What do you think?
Rate this book
The Whore of Akron: One Man's Search for the Soul of LeBron James
After 52 long years, the city of Cleveland finally has a new championship team, thanks to LeBron James and his Cavaliers. Scott Raab—Cleveland super-fan—has suffered for every one of those five decades of drought. In the tradition of Frederick Exley’s cult-classic sports book A Fan’s Notes, The Whore of Akron is Raab’s hilarious and unhinged plea for deliverance from all those years of pain. Traveling from Cleveland to Miami and back again, Raab heads out on an obsessive quest to uncover the soul of one of today’s greatest basketball LeBron James, the man who finally brought Cleveland out of sporting exile.
323 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 15, 2011
13 people are currently reading
588 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
December 22, 2011
You don't get to choose where you're from. Fate puts you where it pleases, and that's that. I didn't choose to grow up in Upstate, to think that sausage and peppers were a national delicacy. I could've been born two streets over, where I would've learned to skate as soon as I could walk. Instead, I rode the bus an hour to podunk farming towns like Camden and Holland Patent to play basketball in decrepit gyms against thick farm boys whose shorts were too tight and who sweated too much. All those pasty moon-faced girls in the crowd, close enough they could trip you as you ran past.
I didn't choose to grow up trudging through the three feet of snow, down the steep icy hill on which my dad insisted on parking, to watch Sherman Douglas and Rony Seikaly play in the Carrier Dome. It was what I'd always known, like Cosmos Pizza and Eerie Boulevard and away games at New Hartford. It was simply home.
Scott Raab didn't choose to be from Cleveland anymore than he chose his mother or father. He didn't set out to know the suffering of the Cleveland fan, he was born into it. But once born a Clevelander, Raab embraced it. He witnessed the last triumphant moment in Cleveland sports, the 1964 NFL Championship Game, and he's not forgotten it, carrying the ticket stub of the game as a talisman of sorts, a charm meant to bring forth another championship.
The man who was supposed to deliver that championship was LeBron James. James was born in Akron, and like us all, he didn't choose that. But unlike Raab and other decent people in the world, James didn't respect that fact. He didn't understand that where you're from, in a lot of ways, is who you are. You can go where you want to go and do what you want to do, but you can't change that fact. It sticks.
Maybe it started, as Raab says, when he wore that Yankee hat to the Indians' playoff game. Maybe it started years before that, when he chose to root for not just the Yankees, but Duke and the Cowboys, as well (And I'd guess that if he didn't play in the NBA, he'd root for the Lakers, too). Whenever it started, it reached its apotheosis with "The Decision," the moment LeBron decided to turn his back on his hometown, and in the process, many of the rest of us, as well.
No, LeBron James should've known better. And that's what makes this book, this rage-fueled ride, so satisfying. Raab takes him to task for 300 plus pages, pointing out his every shortcoming, his every arrogant flaw. If this sounds unfair, consider that James set himself up for this with his actions, and then doubled-down on that when he fired off his ill-considered "Tomorrow, they have to live their lives with all their problems." Translation: I'm rich, so you can suck it, nothing bothers me. This book is one fan's way of saying "Go fuck yourself" to that.
It's also a brilliant meditation on the things we don't choose -- home, family, ancestry. It has hilarious moments, it has heartbreaking passages. It's raw and visceral as few books are, and as I said on The Millions earlier this month, it's the best book about sports fandom since A Fan's Notes.
As an addendum: I read a lot of books on my phone this year, and holding this book in my hands, feeling its pages and its smooth cover in my hands as I read it on the bus was such a joy. That it had a provocative title and a bunch of Star of Davids on the cover was a bonus -- lots of odd looks on the bus. In a year when I succumbed to the conveniences of digital reading, this book, as well as the Grantland Quarterly and The Art of Fielding, have reminded me that -- cliche though it may be -- I still really do love the feel of books, that holding the object in my hands is a sensation unto itself.
I didn't choose to grow up trudging through the three feet of snow, down the steep icy hill on which my dad insisted on parking, to watch Sherman Douglas and Rony Seikaly play in the Carrier Dome. It was what I'd always known, like Cosmos Pizza and Eerie Boulevard and away games at New Hartford. It was simply home.
Scott Raab didn't choose to be from Cleveland anymore than he chose his mother or father. He didn't set out to know the suffering of the Cleveland fan, he was born into it. But once born a Clevelander, Raab embraced it. He witnessed the last triumphant moment in Cleveland sports, the 1964 NFL Championship Game, and he's not forgotten it, carrying the ticket stub of the game as a talisman of sorts, a charm meant to bring forth another championship.
The man who was supposed to deliver that championship was LeBron James. James was born in Akron, and like us all, he didn't choose that. But unlike Raab and other decent people in the world, James didn't respect that fact. He didn't understand that where you're from, in a lot of ways, is who you are. You can go where you want to go and do what you want to do, but you can't change that fact. It sticks.
Maybe it started, as Raab says, when he wore that Yankee hat to the Indians' playoff game. Maybe it started years before that, when he chose to root for not just the Yankees, but Duke and the Cowboys, as well (And I'd guess that if he didn't play in the NBA, he'd root for the Lakers, too). Whenever it started, it reached its apotheosis with "The Decision," the moment LeBron decided to turn his back on his hometown, and in the process, many of the rest of us, as well.
No, LeBron James should've known better. And that's what makes this book, this rage-fueled ride, so satisfying. Raab takes him to task for 300 plus pages, pointing out his every shortcoming, his every arrogant flaw. If this sounds unfair, consider that James set himself up for this with his actions, and then doubled-down on that when he fired off his ill-considered "Tomorrow, they have to live their lives with all their problems." Translation: I'm rich, so you can suck it, nothing bothers me. This book is one fan's way of saying "Go fuck yourself" to that.
It's also a brilliant meditation on the things we don't choose -- home, family, ancestry. It has hilarious moments, it has heartbreaking passages. It's raw and visceral as few books are, and as I said on The Millions earlier this month, it's the best book about sports fandom since A Fan's Notes.
As an addendum: I read a lot of books on my phone this year, and holding this book in my hands, feeling its pages and its smooth cover in my hands as I read it on the bus was such a joy. That it had a provocative title and a bunch of Star of Davids on the cover was a bonus -- lots of odd looks on the bus. In a year when I succumbed to the conveniences of digital reading, this book, as well as the Grantland Quarterly and The Art of Fielding, have reminded me that -- cliche though it may be -- I still really do love the feel of books, that holding the object in my hands is a sensation unto itself.
