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Can I Keep My Jersey?: 11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond | 
 enlarge | Author: Paul Shirley
Publisher: Villard
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $8.27
You Save: $6.73 (45%)
New (30) Used (4) from $8.27
Avg. Customer Rating:  38 reviews
Sales Rank: 15026
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0345495705
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN: 9780345495709
ASIN: 0345495705
Publication Date: March 25, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: 100% Brand New! - Ships Today! Identical to Amazon's book in every way. Flawless! Not a cheap Remainder or Book Club Copy! *We recommend Expedited Shipping option for much faster mail delivery
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Product Description
He’s been called a journeyman. Even Paul wouldn’t dispute that classification. Regardless, Bill Simmons, ESPN.com’s “The Sports Guy,” has said of Paul Shirley, “We could finally have an answer to the question ‘What would it be like if one of our friends was an NBA player?”
There’s no denying that Paul Shirley is the closest thing pro basketball’s got to Odysseus. In Homeric fashion, he has logged time practically everywhere in the roundball universe, from six NBA cities to pro leagues in Spain and Greece to North America’s pro ball Siberia, the minor leagues. Hell, he’s even played in the real Siberia. And in Can I Keep My Jersey?, Shirley finally puts down roots long enough to deliver one of the great locker-room chronicles of the modern age.
With sharp elbows and an even sharper wit, Shirley–whose writings have been described as “wildly entertaining” by The Wall Street Journal–drops hilarious commentary, revealing which teams have the best cheerleaders (he’s spent many a time-out watching them ply their trade), why Christ is rapidly becoming every team’s “sixth man,” and even the best ways to get bloodstains out of your game uniform, using only an ordinary bar of soap and a hotel bathroom sink.
From sharing the court with Kobe and Shaq to perusing the food court at some mall in a bush-league burg; from taking pregame layups to getting laid out by a stray knee from an NBA power forward; from hopping a limo to the team’s charter jet to dashing to catch the van home from a B-league game in Tijuana, Shirley dishes on what it’s like to try to make it as a professional athlete. Can I Keep My Jersey? is a rollicking, thoughtful, even thought-provoking insider’s look at a pro baller’s life on the fringe. Like Jim Bouton’s Ball Four or John Feinstein’s A Season on the Brink, Shirley’s odyssey deserves to find a home on every sports fan’s bookshelf.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 33 more reviews...
 Hilarious April 29, 2008
Paul Shirley is one funny guy. He's got that dry sense of humor that I love. This book is about his first few years playing pro basketball...in the NBA and over sea. I loved the book and I would recommend it to any basketball fan.
 The best part of this book is the title April 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Unfortunately, the book doesnt live up to a great title.
In 50 years of reading pretty much anything that I can lay hands on, for the first time I looked for the editor's name. This is for you, Chris Schluep: you need a refresher in Editing 101. The parenthetical asides needed to go. They are distracting, unnecessary, and so not funny. We get that he doesnt like religion or tuna-no need to go on about them forever. It is also obvious that he doesnt much care for the world outside of Kansas, or the people in it. Much is made of his 'cynical, dry' sense of humor, that one needs to be of the right demographic to appreciate it. Sorry, that wont fly. Sour carping and egregious insults does not make for 'humor.'
The author comes across as pretty much what he is: an immature, arrogant young man who isnt quite as smart as he thinks he is. He could be a pretty decent writer-there were flashes here and there-and if he does someday grow up, I suspect he'll look back on this book and be embarrassed by its immaturity and callowness.
 Beware of Hawkeye Fans April 11, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
While Paul's writing may not appeal to all readers, but he certainly appealed to me. His style is witty and honest (seems honest; heck he's from Kansas, must be honest). Loved the book; pay no head to any reviewer from Hawkeye land; they can't stand Cyclones. Paul Shirley is an Iowa State, engineering grad.
No Meat April 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What can I say, I expected more. The only other book I read of this genre is Pat Conroy's "My Losing Season" (which I really enjoyed). After reading this book I walk away with very little that will stick with me. At times it was amusing, at times sad, at times I wished Paul had given some more details.
I guess it is typical of today's media... entertaining but not much substance. Perhaps it is perfect for our AD/HD society.
fan-tastic behind the scenes experience March 27, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is really great for all basketball fans who want to have a behind the scenes experience within the NBA and the life of a pro- basketball player.
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