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Over Time: My Life As A Sportswriter (2012)

by Frank Deford(Favorite Author)

3.68 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0802120156 (ISBN13: 9780802120151)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Atlantic Monthly Press

review 1: Veteran sportswriter Frank Deford (he's touchy about the spelling!) picks over his life's adventures willy-nilly, with most of the pages going to the charismatic, if complicated, characters he has covered (including a loving portrait of the late Arthur Ashe.) They're all good company, even if a lot of the anecdotes are of the "you had to be there" variety. And aspiring writers take note: Deford is a master of concision, with a noticeable talent for the "mot juste" (particularly verbs) and a see-all eye for journalistic cliché.
review 2: I am listening to this book and with his voice, Frank Deford redeems the story. It's an autobiography and is, at times, interesting and funny, but a lot of it is sorta bland. Deford is such a good narrator, though, he makes the... more stories come to life. Situations with famous sports celebrities are hardly memorable, on their own, but his intonation brings life to them. As an audiobook this book is OK to good. As a written book, well, it's not bad, but no breakthroughs. Well . . . I wrote that first paragraph after I had listened to half the book. In the second half, Deford got more poignant and the stories became even more interesting to me. In fact, I cried 3-4 times during the telling. Some great perspective on people and events from the point of view of a sports-oriented guy, but hardly only about sports.In terms of sports, I especially liked how Deford put the growth of all American sports, but the NBA in particular, into perspective. They have matured and changed so much over the last 50 years, it's easy to forget how nascent they were so recently.He rails a bit about the lack of respect sportswriters get. This is obviously true, but if you want to get a Pulitzer, you should have known this already and have written about politics.Deford seems like a great guy who has so many experiences worth sharing. His voice, as a reader, is icing on the cake making thi a good read, but a great listen. less

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