December 6, 2011
I was excited to read this book. I endured, as many other beleaguered sports fans, the exercise in nauseating self-aggrandizing that was "The Decision." Over the past year or so there has been so much chatter about the hurt feelings of Cleveland fans. Many a snarky sports personality has derided Clevelanders to "just get over it," and intoned "who wouldn't want to be in South Beach over Cleveland." (Since when did one tiny beach hide the fact that Miami is the 4th poorest city in the U.S.?) As a Buffalo sports fan I often empathize with fellow rust-belt sports fans. According to the national media, Clevelanders should've been eternally thankful to have LeBron grace their dirty little has-been town. This line of thinking really enrages me. That is why I enjoyed this book so much. Scott Raab has all the pent-up emotion and frustration of a sports fan who has endured continuous soul-crushing disappointment. The book is a multitude of things. At face value, it is a vengeful rant against Lebron James. However, it also about the endurance of a legion of passionate sports fans who rise up against constant disappointment and an always mocking national media. Cleveland fans rally in the face of the jokes and snide remarks levied in direction of their town. Raab is, in some ways, the ultimate alpha Cleveland fan. However, this book is as much about his resiliency in life (overcoming drug abuse and alcoholism to become a respected journalist). The most touching part is when he watches over his 11 year old son, whose in battling the flu, while watching the Miami Heat/Dallas Mavericks NBA finals on TV. Two of the things he loves most in the world, his son and the honor of Cleveland, are at peril. The result is touching. I also enjoyed how Raab calls out ESPN and all of its "journalists" complicit in the Decision. The most eye-opening part being how the media (Cleveland and national) conceded to James. Raab is an old school journalist to which integrity (something ESPN wipes their ass with) still holds value. Raab is a fascinating but not always likeable guy. However, his passion for sport, family, and his hometown are undeniably infectous at times. A great read for sports fans and non sports fans alike.
May 1, 2024
I planned to not read this book when I first heard about it, because the name was stupid, and the concept -- a guy following around LeBron James heckling him for leaving the Cavs -- seemed stupid as well. Then the book got great reviews from people who said it was actually nothing like that, and I heard the author on the radio, describing a book that sounded much more thoughtful and interesting than a book about hating LeBron (an emotion which can be justified in shorter-form works).
So I dove in, and indeed, it was great. Scott Raab writes an entertaining, profane, tale of being a Cleveland sports fan, a compulsive eater, and kind of a loser who lucks into a better life for himself, where he struggles with his demons and takes sports too seriously. His justification for calling LeBron the Whore of Akron is actually pretty amusing, and maybe even insightful. Maybe. Either way, the Cleveland stuff is spot on. And he really gets at what a singularly terrible experience the LeBron fiasco was for people who follow Cleveland sports.
That's what I thought for the first third of the book. Then, after this great set up, Raab's story reaches the game where LeBron didn't even show up against the Celtics in the playoffs. This was easily the most wrenching sporting event I've ever seen, and arguably the climax of the whole affair, yet Raab glosses over it. Then he glosses over The Decision, and writes the rest of the book as though he's bored of the whole thing. The fact that he clearly doesn't know much about basketball makes it that much worse. Eventually, The Whore of Akron turned into the book that I had planned to avoid -- an annoying, extended magazine article that is ostensibly about the author heckling LeBron James, but is really just about the author scratchin his own ego and eating polish boys.
So, on balance, a good read, which is disappointing because it showed promise of being something more.
So I dove in, and indeed, it was great. Scott Raab writes an entertaining, profane, tale of being a Cleveland sports fan, a compulsive eater, and kind of a loser who lucks into a better life for himself, where he struggles with his demons and takes sports too seriously. His justification for calling LeBron the Whore of Akron is actually pretty amusing, and maybe even insightful. Maybe. Either way, the Cleveland stuff is spot on. And he really gets at what a singularly terrible experience the LeBron fiasco was for people who follow Cleveland sports.
That's what I thought for the first third of the book. Then, after this great set up, Raab's story reaches the game where LeBron didn't even show up against the Celtics in the playoffs. This was easily the most wrenching sporting event I've ever seen, and arguably the climax of the whole affair, yet Raab glosses over it. Then he glosses over The Decision, and writes the rest of the book as though he's bored of the whole thing. The fact that he clearly doesn't know much about basketball makes it that much worse. Eventually, The Whore of Akron turned into the book that I had planned to avoid -- an annoying, extended magazine article that is ostensibly about the author heckling LeBron James, but is really just about the author scratchin his own ego and eating polish boys.
So, on balance, a good read, which is disappointing because it showed promise of being something more.
November 25, 2011
I am of the mindset that LeBron probably garnered more hatred than he deserved (though he did deserve high levels of scorn for the absolutely atrocious "Decision" special), but I still approached this book with excitement. I've always enjoyed Scott Raab's writing, and I read several of his blog posts on Esquire about LeBron with delight, as I love a good hate-filled rant.
What I got with this book, though, was not the story of one man looking for the soul of LeBron James. LeBron, as it turns out, kind of doesn't even really figure as prominently in this text as anyone is led to believe. No, this book, for better or for worse, is about Scott Raab. And it turns out that I can't always stand listening to Scott Raab talk about Scott Raab. I enjoy Scott Raab writing about almost anything else in short pieces...but this was really his memoir, through the filter of his hatred for a man he barely knew. If Raab expected LeBron to leave, as he mentioned he did, I'm not sure why he's so aghast. Raab actually successfully points out all the things that have been discussed to death now - LeBron never held any loyalty to Cleveland, nor did he ever promise to. Raab ignores the larger point of LeBron wanting to leave a job he didn't like to work with friends, and he also has a hard time digesting and discussing the race issue. LeBron ultimately embarrassed himself during the Finals, which has done more to smear LeBron's rep than this book will ever accomplish.
Though I'm sympathetic to the hardships that he's endured in his life, the more he discusses them, the more it becomes apparent than he zeroed in on LeBron as a mirror for his own neuroses - and the section in the novel where Raab has a discussion with a ghost-LeBron during a drug induced fugue state emphasizes this. As a result, he never manages to truly convince me, as a reader, that I should hate LeBron. No, he only convinces me that I should pity Scott Raab. And I wasn't planning to buy a book about Scott Raab.
What I got with this book, though, was not the story of one man looking for the soul of LeBron James. LeBron, as it turns out, kind of doesn't even really figure as prominently in this text as anyone is led to believe. No, this book, for better or for worse, is about Scott Raab. And it turns out that I can't always stand listening to Scott Raab talk about Scott Raab. I enjoy Scott Raab writing about almost anything else in short pieces...but this was really his memoir, through the filter of his hatred for a man he barely knew. If Raab expected LeBron to leave, as he mentioned he did, I'm not sure why he's so aghast. Raab actually successfully points out all the things that have been discussed to death now - LeBron never held any loyalty to Cleveland, nor did he ever promise to. Raab ignores the larger point of LeBron wanting to leave a job he didn't like to work with friends, and he also has a hard time digesting and discussing the race issue. LeBron ultimately embarrassed himself during the Finals, which has done more to smear LeBron's rep than this book will ever accomplish.
