Sports in America - Softcover

Michener, James A. A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345483065 ISBN 13: 9780345483065

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 1987

Synopsis

Originally published in 1976, James A. Michener’s explosive, spectacular Sports in America is a prescient examination of the crisis in American sports that is still unfolding to this day. Pro basketball players are banned for narcotics use, while a Major League pitcher is arrested for smuggling drugs across the Mexican border. The NFL’s “injury report” grows longer every Sunday. Corruption and recruiting violations plague collegiate sports as the “winning is everything” mentality trickles down to the Little League level. With his lifelong enthusiasm for sports in evidence, the incomparable Michener tackles this subject thoroughly and leaves us amazed and appalled by what we’ve learned, yet still loving the games we grew up on.
 
Praise for Sports in America
 
“A comprehensive, controversial examination of sports as a major force in American life.”—Los Angeles Times
 
“Michener’s life was saved by sports twice. In return, he has issued a long, lovingly critical, prodigiously researched account of the passions and politics of America at organized play. Rich in anecdote, source material and his own shrewd commentary.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“Like just about everything James Michener has produced, Sports in America is a thoughtful, well-written document that’s thoroughly researched. . . . For anyone interested in how the ball bounces in the U.S. of A., the answers are all here.”—The Wall Street Journal
 
“Encyclopedic . . . amusing and sometimes alarming.”—The Washington Post

About this title

From the Inside Flap

rehensive, controversial examination of sports as a major force in American life." Los Angeles Times
There is a crisis in American sports, and it's getting worse. Drugs, violence, and the corrupting effects of money and fame. Even before these problems made national headlines, master writer James A. Michener was growing concerned about the state of sports in America. Only Michener could tackle a subject so big and leave us amazed and apalled by what we've learned, yet still loving the games we grew up on.

About the Author

James A. Michener was one of the world’s most popular writers, the author of more than forty books of fiction and nonfiction, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning Tales of the South Pacific, the bestselling novels The Source, Hawaii, Alaska, Chesapeake, Centennial, Texas, Caribbean, and Caravans, and the memoir The World Is My Home. Michener served on the advisory council to NASA and the International Broadcast Board, which oversees the Voice of America. Among dozens of awards and honors, he received America’s highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 1977, and an award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities in 1983 for his commitment to art in America. Michener died in 1997 at the age of ninety.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0345483065
• ISBN 13: 9780345483065
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 560