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Life on the Run | 
 enlarge | Author: Bill Bradley
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $14.99 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 352315
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 0679762086
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.323092
EAN: 9780679762089
ASIN: 0679762086
Publication Date: May 2, 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Almost two decades after its original publication and more than fifteen years after its author retired from the New York Knicks to become a United States senator, this account of twenty days in a pro basketball season remains a classic in the literature of sports, unparalleled in its candor and intelligence. Bill Bradley is also the author of Time Present, Time Past, a memoir of his years in the U.S. Senate.
Product Description
Almost two decades after its original publication and more than fifteen years after its author retired from the New York Knicks to become a United States senator, Bill Bradley's account of twenty days in a pro basketball season remains a classic in the literature of sports, unparalleled in its candor and intelligence.
Bradley takes readers from the court to the locker room, from the seamless teamwork of a winning game to the loneliness of a motel in a strange city. We see Bradley and his fellow Knicks as they withstand the abuse of the press and the smothering adoration of their fans, along with the shameless appeals of those who want to parlay their celebrity into a fast buck. We watch in horror as Earl Monroe is beaten outside Madison Square Garden barely an hour after twenty thousand people cheered him. And we come to understand the euphoria and exhaustion, the icy concentration and intense pressure, that are felt only by those who play basketball for keeps.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 A GOOD READ March 17, 2007
FORMER NBA PLAYER BILL BRADLEY TAKES US THROUGH SOME OF THE 1973-74 KNICKS SEASON, AS SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF BRADLEY, EARL MONROE, WILLIS REED AND DAVE DEBUSSCHURE. MOST OF IT IS INTERESTING AND WELL WRITTEN. IT IS NOT A TELL ALL OR CONTROVERSIAL BOOK BUT PRETTY MUCH A FACTS ONLY BOOK. SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS ARE HOW THE PLAYERS SPEND THEIR DOWN TIME ON ROAD TRIPS, THE AVAILABILITY OF WOMEN WHO WILL SLEEP WITH JUST ABOUT ANY PLAYER, AND THE INNERPLAY OF THE KNICKS IN PRACTICE AND ON PLANES. I LIKED THIS BOOK BUT IT IS NOTHING GREAT AND IT IS BORING AT TIMES BUT STILL WORTH A PEEK.
 Kind of dry August 8, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
He writes about being in the NBA but it's during the 70's when it was so different from now. Players didn't make mega millions then. I can't believe they would still have to do their own laundry and share a hotel room with someone on the team. But it's a nice glimpse into the 70's and professional basketball, I guess. The basketball writing is okay, I've read much better. His writing is pretty dead.
 The Real Deal June 9, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
After reading John McPhee's account of Bill Bradley's years at Princeton, I put the book down and thought it was too good to be true. No NBA player I've ever seen is THAT smart. But after reading Bradley's own Life on the Run, I recant. Bradley IS that smart, and he's a hell of a writer to boot. This one can be spoken about with the same kind of respect due the classic sports profiles, including McPhee's own Levels of the Game. I'm glad I took a chance on this book. It was a real pleasure.
A Must-Read July 20, 1999
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Bill Bradley's account of three weeks in the life of an NBA team in the '70's is as much a stunningly insightful social commentary as it is a nice, easily-rambling, "On the Road"-style ride. Beautiful.
A Trenchant Examination of Life as a Professional Athlete May 18, 1999
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Bradley's memoir of the waning games in the New York Knicks' 1973-74 season (the season after they won their second NBA championship) contains many observations about professional sports that, unfortunately, continue to ring true today: the shameless exploitation of undereducated athletes by agents and comparable parasites; the intrinsic harshness of an itinerant existence during a roadtrip on the West Coast; the grueling physical and mental demands of the NBA regular season; the evanescent nature of fan support. Given all of the above, why then would anyone want to play NBA basketball? Well, Bradley also does a fine job of describing the many thrills an athlete can derive from, among other things, being exhalted by home fans; winning a championship; and being part of a selflless team unit that manages to sublimate individualistic tendancies in its pursuit of greater goals. Bradley's book, from what I can gather, was revolutionary for its time in that it eschewed the type of hagiographic approach that many writers took toward the world of professional sports and ablely demonstrated the myriad difficulties associated with being a player in the nation's largest media spotlight. It should be a must- read for all aspiring NBA players -- especially those players who are considering foregoing several (or all) years of their collegiate eligibilities to make a fast buck. They should be forewarned: "All that glitters isn't gold."
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