Though I'm sympathetic to the hardships that he's endured in his life, the more he discusses them, the more it becomes apparent than he zeroed in on LeBron as a mirror for his own neuroses - and the section in the novel where Raab has a discussion with a ghost-LeBron during a drug induced fugue state emphasizes this. As a result, he never manages to truly convince me, as a reader, that I should hate LeBron. No, he only convinces me that I should pity Scott Raab. And I wasn't planning to buy a book about Scott Raab.
January 8, 2012
Scott Raab brings the hate like NO ONE else. As a lifelong Cleveland sports fan, Raab has plenty of targets for his sweet, sweet vitriol, but none more deserving than Lebron James.
After Lebron embarrassed his hometown on national television, choosing to take his 'talents' to South Beach, Raab turned his own Esquire.com column into a yearlong screed of righteous hatespeak against LeBenedict. It was a glorious batch of writing but a year later, everyone else had moved on and Raab's act was wearing a little thin, even to THIS guy. And THIS GUY hopes the Miami Heat team plane goes down in waters infested with cyborg rape-sharks who looooove the smell of talcum.
This book is NOT a collection of those columns, and it is so much more than a string of angry rants (although, those are there in all their hateful glory). Instead, Raab uses his disgust at the Whore of Akron's antics to fuel a love letter to his hometown, a confession of his own personal failings (addiction, weight problems, failed marriages)and a sweet missive about late-life fatherhood. He also motherfucks Art Modell quite nicely.
It's a great, heartfelt read whether you follow sports or not. And if you DO follow sports, especially Cleveland sports, well, you're in for a treat.
After Lebron embarrassed his hometown on national television, choosing to take his 'talents' to South Beach, Raab turned his own Esquire.com column into a yearlong screed of righteous hatespeak against LeBenedict. It was a glorious batch of writing but a year later, everyone else had moved on and Raab's act was wearing a little thin, even to THIS guy. And THIS GUY hopes the Miami Heat team plane goes down in waters infested with cyborg rape-sharks who looooove the smell of talcum.
This book is NOT a collection of those columns, and it is so much more than a string of angry rants (although, those are there in all their hateful glory). Instead, Raab uses his disgust at the Whore of Akron's antics to fuel a love letter to his hometown, a confession of his own personal failings (addiction, weight problems, failed marriages)and a sweet missive about late-life fatherhood. He also motherfucks Art Modell quite nicely.
It's a great, heartfelt read whether you follow sports or not. And if you DO follow sports, especially Cleveland sports, well, you're in for a treat.
December 31, 2011
I coach football with a guy named George Reinke. The first time I was in the room while he was breaking down film, he watched one of his linemen deliver one hell of a block at the point of attack. The linemen fired out of his stance like a damn cannon ball, punched the d-linmen square in the gut, drove him back about 8 yards and when the whistle blew this kid drove his feet, rolled his hips and planted his kid in the ground. He got up by pushing off his opponent with an attitude that clearly stated, "We will be doing this again next play."
Coach Reinke only had one comment about the block. "He gets it." That was it. Three words were all that were needed to convey something we all knew on the team. Our player was playing with the attitude and effort we strive to instill into each young man. What's great about this is that it takes YEARS to understand what those three words mean, and it would be nearly impossible to put into into words. So only three will do, and it will really only make sense to those who have been around our football team. He gets it.
I tell you that to say this about Scott Raab. He gets it. He knows the yearly anguish of being a Cleveland fan. Every nook and cranny. He gets what its like to feel the gut wrenching loses, the heartbreak, the eternal optimism based on nothing, the pity with which other cities and media look down on our hometown and every other little part of what it means to be from a dying town.
If you ever wanted to know what "it" is, read this book. Yea it is about LeBron James at face value, but it is much more. It's about Cleveland. The parallels to drug addiction, Judaism and trying to find redemption by fleeing when we all know its impossible to leave are concepts I have tried to explain for years but never could. Scott Raab gets it. And he is such a talented writer that he pulled of the impossible, he described it. He found a way in 300 pages to summarize what I have tried to explain to so many people over the years.
For those who have read the book, I say Dayenu, and I follow that with one other reason why I love this book. This was a gift given to me by my brother on the day of his wedding. He gets it. On that day, we both were married men, living outside of the city that we grew up in. We both have happy successful well balanced lives. And yet, we know that part of us will never leave. We will always be those little boys asking our Dad what it was like to watch the Browns when they were Gods at football playing against mortals. Wondering why Jose Mesa can't get these final three outs. Cursing every time we watched a stupid Be Like Mike commercial. Even though we are that far from our younger selves and the city that crafted us, Connor and I are still carry those kids deep in us. Connor gets it.
Although this is certainly not the best book I have ever read, it may be my favorite.
It also helps that Scott Raab himself signed it. It reads:
To Ken,
Fuck LeBron!
Scott Raab
Coach Reinke only had one comment about the block. "He gets it." That was it. Three words were all that were needed to convey something we all knew on the team. Our player was playing with the attitude and effort we strive to instill into each young man. What's great about this is that it takes YEARS to understand what those three words mean, and it would be nearly impossible to put into into words. So only three will do, and it will really only make sense to those who have been around our football team. He gets it.
I tell you that to say this about Scott Raab. He gets it. He knows the yearly anguish of being a Cleveland fan. Every nook and cranny. He gets what its like to feel the gut wrenching loses, the heartbreak, the eternal optimism based on nothing, the pity with which other cities and media look down on our hometown and every other little part of what it means to be from a dying town.
If you ever wanted to know what "it" is, read this book. Yea it is about LeBron James at face value, but it is much more. It's about Cleveland. The parallels to drug addiction, Judaism and trying to find redemption by fleeing when we all know its impossible to leave are concepts I have tried to explain for years but never could. Scott Raab gets it. And he is such a talented writer that he pulled of the impossible, he described it. He found a way in 300 pages to summarize what I have tried to explain to so many people over the years.
