Fun & Games with Alistair Cooke: On Sport and Other Amusements - Softcover

Cooke, Alistair

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1628724420 ISBN 13: 9781628724424

Publisher: Arcade, 2015

Synopsis

Alistair Cooke, whom many knew as the former host of Masterpiece Theatre, was also one of the world’s best journalists. Here he brings his unique blend of wit, curiosity, and insight to bear on the world of sports and entertainment.

He writes with equal verve on golf (his favorite sport), tennis, boxing, sailing, and horse racing. And his selections on the movies, jazz, and the theater are just as delightful. Whether writing on George Gershwin or Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali or Groucho Marx, Charlie Chaplin or Jack Nicklaus, Duke Ellington or Sugar Ray Robinson, the Masters golf tournament or Wimbledon, the Kentucky Derby or How the Russians Invented Baseball,” Alistair Cooke is as charming as he is informative.

Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.

Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

About this title

About the Author

Alistair Cooke was a journalist born in Lancashire, England, on November 20, 1908. For over fifty years, he presented Letters from America, which was the longest-running radio series in the world. Cooke lived in New York City until his death on March 30, 2004.

From Publishers Weekly

Cooke, retired host of Masterpiece Theater, has compiled 49 of his short pieces, mostly written for the Manchester Guardian between 1940 and 1994, that cover the gamut from cricket to baseball. Boxing is given prime space, with two profiles of Sugar Ray Robinson, in his prime ("An Epic of Courage") and in his decline ("Sugar Ray's Downfall"); and two of Muhammad Ali, in victory ("A Mountain Comes to Muhammad") and defeat ("Come-Uppance for the 'Onliest Champion'"). There are essays on tennis ("The Money Game" and "My Life with Gabriela Sabatini") and the Kentucky Derby ("The Road to Churchill Downs"). Nineteen selections are reserved for golf, its heroes, tribulations and vicissitudes. Best, however, are the portraits that have hardly anything to do with sport. There are wonderful profiles-of Frenchman Eric Tabarly, who in 1964 sailed solo across the Atlantic in 27 days, one hour and 56 minutes to break Chichester's 1962 record; and of nightclub owner Max Cohen ("Oasis in Baltimore," 1940). Cooke's obituaries for Gary Cooper, Duke Ellington and Charlie Chaplin are touching and informative. A mixed bag.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Arcade
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1628724420
• ISBN 13: 9781628724424
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272