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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Guttmann, a professor of Engish and American studies at Amherst and the author of two previous books on sports, attempts "to set sports within a larger social framework and . . . to use sports for what they reveal about the larger culture." Early interesting and well-documented chapters examine the differences between "pre-Columbian" (Indian) and "modern" sport, and how the Puritans' conflicted attitude toward athletics "retarded the emergence of modern sports." Subsequent chapters provide useful digests of sports history and research, but offer few novel analyses or conclusions and occasionally lack integration and development. The piece on baseball begins with an engaging look at how the sport "eased the difficult transition from an agrarian to an urban-industrial society," but shifts suddenly into a glance at the game's changing economic structure. Likewise, the basketball chapter promises to study the "proto-typical modern sport" but deals more with gambling than with the game itself. Guttmann's approach to controversial issues (organized sports for children, the corruption of college athletics, racism, women in sports, injuries, drugs) displays the stereotypical academic's love of theory and disdain for evaluative judgments: "How should reasonable men and women feel about the trends and tendencies I have attempted to describe? Ambivalent." This is a useful text for the student of popular culture, but it offers little for the reflective fan. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
Pick your metaphor—Guttmann hits it out of the park, slam-dunks it, nails the hat trick with this innovative book.
Guttmann, a professor of Engish and American studies at Amherst and the author of two previous books on sports, attempts "to set sports within a larger social framework and . . . to use sports for what they reveal about the larger culture." Early interesting and well-documented chapters examine the differences between "pre-Columbian" (Indian) and "modern" sport, and how the Puritans' conflicted attitude toward athletics "retarded the emergence of modern sports." Subsequent chapters provide useful digests of sports history and research, but offer few novel analyses or conclusions and occasionally lack integration and development. The piece on baseball begins with an engaging look at how the sport "eased the difficult transition from an agrarian to an urban-industrial society," but shifts suddenly into a glance at the game's changing economic structure. Likewise, the basketball chapter promises to study the "proto-typical modern sport" but deals more with gambling than with the game itself. Guttmann's approach to controversial issues (organized sports for children, the corruption of college athletics, racism, women in sports, injuries, drugs) displays the stereotypical academic's love of theory and disdain for evaluative judgments: "How should reasonable men and women feel about the trends and tendencies I have attempted to describe? Ambivalent." This is a useful text for the student of popular culture, but it offers little for the reflective fan. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
Pick your metaphor—Guttmann hits it out of the park, slam-dunks it, nails the hat trick with this innovative book.
Carlin Romano, Philadelphia Inquirer
The whole tone of work on American sport . . . has, with this series of essays by Guttmann, been permanently elevated.
American Historical Review
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
A German specialist exasperated by the terminological confusion that beclouds the field of sports studies recently published a short book entitled What Is Sport Anyway? (1983). Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
modern sports, playground movement, intercollegiate basketball, stickball game, intercollegiate athletics, physical educators, reserve clause, sports studies Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, United States, New England, Olympic Games, Sports Illustrated, Supreme Court, New Orleans, North Carolina, Federal League, Harry Edwards, John Underwood, Max Weber, National League, Jack Johnson, Progressive Era, Big Game, National Football League, Pop Warner, Rose Bowl, Sherman Act, University of Georgia, Abner Doubleday, Babe Ruth, Billie Jean King, Cool Papa Bell New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
A German specialist exasperated by the terminological confusion that beclouds the field of sports studies recently published a short book entitled What Is Sport Anyway? (1983). Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
modern sports, playground movement, intercollegiate basketball, stickball game, intercollegiate athletics, physical educators, reserve clause, sports studies Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, United States, New England, Olympic Games, Sports Illustrated, Supreme Court, New Orleans, North Carolina, Federal League, Harry Edwards, John Underwood, Max Weber, National League, Jack Johnson, Progressive Era, Big Game, National Football League, Pop Warner, Rose Bowl, Sherman Act, University of Georgia, Abner Doubleday, Babe Ruth, Billie Jean King, Cool Papa Bell New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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18
books
cite this book:
See all 18 books citing this book
- North Dallas Forty (Hall of Fame Edition, No. 1) by Peter Gent on 4 pages
- The Nightmare Season by Arnold J Mandell on page 168, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Games of the North American Indians by Stewart Culin on page 14, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Ultimate Athlete by George Leonard on page 179, page 180, and Back Matter
- From Ritual to Record: The Nature of Modern Sports by Professor Allen Guttmann in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
See all 100 books this book cites
- Games Colleges Play: Scandal and Reform in Intercollegiate Athletics by Professor John R. Thelin in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Company Men: White-Collar Life and Corporate Cultures in Los Angeles, 1892-1941 (Studies in Industry and Society) by Clark Davis in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Games Colleges Play: Scandal and Reform in Intercollegiate Athletics by John R. Thelin in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Pain and Injury in Sport: Social and Ethical Analysis (Ethics and Sport) by Sigmund Loland on page 31
- Baseball without Borders: The International Pastime by George Gmelch on page 114
See all 18 books citing this book
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