For those who have read the book, I say Dayenu, and I follow that with one other reason why I love this book. This was a gift given to me by my brother on the day of his wedding. He gets it. On that day, we both were married men, living outside of the city that we grew up in. We both have happy successful well balanced lives. And yet, we know that part of us will never leave. We will always be those little boys asking our Dad what it was like to watch the Browns when they were Gods at football playing against mortals. Wondering why Jose Mesa can't get these final three outs. Cursing every time we watched a stupid Be Like Mike commercial. Even though we are that far from our younger selves and the city that crafted us, Connor and I are still carry those kids deep in us. Connor gets it.
Although this is certainly not the best book I have ever read, it may be my favorite.
It also helps that Scott Raab himself signed it. It reads:
To Ken,
Fuck LeBron!
Scott Raab
November 26, 2021
So with Lebron winning his first title just days ago I felt somewhat compelled to read this book. I am a bit of an agnostic when it comes to Lebron James, although I do have to admit I have followed his career with a certain amount of fascination. In reading this book I had less than pure motives and was kind of hoping for the 'inside scoop' on King James. The Whore of Akron doesn't really offer anything 'juicy.' For those that follow basketball there will be nothing new here. Raab, a diehard, Cleveland sports fan simply spews a lot of hate James way, mostly because he feels like Lebron owes Cleveland something - or maybe worse Cleveland is owed something by God himself for years of sporting ineptitude that has befallen the city. Lebron's departure from Cleveland is portrayed as a betrayal of Judas like proportions. Of course we must remind ourselves that it really is only a game. Cleveland's fall from grace as a once great city probably has more to do with a shaky American auto industry than it does with sports failure. Sure sports can make you feel better, but Raab is a bit over the top. And to be honest he really doesn't give us any new information. Yeah we know that Lebron screwed up his free agency, really isn't that great in clutch situations, has a weird mom, and probably moved to Miami to party. This really isn't big news anymore - if it was even big news in the first place. But Lebron is a basketball player, not a Messiah. That is a burden to heavy to bare, even for Lebron's broad shoulders. As egotistical has his actions may have been at the time it hardly makes him a whore - I actually just think it makes him human.
Anyways, as a book, The Whore of Akron, is funny and Raab's reflections on his own life are beneficial. Personally I think it lacks insight into Cleveland itself. I'm not really sure why Raab thinks the place is so great. He may have served the topic better if he had been able to turn Cleveland into a character in the book, but he fails in this. It would have been good for the book and perhaps helped the reader hate Lebron just a little bit more. On the whole I think I learned more about Miami than I did Cleveland. Also Raab's verbiage while funny is over the top. As I mentioned Lebron is clearly very human - and I even share Raab's concerns about him being a bit of a dead beat dad - but I'm not sold on Lebron as villian. Lebron is just a guy who had a choice to make - and he made a choice that if we are all honest most of us would have made as well.
Anyways, as a book, The Whore of Akron, is funny and Raab's reflections on his own life are beneficial. Personally I think it lacks insight into Cleveland itself. I'm not really sure why Raab thinks the place is so great. He may have served the topic better if he had been able to turn Cleveland into a character in the book, but he fails in this. It would have been good for the book and perhaps helped the reader hate Lebron just a little bit more. On the whole I think I learned more about Miami than I did Cleveland. Also Raab's verbiage while funny is over the top. As I mentioned Lebron is clearly very human - and I even share Raab's concerns about him being a bit of a dead beat dad - but I'm not sold on Lebron as villian. Lebron is just a guy who had a choice to make - and he made a choice that if we are all honest most of us would have made as well.
December 31, 2011
This book and it’s heavy-handed title aren't so much about LeBron James and The Decision as what LeBron James' decision did to poor Scott Raab and the people of Cleveland. There's been a definite economic impact from LeBron James “taking his talents to South Beach,” but to hear it from Raab it’s the worst thing to happen to the city since the steel mills closed, maybe even worse. Only towards the end of the book, during a particularly touching anecdote about Raab caring for his sick son, do we learn (spoiler alert!) there are things in life that are more important that sports.
Most of the personal stories from Raab’s life aren’t that touching. They’re at times cringe-worthy (in a bad way) and almost always he comes off as whiny or trying too hard to be profane/edgy. It’s not the first memoir written by an ex-drug addict from a broken home, just the first one to try and parallel the life of LeBron James. I never really understood the comparrison between Raab struggling with drug and then food addiction—too fat to have sex with his wife, their love life consists of him laying on the bed for the occasional hand job—and James being an ego-maniacal choke artist. But some parts of the book—the similarities between Raab’s tumultuous upbringing as a poor Jew in Cleveland and James’ childhood as a poor black kid with a single mother in West Akron—are at times poignant. Raab never really forgives James, but begins to empathise with and understand “The Whore of Akron” after visiting a black barber shop on Cedar and Lee in Cleveland Heights, where after having "QUITNESS" shaved into the back of his head, he finally acknowledges the racial implications of the controversy.
The sports writing in this book is top-notch, specifically the inside accounts of Raab covering the Cavaliers and the Heat during the seasons before and after The Decision. So are the tales of other great heartbreaks in Cleveland fandom, but a lot of Raab’s autobiographical elements could use a little more self-awareness, especially for a writer who wallows in self-deprecation. The main takeaway from this book: Witnessing an enemy’s failure or defeat shouldn't be as fulfilling as experiencing success or victory.
Also, some people care way too much about sports.
Most of the personal stories from Raab’s life aren’t that touching. They’re at times cringe-worthy (in a bad way) and almost always he comes off as whiny or trying too hard to be profane/edgy. It’s not the first memoir written by an ex-drug addict from a broken home, just the first one to try and parallel the life of LeBron James. I never really understood the comparrison between Raab struggling with drug and then food addiction—too fat to have sex with his wife, their love life consists of him laying on the bed for the occasional hand job—and James being an ego-maniacal choke artist. But some parts of the book—the similarities between Raab’s tumultuous upbringing as a poor Jew in Cleveland and James’ childhood as a poor black kid with a single mother in West Akron—are at times poignant. Raab never really forgives James, but begins to empathise with and understand “The Whore of Akron” after visiting a black barber shop on Cedar and Lee in Cleveland Heights, where after having "QUITNESS" shaved into the back of his head, he finally acknowledges the racial implications of the controversy.
The sports writing in this book is top-notch, specifically the inside accounts of Raab covering the Cavaliers and the Heat during the seasons before and after The Decision. So are the tales of other great heartbreaks in Cleveland fandom, but a lot of Raab’s autobiographical elements could use a little more self-awareness, especially for a writer who wallows in self-deprecation. The main takeaway from this book: Witnessing an enemy’s failure or defeat shouldn't be as fulfilling as experiencing success or victory.
Also, some people care way too much about sports.
