Hate Mail from Cheerleaders

You'd think narrating the award-winning Reilly's collection of columns from SPORTS ILLUSTRATED would be easy, but when the writer has the range of Rick Reilly, it's a challenge. Lloyd James is up to the task of delivering these stories of a blind man who gets to "see" his favorite team, Reilly's own experience coaching his daughter's middle school basketball team, a high school cross-country runner with cerebral palsy, and more. The columns range from the poignant to the humorous to the critical, and James reads each with an appropriate tone. Reilly offers fascinating insights about people who play sports, and many who don't. The author's postscripts on his columns are a bonus. Casual and die-hard sports fans will appreciate, laugh over, and empathize with these. M.B. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Starred review from December 31, 2007
Sports fans and regular readers of Sports Illustrated
will already know to snap up this book when they see it's a collection of pieces by award-winning SI
columnist Rick Reilly. Others should follow their lead, as this superb, wide-ranging collection isn't so much about sports as about “people who happen to be in
sports.†Some columns are tearjerkers, such as the story of a blind man who finally gets to “see†a match played by his beloved New York Islanders, but most are laugh-out-loud funny, like the one detailing the season Reilly coached his daughter's middle school basketball team (“I learned something about seventh-grade girls: They're usually in the bathroomâ€). A few are scathing, as in his acid-laced response to Barry Bonds denying he used steroids (“Bonds's records should stay in the books. With a little syringe next to every oneâ€). And though it may not be surprising how many columns aim to be inspiring—like the story of spirited Ben Comen, a high school cross-country runner with cerebral palsy—it's a shock how many hit the mark. Reilly's columns are short but pack a punch; a collection best savored, readers should resist as best they can the urge to consume this book in a single sitting.

Starred review from March 3, 2008
It takes great skill to do justice to another author's first-person essays, but Lloyd James pulls it off with believability and flair. Reilly's sardonic wit is showcased in this collection of 100 of his most memorable Sports Illustrated columns. James musters up the appropriate righteous indignation when describing, say, the bad-boy tactics of Barry Bonds or the murder accusations leveled against Baltimore Ravens star Ray Lewis, as well as the pathos required for stirring columns on 9/11 heroes and individuals who have overcome tremendous physical obstacles to compete in sports. He also nails Reilly's biting humor. Each essay comes with a postscript, describing readers' response to the column and giving updates on the piece. A table of contents could have helped listeners find especially funny pieces from the master of the pithy back-page essay. Simultaneous release with the Sports Illustrated hardcover (reviewed online).

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