The Jim Murray Reader

by Jim Murray, Vin Scully

Jim Murray, the dean of American sportswriters, entertained readers with writing that is so good and so funny that even people who don’t like sports read him. The Jim Murray Reader gathers some of Murray’s best columns from the height of his career and showcases the wit and the style that won him a Pulitzer Prize in 1990. His inexhaustible talent and limitless range are on full display from the perplexities of tennis scoring (“a game in which love counts for nothing, deuces are wild, and the scoring system was invented by Lewis Carroll”) and baseball rules (“The infield fly rule is about as simple as calligraphy. It might as well be a Japanese naval code”) to Murray’s Laws (“The way to make a line move faster is to join the other one”) and many of his colorful profiles (“Richard Petty has climbed in more windows than 50 car thieves. . . . He wasn’t born, he was assembled and modified”). His striking images, evocative prose, and hyperbolic one-liners have made Murray one of the most quotable and most celebrated sports columnists of the twentieth century.

Genres: Sports, Baseball

288 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2011

Reviews

[Andrew Langert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Murray, who died in 1998, was my late father's favorite sportswriter. Reading this collection of his columns brought back memories of my dad saying, "You've got to read this one!"
Of course, this material is dated. But the clever, colorful and comical writing style more than stands the test of time. And, Murray wrote about things and people that mattered.
The book is divided into three sections.
Personally Speaking contains Murray's observations on various sports, institutions and life in general. "Tennis is a game in which love counts nothing, deuces are wild and the scoring system was invented by Lewis Carroll." Of hockey, Murray says: "For years, I have had a secret ambition in life. It's simple. Some guys want to climb the Matterhorn. Others want to shoot 69. Some want to corner the market. Me? All I want to do is see a hockey goal." Of life in general: "Nothing is hard for the man who doesn't have to do it himself."
Portraits contains columns about people. From Julius "Dr. J" Erving to Satchel Paige to Bear Bryant.
Fond Farewells are tributes to the newly-departed: Rocky Marciano and sportswriter Red Smith, among several others.
Great writing - and an UPLIFTING book to read when times are tough.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Random Thoughts about this collection of Jim Murray's newspaper columns from 1960-1981:

- Provenance: a birthday gift from my mother.

- Expectations: a five-star read, like everything else Murray produced in his life.

- .When I was 12 years old (which was 43 years ago now) I had a ritual. I would get up in the morning and eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast and read the sports section of the Los Angeles Times. I loved sports, especially the Dodgers, and devoured the paper. The best days were the ones where Jim Murray's column appeared.

- Murray was funny and insightful. He was acerbic, and no one was immune. He was also sympathetic and feeling. He'd write about the biggest names and the most obscure. Baseball and boat racing. Ernie Banks and Evel Knievel.

- This book collects many of his earliest columns and are, as usual, brilliant. He covers a huge number of topics with wit and insight.

- If you're reading this, keep the time frame in mind. Murray was a social liberal but fell prey to the language of the times. One column imagines a fictional law firm that represents high school football recruits and some of the language is, unfortunately, leaning into stereotypes. As always, context is important. I didn't like the sentence, but I recognize that is how people talked then.

- The introduction is written by Vin Scully and if you are talking about the icons of the Los Angeles sports scene, well, these are two of the best.

- A great book for those of us who remember Murray and the joy he brought to his readers until his passing in 1998 at the age of 79.

[Bob Swanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

For decades, Jim Murray was considered the best sports writer in the United States. I grew up reading him in the LA Times. Every column was a wonderful adventure in the possibilities of the English language with the added interest of being about sports teams that I followed. I realize now, that I took him for granted. After many years without reading him, I decided to purchase this book and rediscover the old magic. I was not disappointed. That is to say, the only disappointment is that the number of columns reproduced here is very limited. I wish I had more.

There is one other thing I should mention. Reading this book all at once is like eating a whole cheesecake at once. It's too rich and you don't enjoy it like you should. Reading his column in the newspaper several times a week was about right. You read it and had a chance to digest it before the next column came out. If you get this book, read it like that - one column a day with time to digest it in between before approaching the richness of the next one. That is how you will achieve maximum enjoyment.

[Shin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have several of Jim Murray's books and biographies in my collection. This collection includes his columns from the 1970s and early 80s. If you are looking for his earlier works, look for the Best of Jim Murray, and if you are looking for his later works, look for Last of the Best. Perhaps because I am too young to be very familiar with the topics of his 70s columns, I didn't like this book as much as I did the Last of the Best.

[Matt Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greatest sportswriter who ever lived? Pretty much...