April 10, 2021
Scott Raab is every beleaguered Cleveland sports fan's hero. He put into words what I time and time again have not been able to do. The question I so often get asked when I tell people I grew up in the Cleveland area is "Oh, so what do you think of Lebron?" Even now, more than two years after the mockery of objective reporting that was ESPN's The Decision, I get into raised-voice debates marked more by my own emotional involvement than the reason behind our collective Cleveland feeling of utter betrayal. But after reading Raab's story, I have a more calm and calculated arsenal. I suppose I had it all along, being a bona fide Cleveland fan, but its only manifestation was the raised blood pressure, never the ability to communicate properly just how deeply it affected us when Lebron (with tattoos reading 'Loyalty' and '330', Akron's [and my own] area code) left the hometown folks who loved him.
I will be the first to tell you that Cleveland and Akron are the antitheses of glamor. In Raab's words, "especially for an expat, the mere existence of the Cavs, Browns, and Indians seems like all that keeps Cleveland from slipping into darkness forever." But to have our hometown son, one who we thought gets the love of our roots (myself a fifth-generation NE Ohioan on both sides) and our despair over zero championships since 1964 and a dying Rust Belt economy, to have him leave us so unceremoniously, so spitefully, in a way that inflected maximum pain... "Just sports? Fine, so it's not war, or plague, or famine. But evil doesn't get a pass just because it hasn't literally murdered the innocent."
I thank Scott Raab for some semblance of personal closure on the issue. The true closure will have to wait until when (or if) I somehow last long enough to finally witness that parade down Euclid Avenue.
6/19/16 Update: It happened. Long Live Cleveland.
January 6, 2012
Cheering for a sports team is rooting for laundry. We cheer the jersey more than the player in nearly every case. It's ridiculous in a way, but no more absurd than focusing on an actor or politician who cares just as little about our existence. However, when a hometown savior is loved despite failing to deliver a title, and then repays that love by ripping your heart out and then tap dancing all over it in a national television special, sports become more than just a game.
Raab does a good job of showing what it's like to be from the most cursed sports city in the country. He wallows a bit too much in telling us all how fat he is, and how he used to be a drunk and an addict, but the vitriol he has for a man child who has never fully developed as a person because he's been coddled since he was 15 by an industry and by a problem of a mother who saw how many millions he would one day be worth is legit.
It's a fast read and if you were sitting in front of a TV wearing a LeBron jersey for the last time on July 8, 2010, like I was, it's worth it for the analysis of James, Miami, and Cleveland. I feel I was closer to this story than most fans, as I was in American Airlines Arena in Miami, wearing a Cavs Lebron jersey, with Pay Riley and Jordan in the house back in November '09, for the game after which Riley sank his teeth into LeBron, prompting the latter to change his jersey number and follow Wade to Miami instead of Wade following LeBron to Cleveland or the both of them together to Chicago. Whether James has bad advisers amongst his friends, whether he has mental problems that cause him to choke in meaningful games, or whether he's just a supremely talented asshole, this saga remains one of the most fascinating in not just sports, but pop culture in general. I know he'll get a title one day, but the longer he waits, the better the majority of us feel.
Raab does a good job of showing what it's like to be from the most cursed sports city in the country. He wallows a bit too much in telling us all how fat he is, and how he used to be a drunk and an addict, but the vitriol he has for a man child who has never fully developed as a person because he's been coddled since he was 15 by an industry and by a problem of a mother who saw how many millions he would one day be worth is legit.
It's a fast read and if you were sitting in front of a TV wearing a LeBron jersey for the last time on July 8, 2010, like I was, it's worth it for the analysis of James, Miami, and Cleveland. I feel I was closer to this story than most fans, as I was in American Airlines Arena in Miami, wearing a Cavs Lebron jersey, with Pay Riley and Jordan in the house back in November '09, for the game after which Riley sank his teeth into LeBron, prompting the latter to change his jersey number and follow Wade to Miami instead of Wade following LeBron to Cleveland or the both of them together to Chicago. Whether James has bad advisers amongst his friends, whether he has mental problems that cause him to choke in meaningful games, or whether he's just a supremely talented asshole, this saga remains one of the most fascinating in not just sports, but pop culture in general. I know he'll get a title one day, but the longer he waits, the better the majority of us feel.
September 17, 2013
Positives: This is a quick read and isn’t boring. Sure, Raab may rant (a lot), but what I like is how present he is in his writing. He has a very strong voice and he lets his readers experience it.
Drawbacks: If you’re expecting a book with a focus on LeBron James, you’d be terribly disappointed. The title is misleading and likely done simply to market the book. This book is far more about Raab working though his issues as a) a bitter son b) an overweight, recovering addict and c) a bitter Cleveland sports fan.
There are three major flaws with how he approaches his book – three hypocritical components, if you will, that taint my respect for his arguments:
1. Raab criticizes LeBron’s brashness and lack of proper sportsmanlike conduct if it’s against Cleveland, but he has no problem if it’s against an opposing team or city. In fact, he supports it. He’s playing both sides on this one. You can’t accuse a man of having no soul if your own is so fickle.
2. Raab calls LeBron a whore for having left Cleveland and betraying his fans. He says this and then proceeds to bad mouth his family throughout his book. It’s difficult to understand how a sports figure’s moving onto another team is in the same league as betraying your own flesh and blood’s issues in a tell-all book.
3. Raab claims to have a love of Cleveland, etc., but he actually doesn’t even live there anymore. He lives in New Jersey. Again, Raab lacks consistency on this one. You can’t call someone an ass for leaving a city to better their situation if you, yourself have done the same thing.
All in all, the book did not succeed in making me hate LeBron James. If anything, it succeeded in making me seriously dislike and pity Scott Raab.
Drawbacks: If you’re expecting a book with a focus on LeBron James, you’d be terribly disappointed. The title is misleading and likely done simply to market the book. This book is far more about Raab working though his issues as a) a bitter son b) an overweight, recovering addict and c) a bitter Cleveland sports fan.
There are three major flaws with how he approaches his book – three hypocritical components, if you will, that taint my respect for his arguments:
1. Raab criticizes LeBron’s brashness and lack of proper sportsmanlike conduct if it’s against Cleveland, but he has no problem if it’s against an opposing team or city. In fact, he supports it. He’s playing both sides on this one. You can’t accuse a man of having no soul if your own is so fickle.
2. Raab calls LeBron a whore for having left Cleveland and betraying his fans. He says this and then proceeds to bad mouth his family throughout his book. It’s difficult to understand how a sports figure’s moving onto another team is in the same league as betraying your own flesh and blood’s issues in a tell-all book.
