is us and we are him and the voice is both original and familiar. That's his great writer's secret. He writes as if he knows everyone who reads him. Hats off too to Sports Illustrated for producing a good looking and clever text with entertaining asides and catchy icons. And I really enjoyed the photo insert in the middle, especially the last page which shows my Giants and Michael Strahan swarming poor Tom Brady to create the famous 18-1. I know what I'm getting my sons, Ben and Josh -- Giants fanatics like their father -- for Christmas.

or at least it would seem from his writing. I read him religiously on Monday's at lunchtime. This book is basically excerpts from his column with some added lists. If you like Peter King's column, you will like the book. I remembered some of the columns and some were new to me. New or not you still get the same thing - insight into the NFL on a much more personal level. All of us that follow the NFL wish to some extent we could be part of it, be part of the decisions, hang out with the players, question the coaches and GM's. Peter is able to do that and then tells the story. It's the closest most of us will get.

This book is a collection of on line articles Sports Illustrated author Peter King wrote over the years. He has access to football players, coaches, staff and has a great touch in telling these stories.

This is not at all about the strategy of football or the business side. It's the people side, the smack talk, the respect players have for each other, the things coaches say when their guard is down. Peter even takes you into his personal life (he was told to include these in his articles) and I found his ability to tell the story of his daughter's championship softball game was amazing and really, really touching.

If you love football and want to see the insider's view, this is a great read. It's fast paced, funny - best read on an airplane, so everyone around you can wonder what in the world is so funny.

King's weekly column by the same name is a must-read throughout the year, but his book felt more like filler than an essential read. It includes some of his favorite MMQB stories through the years, along with features that mirror some of his usual column sections and a few lists of their own. King is working on an updated paperback version of the book, and at this point if you're interested in the book it's worth waiting. The book has some interesting tidbits and opinions, but it's not an essential part of the NFL fan's bookshelf.

"Sports Illustrated Monday Morning Quarterback: A fully caffeinated guide to everything you need to know about the NFL", by sports-journalist and television analyst Peter King, is basically a compilation of some of his columns from his popular "Monday Morning Quarterback" column on Sports Illustrated's web site, along with some new filler, such as his list of the 100 greatest players of all time.

If you've never read Mr King, as a sportswriter he typically treads the middle ground between the purely cerebral analysts and the unabashed fan-boys, leaning slightly toward the fan side of the equation. He enjoys wide access to players, coaches, general managers, and team owners, in part because he's very good at what he does, in part because he typically doesn't bash anyone unless they've truly well earned it, and in part because he's enthusiastic about what he does and I think it shows. His columns, while primarily about professional football, tend to regularly wander over into other topics that are of interest to him, such as good coffee, travel, baseball, and (until they graduated from college) his daughters' sports careers. Although some people may disagree, I find this digression from strictly writing on football to be entertaining, and after you follow Mr King's writing for awhile, it almost seems like you're reading a letter from a good friend or relative letting you know what he's been up to.

You don't have to be familiar with Mr. King's work to enjoy the columns in this book. Because of the wide access he has with the teams and players, he's able to give you behind-the-curtain views of many big stories, such a discussion with former Giants GM Ernie Accorsi on the drafting of Eli Manning. Mr. King writes with wit, style, humor, and warmth, so the book is a very easy and entertaining read. I suspect that the book will primarily be bought by fans of the column, but as I mentioned above, it can be enjoyed by all.

This is a collection of Peter's short (1-2 page) articles he wrote for MMQB. I had never read many of these, so it was interesting to see the progression of his work through the years. Each page also has a side blurb unrelated to the content on the page. The side blurb is a quick comment from Peter from other MMQB pieces. It got to be a little overwhelming with the story and then having to remember to read each side blurb, but everything was interesting and great material so it was worth it.

About: A collection of pieces from King's Monday Morning Quarterback column from Sports Illustrated's web site.

Pros: I don't know much about the NFL but I liked this book. Funny, touching, lots of tidbits from the game.

Cons: Some pieces are more interesting than others.

Grade: B+

Very well-written book. Not just about football, but about life. King is a gifted writer who's apt to tell you which airports to avoid in the US as his is about the chaos that surrounded the 2004 NFL draft. A must read for Football junkies.

A wonderful compilation of the best of Peter King's weekly online columns. Light hearted and fun reading!

I'm a big football fan, and this book reads like an intimate conversation with another fan. It's a pleasant, quick read; I probably would've been better off checking it out of the library instead of buying it. I plan to pass it on to other football fans in my family.