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Far Afield: A Sportswriting Odyssey (Hardcover)

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Key Phrases: John Henry, Sports Illustrated, Far Afield (more...)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Customers buy this book with Heart of the Game: Life, Death, and Mercy in Minor League America by S. L. Price

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Price, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated for 13 years and author of Pitching Around Fidel: A Journey into the Heart of Cuban Sports, finds his past in the most unfamiliar places when he moves to the south of France to report on European sports for a year. Inside his coverage of every new competition in every new city lurks Price's profoundly American self-consciousness. Lambasted at every turn for Bush's war on terror, Price's American identity is formed defensively as he spars with European opponents over the war, politics and history. Luckily, Price couldn't be further removed from the ugly American stereotype. He's perceptive, open-minded and intelligent, transcribing Europe with the confident, lofty lyricism of an American sportswriter who has found his voice. His metaphors hit the mark, whether summing up the doping accusations against Lance Armstrong, eating eggs with Ted Williams, experiencing the fanaticism of the India-Pakistan cricket rivalry, exploring Europe's obsession with soccer or sitting down with prospective NBA centers from the former Eastern bloc. Price is aware that the biggest action has a way of following him wherever he goes. Indeed, his memoir is a stroll through a minefield of recent European headlines—the train bombings in Madrid, the Le Pen vote scare in France and the 2004 Athens Olympics. The personal becomes political and the political gets personal in this travel memoir, as national identities and sports collide. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A masterpiece." (Chicago Tribune )

"A social commentarry of the first order. Highly recommended." (Library Journal )

"One of the year's five best reads." (Esquire )

"Price blends an unerring eye for detail and nuance with fresh, crackling prose that gives these insights a startling authenticity." (Boston Globe )

"[Price is] perceptive, open-minded, and intelligent, transcribing Europe with the confident, lofty lyricism of an American sportswriter who has found his voice." (Publishers Weekly )

Praise for FAR AFIELD: "The seasoned reporter behind this memoir is a master of the new journalism developed by Hunter Thompson, Gay Talese and Price's personal paragon, Pete Hamill. Whenever he writes about sports--or about the craft of writing--he hits it over the fence." (New York Times Book Review ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: The Lyons Press (September 1, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1599211440
  • ISBN-13: 978-1599211442
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #139,677 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #53 in  Books > Sports > Miscellaneous > Essays

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S. L. Price
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Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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John Henry, Sports Illustrated, Far Afield, World Cup, Imran Khan, San Francisco, Bob Martin, Ted Williams, South of France, New York, United States, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Abu Ghraib, Roland Garros, The Get, Tour de France, Michael Jordan, Real Madrid, The Carrys, World War, Gaddafi Stadium, French Open, Nikos Polias, Olympique de Marseille
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars A great, fun, fast read!, August 13, 2008
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I don't even watch professional sports (other than tennis) and I loved reading this book!
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected, November 6, 2007
This book was not what I expected in numerous ways. When I read the initial previews I had expected something along the lines of Peter Mayle meets Peter King romp: a travelogue and a litany of sports related observations. This book gave me that and more.

The travelogue is your typical Innocent Abroad themed descriptions peppered with humorous anecdotes. This was better done by Twain. The sports stories went a lot deeper than what Price did at SI. This was the original intent of his adventures in Europe afterall: write more in depth about non-American sports. And it was very well done, Price is a great writer.

There are basically two things that strikes me. One is the confessional aspect of this book: he lays out all the unpleasantness in his life and he lays it out bluntly. He chastises himself for his own perceived blindspots and shortcomings. A major theme is how he deals with his families -the one he has with his wife and the one he was born into- during this short trip and for all of his life.

The circumstances, travel and personal confessional, reminds me of Elizabeth Gilbert's book Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia. Her's has more food, meditation, and sex , his has more sports. Much like her book, the reader gets drawn into his thought process, his pain and suffering, and his moments of transcendance. I am not all that sure that the milieu of Europe and sports writing quite did the same thing for Price as Italy, India, and Bali did for Gilbert.

The other revelation is the process of writing. When Price had his a-ha moment about writing in his own words about his own thought, the thought became a double edged sword: it was both obvious and illuminating at the same time.

Price's thought cycle involving Michael Jordan was interesting and yet also banal. I had guessed at what Jordan was about years ago, the portrait that Price painted revealed nothing new. But I did learn about Pakistani and Indian cricketers, Greek track doping scandal, skiing, Wimbledon, the Athens Olympics and just how paranoid the Greeks are.

This is not a sit down and read book. There sections of that, but there are plenty of sit down and contemplate sections too. It is not an easy book to read, but it is well worth the effort.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A mixed bag, November 8, 2007
I am familiar with S.L Price's work in the pages of Sports Illustrated. In a way that was a hindeence when i started this book. i expected straight sports writing. Instead we share a a move he made with his wife and hildren when he accepted a job that took him to South France and allowed him to observe sports outside of the US. He travels to Greece, Paris, Pakistan, anywhere there is competition and immerses himself in the event. Traveling in Europe in post 9/11 proved eye opening and horizion expanding...no longer in the safe confines of the US and familiar sports and customs. The story of the family moving to a new place and immersing themselves in the daily life, though seemingly a side story, is sweet and moving. My problems came when the narritave switched from present day back to experiences in the past as he wrote for SI. It didn't read as easily as I had hoped. I guess I am spoiled from all the SI pieces. Still a sweet read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best writers ever ... no kidding.
Scott Price is not just a great sports writer. He's a great writer. I know him from college at UNC-Chapel Hill. He wrote for the college newspaper. Read more
Published on October 23, 2007 by A. Rockey

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