3. Raab claims to have a love of Cleveland, etc., but he actually doesn’t even live there anymore. He lives in New Jersey. Again, Raab lacks consistency on this one. You can’t call someone an ass for leaving a city to better their situation if you, yourself have done the same thing.
All in all, the book did not succeed in making me hate LeBron James. If anything, it succeeded in making me seriously dislike and pity Scott Raab.
May 6, 2012
This book is an absolute problem. I see what it's trying to do, but it fails. It fails in how it's written, it fails in it's perspective, and it fails completely in it's execution. The entire book is couched in sexual language. It's all about this weird kind of sexual self-hatred wrapped up in sports. Not once does the book acknowledge any social context of black sexuality and the dehumanization of black men in relation to sports. The entire thing is infuriating. The way it sets up LeBron James as some sort of evil satanic figure is just way over the top.
I know what he was trying to get at. He wanted to say something about how sports fans react to sports and the decisions of individuals that actually have nothing to do with their everyday lives, but it just doesn't work at all. But it's sports and you cant expect much different. People who have no problem with a team called the "Indians" with a racist caricature for a logo shouldn't be expected to have any sort of social awareness.
This book also does all manner of terrible slut-shaming. The idea that people can choose where they want to go and what they want to do is vilified. The book tries to make Dan Gilbert into something of a more appealing figure than LeBron. This billionaire who has profited from the ruin of people's lives is supposed to be less evil than someone who plays basketball and decided not to play for a crappy team anymore.
Whatever. I was hoping for something insightful and just got more message board sports ramblings from some angry white dude that some black guy didn't dance pretty enough for him.
I know what he was trying to get at. He wanted to say something about how sports fans react to sports and the decisions of individuals that actually have nothing to do with their everyday lives, but it just doesn't work at all. But it's sports and you cant expect much different. People who have no problem with a team called the "Indians" with a racist caricature for a logo shouldn't be expected to have any sort of social awareness.
This book also does all manner of terrible slut-shaming. The idea that people can choose where they want to go and what they want to do is vilified. The book tries to make Dan Gilbert into something of a more appealing figure than LeBron. This billionaire who has profited from the ruin of people's lives is supposed to be less evil than someone who plays basketball and decided not to play for a crappy team anymore.
Whatever. I was hoping for something insightful and just got more message board sports ramblings from some angry white dude that some black guy didn't dance pretty enough for him.
December 31, 2011
GREAT BOOK. If you are from Cleveland this is a must read. If you are from Ohio this is a must read. If you are tired of selfish atheletes who have no idea what loyalty to a town and a fan base is this is a must read. I have two things that I would modify though. 1. As a Methodist I have no idea what some of the words were that Scott used that were from the Jewish community. I assume it was Yidish but not sure. The other thing that I would have prefered to see mentioned more heavily is the section about the 12/2 Cavs Heat game were LeBron returned to Cleveland. The book talks about the team and their poor showing, what it didn't talk about was the die hard fans that were still yelling at James late into the fourth quarter even though the game was out of reach. I am proud to say that I was sitting about 15 rows behind the Cavs bench on the isle for the game and when James came down and started jawing just before the half I was up and walking down the isle giving him the finger and yelling at him to "get the fuck out of our bench area he already left us". Even better was the fact that this was the clip that Sportscenter (on the Lebron James network, I'm sorry I mean ESPN) ran for the next few days so I got to see myself on TV sticking up for Cleveland and I couldn't be prouder.
July 4, 2012
It seems from the GoodReads reviews that the people who were most annoyed by the book felt that it didn't deliver what they thought it would--they expected a well-reasoned, almost academic takedown of Lebron James and got a sometimes difficult and confused gonzo memoir from a sportswriter who happens to be from Cleveland and to have fixated on Lebron. I... quite enjoyed reading the gonzo memoir, but it's hard to be objective or to argue that this is essential reading because what is so interesting and persuasive about it is how accurately it distills being a rabid, heartbroken multi-sport fan in Cleveland-- so anyone familiar with this experience will identify immediately and intensely (that would be me), and I could see where it might be viewed as juvenile or insane or whatever by someone who's not familiar with that particular condition. He does a remarkable job of writing down what is internalized and too difficult to articulate for many, many Cleveland fans.
September 21, 2013
First off, I recognize that Scott Raab can write. Of course, it's in an over-the-top, often profane style. I've seen that work, and I could see him making it work. With another book.
I ended up skimming this book, however, because it's basically a memoir -- and Raab didn't persuade me he was all that interesting. He's just sad. And angry.
When it comes to LeBron James, Raab's anger seems misplaced and more than a little embarrassing.
I don't understand sports fans (or sportswriters) who think any player owes them any kind of loyalty. Athletes are going to do what is best for themselves, just as anyone else does when making career decisions.
I ended up skimming this book, however, because it's basically a memoir -- and Raab didn't persuade me he was all that interesting. He's just sad. And angry.
When it comes to LeBron James, Raab's anger seems misplaced and more than a little embarrassing.
I don't understand sports fans (or sportswriters) who think any player owes them any kind of loyalty. Athletes are going to do what is best for themselves, just as anyone else does when making career decisions.
November 22, 2011
I believe it says something, that I devoured a book about basketball. As a person who equates watching sports with spending a night in Abu Ghraib, this is the last sort of book I would seek out; however, it charmed the pants off of me. It is snarky, self-reflective gonzo journalism at its finest. I still don't ever see myself sitting down and watching a full NBA game, but I have a new appreciation for Cleveland's fans.
April 2, 2013
Raab is a lunatic fan, and he hates LeBron James. That said, he won me over with his writing. I still think he's a lunatic, but I respect him and found his honesty endearing. I'm also reminded of a couple of truths from this book 1) that sports makes a wonderful hobby, but a lousy God and 2) that most people with hate issues have some serious self-loathing. Raab does and makes himself likeable enough that his book is compelling.
February 20, 2014
Wild, outrageous, crude, but brutally honest... and the man knows how to write. Definitely not for every sports fan, as it is as much a personal memoir as a book about LeBron, the NBA, ESPN, and what professional sports teams can do for cities...
April 4, 2012
Finally, someone put in words what every diehard Cleveland sports fan feels.
Easy read, entertaining, historical. Still hate LeBron, so nothing gained in that aspect.
Easy read, entertaining, historical. Still hate LeBron, so nothing gained in that aspect.
January 3, 2026
Raab asserts that "Hating is a full-time job," and that just about sums up this book.
Intrigued by the dumb, eye-catching title which stuck out among shelves of normally titled sports biographies, I picked up the Whore of Akron at the public library.
