The Best American Sports Writing 2015

October 15, 2015

Senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN: The Magazine Thompson guest edits the 25th volume of Glenn Stout's renowned series of outstanding writing that also happens to have a sports-related theme. The emphasis throughout is clearly on the quality of prose and features top-notch narrative nonfiction in which the subjects take a backseat to the stories, character development, and larger human themes. The selections in this volume are such that readers will want to return to them multiple times, even if they lack all interest in sports. Drawing from magazines, newspapers, blogs, and websites from ESPN.com and Sports Illustrated to The New Yorker and GQ, these essays cover a broad range of topics that will resonate with a wide audience. For instance, stories that, on the surface, are about the Gronkowski family (football), Yasiel Puig (baseball), and Dean Smith (basketball) turn out to be about parenthood, empty nests, families, politics, and memories. Not to mention the pieces about caving, distance swimming, and Haverford College's 40-game basketball losing streak, among others. VERDICT Highly recommended for readers who enjoy skillfully crafted narrative writing, particularly if they are sports fans as well.--Brian Sullivan, Alfred Univ. Lib., NY

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2015
The 2015 volume in this strong series, now in its twenty-fifth year, trends toward ?online publicationsfor example, ESPN.com, Buzzfeed.com, Sportsonearth.com, Grantland.comwhich was inevitable, given the shift from print to electronic (editor Thompson is a senior writer for ESPN.com). But it's an encouraging sign that fine writing again transcends its medium. The collection also trends toward off-field sports lives, with an excellent piece on the broken relationship between gay linebacker Michael Sam and his father; the haunting tale of retired outfielder Chad Curtis, now serving time on charges of molesting three teenage girls at a rural Michigan high school; and a rollicking profile of the family of Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowsky ( One Thousand Two Hundred Fifty-Eight Pounds of Sons ). Ariel Levy's sensitive, informed New Yorker piece on Diana Nyad shows the swimmer overcoming far more than the distance between Cuba and Florida. Recommended, as always.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)