Far Afield: A Sportswriting Odyssey

by S.L. Price

An extraordinary year in the life of acclaimed sportswriter S.L. Price, who determined to see the world by discovering how games are played in places other than the United States. He settled his family in France (where he rode a bike around with Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong) immersed himself in a nuclear-fueled cricket rivalry between Pakistan and India; struggled with Olympic athletes in Greece, and explored the foreign terrain of soccer madness from Manchester to Marseille. Price’s great sense of humor recalls moments with American athletes abroad, and memories of times he shared with figures such as Ted Williams and Michael Jordan. All the while, he and his wife and children try to cope with a place that seems revile Americans of any stature, sporting or otherwise. This memoir will appeal not only to sports fans but to any reader who enjoyed A Year in Provence or Under the Tuscan Sun and, certainly, to the legions of loyal fans of S.L. Price.

S.L. Price is an award-winning sportswriter whose work has appeared in The New York Times and Sports Illustrated, among many publications. He and his family now live in Washington, D.C.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction

247 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2007

Reviews

[Doug Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the book’s backdrop is that of an American sportswriter living with his family in the south of France and covering the European beat, this is a wonderfully well-written account of what it is to be a son, a father, and a husband.

[Susan]

Fall 2003-2004 about a Sports Illustrated writer who lives in the south of France for one year with his family. Mostly about sports and the European view of such and Americans, etc.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scott is a lifelong friend who happens also to have an extraordinary ability to find universal, transcendent themes in sporting events and figures. In this book, he writes about his recent year living abroad through the Greek Olympics, Pakistan-Indian Cricket summit and other euro-sports doings. There's also some fascinating encounters with massive figures like Lance Armstrong and Michael Jordan that reveal a really interesting, human side. Scott has a talent for getting subjects to open up this way.

I just love his writing. This book is a good one for non-sports fans who'd like to be able to say they actually read a sports book once - and liked it.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clearly the author is very talented, and much of what he wrote about is very interesting, but this book just did not hang together as a coherent whole. Even the chapters didn't seem to hang together; the narrative never had a coherent flow. And the photos, while fascinating, seemed to be chosen completely at random. I really wanted to like this book, but the last 50 pages just felt like a lot of work to slog through.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written memoir by an SI writer; nothing Earth-shattering, but I really identified with his perspective as an American living in Europe--talks about the flaws of both places, and the perspective gained from living there; interesting personal reflections on earlier parts of his life, and does not think too highly of himself; have added other books by him to my list

[Rich · Rating 3 out of 5]

SL Price has written well for Sports Illustrated for quite a while, so I was glad to see this book about a year he spent in Europe writing about sports and life. Well done effort - in fact, my favorite parts of the book were his thoughts on family, life, kids etc.

[Vince Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating insights from a talented sportswriter on covering world-renowned events and their celebrity stars while dealing with the day-to-day joys and stresses of family life, political realities, and catching a train to get you home.