It's exactly what it says on the tin: Rage-fueled, vulgar, crude, and at times self-deprecating, this book is both a love-letter to Cleveland sports and the ultimate fuck you to the "Whore of Akron" (It's obvious who this is referring to.)
This book could use some editing, but Raab maintains a very strong voice throughout. I didn't care for some parts, but whenever it came to talking about LeBron or Cleveland's decades of winless suffering, Raab was hilarious.
This guy is a true hater. Not one of the annoying, "he blew my parlay" kind of fans but the kind who hates out of pure love for the game (I don't mean professional basketball, I mean hating).
This has its hilarious moments (many of them involving very opinionated commentary on LeBron). However, what stopped it from getting anything higher than 3 stars for me is that I began skimming whenever Raab brought up his personal life, especially near the end. Some people could view this as a strength. Personally, I lost interest.
That being said, I would like to read about what more Raab has to say about Lebron, especially about Lebron returning to Cleveland (I look forward to reading his You're Welcome Cleveland..."!).
I feel like this is fairly obvious, but DO NOT read if you want an objective opinion on The Decision or anything Lebron-related.
Intrigued by the dumb, eye-catching title which stuck out among shelves of normally titled sports biographies, I picked up the Whore of Akron at the public library.
It's exactly what it says on the tin: Rage-fueled, vulgar, crude, and at times self-deprecating, this book is both a love-letter to Cleveland sports and the ultimate fuck you to the "Whore of Akron" (It's obvious who this is referring to.)
This book could use some editing, but Raab maintains a very strong voice throughout. I didn't care for some parts, but whenever it came to talking about LeBron or Cleveland's decades of winless suffering, Raab was hilarious.
This guy is a true hater. Not one of the annoying, "he blew my parlay" kind of fans but the kind who hates out of pure love for the game (I don't mean professional basketball, I mean hating).
This has its hilarious moments (many of them involving very opinionated commentary on LeBron). However, what stopped it from getting anything higher than 3 stars for me is that I began skimming whenever Raab brought up his personal life, especially near the end. Some people could view this as a strength. Personally, I lost interest.
That being said, I would like to read about what more Raab has to say about Lebron, especially about Lebron returning to Cleveland (I look forward to reading his You're Welcome Cleveland..."!).
I feel like this is fairly obvious, but DO NOT read if you want an objective opinion on The Decision or anything Lebron-related.
April 19, 2023
I started this book aligned with Scott Raab, still able to feel the anger and disappointment that Scott Raab experienced when LeBron James left Cleveland the first time. He reinforced and vindicated my feelings! But as I continued reading, I realized that being a fan can be very unhealthy, and I don't want those extreme negative emotions taking up space in my life. Sports can connect us to other fans, especially if those fans are family members. For years when I lived out of town and would call home, my parents would update me on the status of the Cleveland teams, and we bonded over that. But I don't have to live and die by the teams. And that is healthy! In the end, I enjoyed the book and the time travel back to when James first left Cleveland, and I hope Raab has found healthier outlets for his passion for Cleveland. Love the art museum! Love the symphony! Love the food scene! But don't have your happiness depend on the outcome of a sporting event, heartbreak will be outcome for sure.
December 24, 2020
This is a great example of how Cleveland people never understand how to appreciate LeBron James, take him for granted, demonstrate egomaniac possessiveness over a free individual, and subliminally express their racist thinking over a black man by calling him childish and telling him what to do. Completely disgraceful, shameless, and disgusting, and filled with plantation mentality. If those outside the sports fandom circle would like to know why Cleveland doesn't deserve LeBron, they shall read this book.
March 6, 2017
If you're a sports fan, you've got the sob stories. Losing seasons, losing players to other teams, broken hearts. I grew up in Minnesota and suffered the four Super Bowl losses with the Vikings, Carew leaving the Twins and the dismal seasons after (but, oh, that 1987 season!), the Timberwolves' seasons of woe, the Wild, et al. Fandom is a way of life.
Scott Raab writes well of that obsession we have of living and dying with a team. He also writes of looking at himself. An overweight, former drug-dealing miscreant of a dysfunctional family seeks solstice only in sports. And when that fails him, like all else of his life, what else has Raab to do but to rant and rave about James? We hinge our feelings on the successes of our teams. (I still hate the Dallas Cowboys for that Hail Mary Staubach pass against the Vikes in 1977. Had the Vikings won, would I have turned out a better person 40 years later?). Raab's self-loathing is only soothed by sports.
Cleveland is home for its own one-word sports moments. The Catch, The Drive, The Shot, The Marlins, etc. So, when LeBron (another one-word) comes to the Cavaliers, there's the chance The Title could become a phrase in Cleveland. Instead, he leaves, ripping the hearts out of fans and sending the Cavaliers into a losing streak the ensuing season.
Some have criticized Raab for writing more about himself than James. Raab only has a few interviews with James while in Cleveland and he futilely attempts to see him in Miami. But that's what makes this book. You want some blabbering thing about James? Read the drivel "Shooting Stars" written by Buzz Bissinger. You want real life? Read Raab.
This is a tough book at times. Lots of cursing, some pretty crude remarks about his wife, evil wishes of doom upon Art Modell for letting the Browns go. But there's also love. Raab writes of his son and his steadfast love for him that, in a touching moment when the kiddo is sick, is seen stronger than his love of his Cleveland teams.
You don't have to be a Cleveland fan to appreciate this book. If you've had your heart broken by any team, this one is for you.
Scott Raab writes well of that obsession we have of living and dying with a team. He also writes of looking at himself. An overweight, former drug-dealing miscreant of a dysfunctional family seeks solstice only in sports. And when that fails him, like all else of his life, what else has Raab to do but to rant and rave about James? We hinge our feelings on the successes of our teams. (I still hate the Dallas Cowboys for that Hail Mary Staubach pass against the Vikes in 1977. Had the Vikings won, would I have turned out a better person 40 years later?). Raab's self-loathing is only soothed by sports.
Cleveland is home for its own one-word sports moments. The Catch, The Drive, The Shot, The Marlins, etc. So, when LeBron (another one-word) comes to the Cavaliers, there's the chance The Title could become a phrase in Cleveland. Instead, he leaves, ripping the hearts out of fans and sending the Cavaliers into a losing streak the ensuing season.
Some have criticized Raab for writing more about himself than James. Raab only has a few interviews with James while in Cleveland and he futilely attempts to see him in Miami. But that's what makes this book. You want some blabbering thing about James? Read the drivel "Shooting Stars" written by Buzz Bissinger. You want real life? Read Raab.
