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Steve Friedman

The Agony of Victory: When Winning Isn't Enough Hardcover – October 15, 2007

by Steve Friedman (Author)

6 ratings

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Documents the darker side of competitive sports as experienced by fourteen athletes from a variety of disciplines who suffered lost childhoods, torn families, painful early retirements, and other psychologically and physically grueling challenges. 25,000 first printing.

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Arcade Publishing
Publication date

October 15, 2007
Dimensions

6.38 x 1 x 9.63 inches
ISBN-10

1559708514
ISBN-13

978-1559708517
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Friedman brings together essays written over the last 20 years into a fascinating anthology. The individual pieces concern sports as varied as bowling, cycling, basketball, boxing, and golf, but they are linked by a common theme: the pursuit of excellence as a path to self-destruction. For example, take Scottish cyclist Graeme Obree, a man so determined to excel that he built his own bike (out of washing-machine parts and other scrap metal) and pitted himself against the giants of the sport. He won, too, and kept winning until cycling's regulating body changed its rules to prevent him from competing; so he changed his technique, and they changed the rules again. Finally, after he started coughing up blood months after a race, his career came to a close. His storyand the book is full of stories just like hisperfectly illustrates the physical and psychological toll that the drive to win can take on a person. An apt counterpoint to the multitude of winning-is-everything books, this one says that winning is nice, but it isn't everything (and maybe, in some cases, it can be lethal). Pitt, David

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Arcade Publishing; 1st edition (October 15, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1559708514
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1559708517
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.29 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.38 x 1 x 9.63 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,175,869 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,126 in Sports Psychology (Books)
- #16,606 in Sports Biographies (Books)

Customer Reviews:
6 ratings

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4 star		37%
3 star		50%
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Empowered x1000

A Good Read

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2012

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This book is more than just about sports. It's about humanity and the reasons why some people push themselves beyond their limits. The book talks about athletes in various sports and their struggle, triumphs and eventual downfall. I bought this book because I can relate to it. As someone who suffered through a rough childhood, I never felt good enough and I was always trying to prove myself. Eventually I got into competitive running. It became an obsession. I pushed myself through inordinate amounts of pain as a way to prove to others and ultimately to myself that I was good enough, but what I found out as all the athletes profiled in this book was that even winning wasn't enough. It's a good book worth reading, especially if you can relate in some way to what these athletes went through.

One person found this helpful

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Balto McGrath

Good writing, not true to the title

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2009

Verified Purchase

This is a collection of the text of 14 of Friedman's articles that he wrote for various magazines and gathered here for a book. You can tell that some of the articles were kind of a stretch to fit within the scope set by the title of the book (an essay about going to play golf with your dad? An OK story, but it has nothing to do with "Champions, and the price they pay for glory"). Some articles were very good, but the whole was not cohesive. The relevant stories seem to boil down to an unstable athlete pushing him/herself beyond normal limits due to mental illness or some kind of rough childhood, and/or self destructing afterward. It's interesting, and an easy read, but not really what I was expecting.

7 people found this helpful

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Gordon

Agony of Victory worth reading.

Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2007

Verified Purchase

Though not every story is compelling, all are worth reading and the best are very engaging.

The story on Scottish cyclist Obree is especially well done and nicely complemented by the film "The Flying Scotsman."

3 people found this helpful

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J Cartwright

I Love This Book

Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2007

... so much so that I am giving them to my athletically inclined friends and family for Christmas. But sports are only the hook. These stories are really about what it means to be human, whether it is flawed, transcendent, tortured, loved, reviled or just plain crazy - all of it. Steve is just flat out a great writer, so every story worked for me on some level. Highly recommended.

4 people found this helpful

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Nicholas Kelsh

Loved it.

Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2007

I wish Steve would do volume two. I hated to see it end. The juxtaposition of eclectic story lines really makes it work. It's a perfect gift for the thinking sports fan. I'm giving three this Christmas.

3 people found this helpful

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The Agony of Victory: When Winning Isn't Enough Hardcover – October 15, 2007

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