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 enlarge | Author: John Feinstein
Creator: Mike Krzyzewski
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $25.94 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 467692
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4
ISBN: 031616030X
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.323630973
EAN: 9780316160308
ASIN: 031616030X
Publication Date: February 7, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Some interest, considerable repetition March 26, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The portions of this book about how the "selection committee" works and about refereeing in the Final Four are interesting, full of information I have not read before. I agree with Feinstein's comments about the favoritism of the "power schools and conferences" over the smaller, lesser-known schools--excuse me, "institutions," in the words of the NCAA. The chapter about the interminable waiting on Sunday and Monday before the championship game is played will have me looking at that day differently this year--though since we're talking about "student-athletes" who are missing loads of school, I wonder if any of them do any studying for their missed classes. . . Yeah, right.
However, the book needed more editing. Mike Krzyzewski's foreword doesn't say anything that isn't said later in the book, offering little insight worth the time to read it. Nothing is said about the academic challenges facing the players who are on the road for days at a time. I, for one, would be interested in seeing something about that. Also, more from the coaches on strategy during the games could have offered insight.
That said, it's full of entertaining stories from the years of the tournament and worth a quick read.
 Feinstein's Quick and Superb Read on the Tourney March 25, 2007
Recommendation: Buy it, Read it, Share it.
"Last Dance" is a robust and insightful analysis of the Final Four which combines classic stories with original interviews and insights. As noted by basically every review to date, this book has a repetitive streak and reuses interview quotes and snippets several times. It's like deja vu for the reader. Yet, that is Feinstein's only fault (which may fall on his editor).
"Last Dance" avoided the trap plaguing many other contemporary basketball histories; lesser books rehash old stories and repackage statistics without a shred of originality. However, Feinstein thoroughly researched the history of the Final Four and tapped players, coaches, referees, broadcasters, and executives to expand his account. His excerpts from Wes Miller's journal are simple yet offer a glimpse into day-to-day basketball life. Similarly, his chapter focused on referees (and, specifically Hank Nichols) is spectacular. In addition to these journalistic accounts, Feinstein's analysis on the peculiar influence of the Selection Committee, CBS, and the surge of marketing dollars forces the reader to reflect on the current structure and bias inherent in the greatest sporting month of the year.
Fun read, but repetitive and unstructured February 25, 2007
I enjoyed this because college basketball is a minor obsession of mine. Any stroll down NCAA memory lane is alright with me. However, the actual writing of the Last Dance leaves much to be desired. The tales lack structure and Feinstein seems to haphazardly tell stories that may or may not fit the chapter's theme. He may also tell these tales more than once, causing you to scratch your head and flip a few pages back to make sure you aren't losing your mind.
I read this on a ten hour flight so it served it's purposed of short term amusement. I wouldn't buy it again, however.
 Behind the Scenes with Duke and North Carolina January 28, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As a huge college basketball fan (with a strong liking for Kentucky in particular) I was very eager to start reading this book. A friend had given me this book for Christmas, and having read Feinstein's "A Season on the Brink" a few years ago I figured this would be another really good basketball story. A season on the brink, indeed, has gone down as one of my favorite books of all-time, if nothing else for it's originality. It was a thrill to basically be an "insider" to Indiana basketball for an entire season, even if it was a Bob Knight team (remember, I'm a Kentucky fan!).
For all the rapid-fire page-turning I put forth into 'Brink,' there were just as many scratching-my-head moments in Last Dance. I was constantly flipping back to the book cover to make sure I read the sub-title, "Behind the Scenes at the Final Four," correctly. There were so many times in the book where the author went into details about a team's regular season or early round NCAA tournament games. I honestly began feeling about 1/3 through the book like the author had all these ideas that he wanted to publish, but that he got the title to the book all wrong. Is the book entertaining? At times, yes. There are some inciteful moments, like when we learn that George Raveling attended Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream" speech and ended up leaving that speech with Dr. King's papers that he left behind on the podium. An interesting fact, absolutely. But what does that have to do with being behind the scenes at the final four? As someone who appreciates "getting what you paid for" (even though this was a gift), I just felt like the author didn't seem to have enough material to write a novel about the final four itself, so he scattered "untold stories" all over the place to fill the numerous gaps. In a way, the book could have been titled "great stories about big names in college basketball." I think that would have been more appropriate than the official book title.
Oh, and you better put your Duke or North Carolina garb on when you sit down to read this. If you're a fan of either school you're going to love this book. Beginning with the forward by Coach K, there are quotes, remembrances, and game re-caps for North Carolina and Duke in nearly every one of the chapters. I know more about the coaching tree at Duke University now than any non-Duke fan should ever have to know. Again, the book title mislead me to believe that I would be learning all things Final Four, but I may know more about ACC tournament history at this point. In a very real sense this book could have easily been titled "The biggest games in Carolina and Duke history." That could have at least accounted for half the book anyway.
It was a disappointing read. A Season on the Brink was so good, but my second Feinstein novel just didn't come close.
 Enjoyable for the stories October 6, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
John Feinstein broke out in the sports-book business with the million-seller 1987 book "Season On the Brink" and he hasn't looked back since. Like clockwork, Feinstein writes one book a year on some facet or another of sports, although clearly his love goes to college basketball and golf.
Now comes "Last Dance" (369 pages, and released in February, 2006 to cash in on the upcoming March Madness), Feinstein's look behind college basketball biggest weekend, the Final Four, in this case the 2005 Final Four in St. Louis. But the Final Four is just an excuse almost to spin many funny stories and tales of college basketball. And they are many. Such as: Lefty Driesell, getting ready for a radio interview, being dumped for more prominent Lute Olson at the last minute. Or in Mike Krzyzewski in his early years after another tough loss, when his coaching staff says "Here's to forgetting tonight", he replies "Here's to never forgetting tonight". Or Feinstein's insights on Hank Nichols, the NCAA supervisor on college referees. Or how Krzyzewski, coaching his Duke team against the David Robinson-lead Navy team for a spot in the Elite Eight, says that he so much respects Navy (himself having coached Army years before) but that if they did not "kill" Navy, he would never speak to them again, haha! (Duke won of course.) And on and on...
Feinstein is not breaking any new ground here. And in fact if you follow college basketball closely, much of it will sound familiar, if not repetitive, but the gem in the book is the little untold tales of years past that makes this a fun book. I found myself turning the pages and enjoying this more than I expected.
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