This is a tough book at times. Lots of cursing, some pretty crude remarks about his wife, evil wishes of doom upon Art Modell for letting the Browns go. But there's also love. Raab writes of his son and his steadfast love for him that, in a touching moment when the kiddo is sick, is seen stronger than his love of his Cleveland teams.
You don't have to be a Cleveland fan to appreciate this book. If you've had your heart broken by any team, this one is for you.
July 30, 2019
I enjoyed every bit that involves following Lebron James and how he transferred from Cleveland to Miami, following The Decision. What I just do not like is the varied personal takes that did not help in understanding where the author is coming from and how he paints his picture of Lebron.
March 24, 2020
I loved this book. Being a huge Philadelphia fan I could relate to a lot of the feelings the author add. I haven’t read his follow up book when LeBron went back to Cleveland and brought them the championship. It will be interesting to see how he treats him.
May 26, 2021
Lebron james is hot and makes me feel things very often. This book said he was a whore but there were no sexual acts in this book! pls if you are LeBron send me some hot pics for a fellow fan. Its so sad that you had to go the celtics. Miss you in chicago. Love your little whore x
August 14, 2018
Basically how I would write a sports book. Being an angry, depressed fan of northwest sports teams.
July 28, 2020
Gonzo journalism at it’s finest. An entertaining journey that any passionate sports fan can relate to with the perfect amount of handjobs.
June 4, 2012
My wife and I have an understanding. When the Steelers lose, I get one 45-minute sulking period in which I am exempt from all domestic duties, when and am free to pout, curse, and generally act like a baby.
When my forty-five minutes are up, it's time for me to behave like an adult again. Some losses take longer to get over than others, but when my heart gets particularly pulverized I remind myself that I am a fully-formed adult who should be able to act like one. When my time runs out, I get over it. Or pretend to.
Scott Raab has no such time limits over his reaction to disappointment, and The Whore of Akron is a 300-page screed about LeBron James's disgraceful abandonment of his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers and the pain it caused a faithful nation of Cleveland fans. So, when LeBron leaves Cleveland at the end of the disgusting hour-long ego-stroke known as "The Decision," the wound is not only devastating--it's also self-affirming.
Get over it? Why would Raab want to do that? He's a Cleveland sports fan, and they've been getting their hearts kicked in since the last time any of their teams won a national title (the 1964 NFL championship, when the Brown beat the Colts--Raab was there). Furthermore, he's a Jew, taught to be thankful for his blessings in the face of his suffering. The Hebrew dayenu becomes his motto, even while he travels around the country just to watch Lebron lead the 2010-2011 Miami Heat to victory after victory.
This book is shocking and filthy and hilarious, and I didn't want to put it down. As you might imagine, it's not about LeBron James as much as it is about Scott Raab, a man looking back at his 57 years of broken marriages, drug and alcohol addictions, regrets, and redemptions.
And that's where The Whore of Akron gets it right. Despite what Ken Burns, Bob Costas, or Doris Kearns Goodwin would have you believe, sporting events are not always meant to be remembered in soft focus, or in sepia tones, or with poignant piano music tinkling in the background. Sports are not a metaphor for the self-renewing miracles of life; sometimes they are the whip one uses to flagellate oneself.
Take Raab's account of "The Catch," the goosebump-inducing grab made by Willie Mays in the 1954 World Series, and a catch that, remember, helped defeat the Cleveland Indians:
It always begins with The Catch, when Willie Mays snared Vic Wertz's 420-foot drive in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. There were runners on first and second and no outs; the game was tied 2-2. The Giants won that game in the bottom of the tenth on a pop-fly home run down the right-field line and went on to sweep the Tribe--whose 111 regular-season wins that year stood as the major league record for another 44 years.
Willie was twenty-three at the time; I was two. I'd say I've seen The Catch at least 500 times, and every time I see it I say the same three words: F*** Willie Mays.
Only a real sports writer could type those last words and make you understand.
mrbramesblog.org
When my forty-five minutes are up, it's time for me to behave like an adult again. Some losses take longer to get over than others, but when my heart gets particularly pulverized I remind myself that I am a fully-formed adult who should be able to act like one. When my time runs out, I get over it. Or pretend to.
Scott Raab has no such time limits over his reaction to disappointment, and The Whore of Akron is a 300-page screed about LeBron James's disgraceful abandonment of his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers and the pain it caused a faithful nation of Cleveland fans. So, when LeBron leaves Cleveland at the end of the disgusting hour-long ego-stroke known as "The Decision," the wound is not only devastating--it's also self-affirming.
Get over it? Why would Raab want to do that? He's a Cleveland sports fan, and they've been getting their hearts kicked in since the last time any of their teams won a national title (the 1964 NFL championship, when the Brown beat the Colts--Raab was there). Furthermore, he's a Jew, taught to be thankful for his blessings in the face of his suffering. The Hebrew dayenu becomes his motto, even while he travels around the country just to watch Lebron lead the 2010-2011 Miami Heat to victory after victory.
This book is shocking and filthy and hilarious, and I didn't want to put it down. As you might imagine, it's not about LeBron James as much as it is about Scott Raab, a man looking back at his 57 years of broken marriages, drug and alcohol addictions, regrets, and redemptions.
And that's where The Whore of Akron gets it right. Despite what Ken Burns, Bob Costas, or Doris Kearns Goodwin would have you believe, sporting events are not always meant to be remembered in soft focus, or in sepia tones, or with poignant piano music tinkling in the background. Sports are not a metaphor for the self-renewing miracles of life; sometimes they are the whip one uses to flagellate oneself.
Take Raab's account of "The Catch," the goosebump-inducing grab made by Willie Mays in the 1954 World Series, and a catch that, remember, helped defeat the Cleveland Indians:
It always begins with The Catch, when Willie Mays snared Vic Wertz's 420-foot drive in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. There were runners on first and second and no outs; the game was tied 2-2. The Giants won that game in the bottom of the tenth on a pop-fly home run down the right-field line and went on to sweep the Tribe--whose 111 regular-season wins that year stood as the major league record for another 44 years.
Willie was twenty-three at the time; I was two. I'd say I've seen The Catch at least 500 times, and every time I see it I say the same three words: F*** Willie Mays.
Only a real sports writer could type those last words and make you understand.
mrbramesblog.org
February 27, 2017
This is more of a book about Cleveland fandom rather than a book about LeBron. Its simply that Scott Raab (someone who I've read in his Esquire stuff but comes off here as either the epitome of Cleveland fandom or a really angry self-loathing person) uses the season after LeBron leaves Cleveland as the jumping off point for a rumination on what it means to be from Cleveland, why we love our sports teams and what a championships really might mean to us. On many of these points, I'd agree with him and its where I find the most success in this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews