|
To the Hoop: The Seasons of a Basketball Life | 
 enlarge | Author: Ira Berkow
Publisher: Basic Books
Category: Book
List Price: $23.00
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $22.99 (100%)
New (8) Used (59) Collectible (5) from $0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 2729527
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 0465084958
Dewey Decimal Number: 070.449796092
EAN: 9780465084951
ASIN: 0465084958
Publication Date: October 9, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
"Through the game," writes New York Times sports columnist Ira Berkow about basketball, "I have an unusual opportunity to look into the soul of others, as well as, the spirit and wisdom willing, my own." At 52, following a knee injury, he was told he would never hit the hardwood again. Four years later, he exposed his soul--and knee--to tests of self-discovery in pick-up games from Manhattan playgrounds to California beaches. The mid-life memoir, filled with wisdom from unusual places, is about far more than a game: "Autumn," NBA legend Oscar Robertson tells the author, "happens to everybody," and Berkow discovers much that is moving, exuberant, and beautiful in his personal change of seasons.
Product Description
A critically acclaimed sportswriter offers an entertaining memoir about the role of basketball in his own life, discussing his love for the game, his life as a pickup basketball player, and some of the legendary players and coaches he has known. $35,000 ad/promo. Tour."
|
| Customer Reviews:
 one of my favorite books August 29, 2007
I had first read the great chapter on Oscar Robertson's Cincy pickup game excerpted in the Sunday NY TIMES Magazine and eagerly awaited the book's arrival. I was NOT disappointed in the rest of the author's work here.
Ira Berkow weaves a moving portrayal of his own physical "autumn" and of his late awakening to what truly are the most important things in life. Given his life has revolved around basketball, as both journalist and participant, he easily relates why continuing to play such a physically demanding game remains such a pure joy and a worthy life pursuit for so many.
"To The Hoop" always strikes the right tone, whether relating events of the great '70s Knick teams of Bradley, et al or Berkow's families' stories from mid-century Chicago. If you play sports, enjoy the athletes who do or find yourself looking back longingly at your athletic life highlight reel, there's much you'll connect with here.
In the end, this is a very moving and very inspiring book I can easily recommend.
Chicken Soup for Anyone Suffering with Hoop Junkie's Disease July 18, 1997
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you're addicted to "the greatest game ever invented," whether or not you play it well, you'll love "To the Hoop." It has insights and anecdotes from the famous and the unknown players Berkow has encountered in his checkered basketball career. Anyone who has played pickup basketball on a consistent and regular basis has their own memory bank of unusual characters and incidents. Berkow just packages and weaves his stories together in a way that grips the reader. Added to the mix is the emotional tale of alienation and reconciliation between brothers in the context of a life threatening illness. Aging baby boomers who are struggling to deal with the deterioration of whatever athletic talents they may have believed they once had, are the perfect audience for this autobiographical tale.
 Self-absorbed, with occasional interesting moments June 10, 1997
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this book on the strength of an
excerpt in the New York Times Magazine,
which detailed a pickup basketball game
Berkow played with Oscar Robertson.
Unfortunately, most of the book is a self-
absorbed account of the writer's basketball
career -- his opinions of his high school
coach, accounts of his best games in high
school and a Division III college. He even
went back and looked up his old press clips,
such as they were, in the Chicago papers.
He devotes a fair amount of space to
recounting, in detail that verges on parody,
his ability to make a shot when dared by
Magic Johnson.
The book does have some interesting passages,
but not enough, in my opinion, to make it
worth buying. The Robertson pick-up game
story is a good, short read, available in the
NYT Magazine. There is a genuinely amusing
story involving Bill Bradley and
Dave DeBusschere. That's about it.
Put this one low, low on the priority list,
unless the life and times of a New York Times
sportswriter interests you.
Dale Wetzel Bismarck ND dewetzel@btigate.com
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
