The Arena

May 8, 2017
Kohan, a contributing editor at the New York Observer, delivers an addictive, detailed look at the lives of sports arenas—how these increasingly elaborate structures are funded, how they’re maintained, and the kinds of tailgating and sideshow events that take place in and around them. Kohan is a lively, funny writer who eschews theory for experience, venturing to the stadiums themselves and tagging along with the people who give these places life. At the Green Bay Packers’ venerable Lambeau Field, he takes the Lambeau Oath and swears to “drink Wisconsin beers until the cooler is empty”; he nervously assists a chair-stacking acrobat during a halftime performance at a Rutgers University basketball game; and he helps construct the Prudential Center’s ice just before a New Jersey Devils game. Throughout, Kohan exhibits a genuine desire to learn more about even the most overlooked of arena workers, such as Raymond Smith, who used the Louisiana Superdome for sanctuary during Hurricane Katrina and now sells beer there. Kohan’s curiosity and empathy are infectious as he demonstrates how human this corporate aspect of sports can be. He has created an immersive, informative work that will delight and enlighten a wide range of readers.

Starred review from June 1, 2017
An inside look at the secular cathedrals where we hold our sporting masses--and celebrate with unrepentant excess.In this highly compelling book, New York Observer contributing editor Kohan deeply explores the myriad facets of the places where our sports teams play their games. Part history and sociology, part ethnography, and part journalism--sometimes straight shoe-leather, sometimes participatory, and oftentimes a little bit gonzo--the book features many of the behind-the-scenes questions you have always had and a few that you never considered. What is it like to be a stadium mascot or the halftime entertainment? Or a groundskeeper--and where do they get that turf? How does ticket scalping work in the age of the internet? What happens to a stadium that falls out of use or that never really fulfills its promise to begin with? And how do they deal with all that food and beer? Kohan is an entertaining tour guide, and while his reporting is top-notch, he also takes a deep dive into the literature on stadiums from antiquity to the present. He loves sport but is no fan of stadium boondoggles. He respects the military but wonders about the justification for the increasing amount of jingoistic paeans to the military on game days. His travels took him to stadiums and arenas across the country, from sparkling new gems to old classics like the Big House in Ann Arbor or Wrigley Field in Chicago. The author embedded himself with grounds crews and supervisors, working folks and management, making the most of the impressive access he was granted at facilities across the country. Each chapter takes a kaleidoscopic look at its topic, with the author effectively merging ground-level and bird's-eye views. Kohan brings the modern sporting arena to life in this fine exploration of the "corners of American stadiums that aren't necessarily hidden but are almost assuredly unseen."

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 15, 2017

This wide-ranging meditation on the significance of sports in American society views its topic through the ecosphere of the modern stadium or arena. The journey starts at two venerable stadia: football's Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI, and baseball's Wrigley Field in Chicago. These two venues strive to maintain tradition while making necessary updates to keep pace with contemporary reality. The story ends with two decommissioned pleasure palaces in their useless ruin: the Pontiac Silverdome, MI, and the Astrodome, TX. In between, journalist Kohan surveys the current landscape of publicly funded and subsidized palatial dream parks that hold U.S. cities hostage for fear of losing their "big league" status. Kohan embeds himself with several figures involved in stadium life, including ticket scalpers, team mascots, halftime entertainers, grounds workers, and a changeover crew that converts an arena from basketball court to concert stage. Through Kohan's investigation, we see the weight of these expensive monuments in our communities and how they relate to the public expression of not just sports fandom, but who we are as a people. VERDICT A unique and readable perspective on the impact of U.S. sports stadia and arenas.--John Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, NJ

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2017
Kohan has mixed feelings about today's sports stadiums and the culture that has grown up around them. On one hand, as the subtitle indicates, he is charmed by the antics that go on inside and outside the stadiums, particularly the older ones. Yet he is chagrined by the destructive financial manipulations, at all levelsprofessional, collegiate, and Olympicthat drive the construction of newer, municipally funded stadiums. The book is at its most entertaining when Kohan gets into such matters as the arcane dealings of ticket-scalpers in Boston (where the Red Sox' long-sought World Series win killed the scalping business) and Cleveland (where Lebron James' return was an unprecedented boon). His discussion of the various forms of turf found in today's stadiums is also fascinating, as is the surprisingly detailed analysis of all things nonathletic involving stadiums, from the vending industry through flyovers. The text is at its most horrifying in its descriptions of what happened in the New Orleans Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. Kohan is overly fond of footnotes, which break up the narrative flow, but his account is comprehensive, accurate, and often quite funny.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)