The Game

August 27, 2018
Chronicling one of college football’s most tumultuous games during one of America’s most turbulent years, Colt brings together sports and history in profound fashion. A Harvard grad who attended football games in the 1960s (including this one) with his alumnus father, Colt gives the story an intimate feel as he covers a wide swath of topics beyond Harvard Stadium, the Yale Bowl, and the two undefeated football teams that met in “the Game” on the last day of the ’68 season. Colt demonstrates the changing nature of these historic universities as well as the country in general by interweaving such topics as civil rights, religious freedom, class struggle, white privilege, and the Vietnam War with anecdotes of players from the game who are African-American, Jewish, poor, rich, military veterans, or conscientious objectors. The result gives the heavy political and social discourse a personal touch. By humanizing the players, the accounts of each team’s amazing season and the four-chapter recap of their final, unbelievable game are elevated above entertaining sports reporting to thoughtful, emotional storytelling. This excellent history illustrates sport’s powerful role in American society. Agent: Amanda Urban, ICM.

September 1, 2018
One of the most thrilling games in the history of college football serves as a window to the turbulent 1960s and as a mirror for our present.Colt (Brothers, 2012, etc.), whose 2003 memoir, The Big House, was a National Book Award finalist, offers a richly detailed, engaging story of the 1968 Harvard vs. Yale football battle that pitted against each other two undefeated teams and two different cultures and served as a metaphor for the cultural clashes that were erupting in the late 1960s: civil rights, anti-war protests, political assassinations. There is a personal voice here, too: The author, who was 14 at the time, attended the game with his father; near the beginning and end of the book, he discusses that experience. In between, he takes us to Yale and Harvard (alternating chapters), introduces us to key players and other personnel, rehearses the games earlier in the season ("The Game" ends the season for both teams), and focuses on the cultural clashes and confrontations that were a mark of the era--and ours. Casual football fans may be surprised to see Colt's reminders of some of the personnel involved in the game. Yale's backfield featured running back Calvin Hill, who went on to a stellar NFL career; one of Harvard's offensive linemen was Tommy Lee Jones. The author's extensive coverage of the game does not commence until nearly 250 pages have passed--but they pass quickly and engagingly--and he concludes with stories of campus unrest at Harvard (and some players' involvement) and updates on the lives of his characters. Colt is careful to credit filmmaker Kevin Rafferty, whose documentary on the game inspired the author, and he also includes an appendix with some relevant statistical charts and tables about the teams and the game.First-rate reporting and writing that will appeal to gridiron fans and general readers as well.

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 15, 2018

Colt (The Big House) pens a semiautobiographical account of the 1968 Yale vs. Harvard football game. He admits early on that he attended Harvard games as a child and was in attendance in 1968, setting up the compelling final game by dissecting the state of America at the time, as college students dealt with the realities of the Vietnam War. Chapters include accounts of Harvard and Yale's unblemished seasons leading up to their match up. In 2008, the documentary Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 was released. The author admits that writing this account on the 50th anniversary of the game was inspired by the well-made film. Much like the film, Colt investigates the lives of the players, including a returning soldier from Vietnam, an introverted poet-turned-heroic quarterback, and Oscar-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones. Later chapters focus on the game itself, which, to this day, is arguably one of the finest college football games ever played. VERDICT College football fans will be drawn to the game action, but the stories of these young men and their adjustments to the 1960s will keep them reading. The game might have ended in a tie, but this book is a winner.--Keith Klang, Port Washington P.L., NY

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.