Heaven Is a Playground (Second Edition)

Telander was in his 20s in 1974 when he went to Brooklyn to spend a summer, in part because he was in search of the elusive playground legend James "Fly" Williams, who figures prominently in the book. During the course of the three months he was there, however, he met, played with, interviewed and befriended a host of regulars at the courts in Foster Park in the Flatbush section of the borough. They were African-American boys and men for whom basketball was far more than recreation. For many of them, the game was a way of life and even more importantly a form of self-expression.

Besides Williams, Telander also met Albert King, then an astonishingly gifted 14-year-old, who was to go on to a successful NBA career. Telander brings to life the court skills of King and others, but he humanizes them, and this is where the great strength of the book lies. For example, King agonized over his talent, which brought him attention and adulation that embarrassed him and sometimes made him angry and withdrawn. Williams' incredible pure talent was married to an unpredictable and sometimes violent temperament that ultimately shortened his career.

Despite an obvious empathy for his subjects -- he wound up coaching a group of teenage park regulars, with mixed on-the-court success -- Telander does not romanticize them. Flatbush, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville, where the action of the book primarily takes place, were poverty-stricken, crime-ridden places. Many of the people Telander spent extensive time with were scarred by their environment, and he does not try to hide that. Though the book is refreshingly free of a sense of "white guilt," Telander does agonize at one point over a boy he left off his team who succumbed to drug use and was later killed.

At times funny, often poignant, and filled with a love for its subject, "Heaven Is a Playground" remains an engrossing, and still timely, read nearly 30 years after its publication.


An astounding book!   November 1, 2001
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Rick Telander is an incredibly gifted writer - with Sports Illustrated (senior writer) last I knew, and one of the "guys" on TV on the Chicago WGN "Sports Writers" show. This is the show portrayed in Saturday Night Live of the guys that sit around drinking beer smoking cigars and talking about Mike Ditka and Da Bulls. Anyway, this book was Rick's big break as a writer. He captures the heart of basketball for teenage boys. The focus of course is the inner city black kids. I have two teenaged boys (white, small town Midwest USA) who have read it and saw themselves in it, too. Transcends race/region/city-vs-country boy.

Captures above all what it is to be young, hopeful, and scared. Not a sports book, but a book about young men facing life who love sports.


The "Mother" to all subsequent inner-city hoop stories...   May 11, 2001
One of the best books I've ever read! I spent some time in Brooklyn playing 'ball in the early 80's and must admit that this book was my guideline. Believe me, this is how inner-city basketball was in the 70's - 80's timeframe and R. Telander is to be highly commended for getting it right. I've probably read this 40 times since it came out and can still not put it down. I would just die for a follow-up story of what happened to all these people (from Fly Williams to Roy Hill)...Highest recommendation!


Great read for any hoops junkie!   July 15, 2000
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

If you are a hoops junkie of any kind, read this book. It tells all about the playground game. The players whose dreams were a reality, and those whose dreams were shattered. It tells the lifestyle of young, upstart ballplayers in the ghetto and what they needed to overcome to make it in the big time. Two main people it focuses on are Albert King and Fly Williams. It tells you the coaching point of view on a ghetto team- the Subway Stars. Read this book, you won't be disappointed.