Hoop Dreams: True Story of Hardship and Triumph, the

Allen Bodner

When Boxing Was a Jewish Sport

Allen Bodner is an attorney whose interest in boxing stems from his father, who was an amateur boxer in the 1920s and a professional manager in the 1930s and 1940s.

Jim Bouton

Ball Four

A book deep in the American vein, so deep in fact it is by no means a sports book" --David Halberstam ""Ball Four" is a people book, not just a baseball book." --Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "The New York Times" When "Ball Four" was first published in 1970, it hit the sports world like a lightning bolt. Commissioners, executives, players and sportswriters were thrown into a state of shock. Stunned. Scandalized. The controversy was front-page news. Sportswriters called Bouton a Judas, a Benedict Arnold and a "social leper." Commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force the author to sign a statement saying that the book wasn't true. One team actually burned a copy of "Ball Four" in protest.And Bouton is still not invited to Oldtimers' Day at Yankee Stadium. Fans, however, loved "Ball Four" and serious critics called it an important document. It was also very popular among people who didn't ordinarily follow baseball, because "Ball Four" is not strictly a book about baseball, but one about people who happen to be baseball players. And it's hilariously funny. For the twentieth-anniversary edition of this historic book, Bouton has written a new epilogue, detailing his career as an inventor, ...

Tom Clavin, Thomas Clavin

One for the Ages: Jack Nicklaus and the 1986 Masters

The Masters tournament has provided some of golf's most memorable finishes--none more so than the improbable triumph by Jack Nicklaus in 1986. Twenty-five years later, many regard it as the most exciting Masters ever. Nicklaus, 46, was 160th on the PGA Tour money list. His last win in a major championship had been six years earlier. Many of his rivals on the tour thought he was well on his way to being washed up. But for Nicklaus, the Masters was an opportunity for redemption. The somewhat tarnished Golden Bear, with his eldest son, Jackie, as his caddy, hung on for the first three rounds. Then it was Sunday. Ballesteros, Norman, Kite, Watson, and others were ahead of him. During the afternoon, he charged. One for the Ages is the pulse-pounding story of the most glorious moment in Jack Nicklaus's career. It is also a celebration of the Masters, arguably the most prestigious tournament in golf, and its world-class players, who clashed during a golden weekend in Augusta until only one man, with his son at his side, was left standing.