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Beyond the Game: The Collected Sportswriting of Gary Smith
Gary Smith is one of the most accomplished sports journalists working today, a three-time National Magazine Award winner who has been selected in a poll of Associated Press editors as the sportswriter they'd most like to hire. In Beyond the Game, Gary Smith has brought together his greatest stories, from the inspiring account of basketball coach Jim Valvano's courageous battle against cancer, to an unforgettable tale of a remote valley in Bolivia that plays host to an unusual annual ritual in which the men of rival villages engage in a riotous all-day fistfight. Beyond the Game is not only a collection of great sportswriting; it is a collection of great writing, period. Each of Smith's stories -- of dreams and fears, failure and triumph, self-destruction and salvation -- will profoundly touch you and remain with you long after you have closed the pages of the book.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 10, 2007
Re: Smith's "Lying in Wait" (his best, in my opinion)
Smith's writing style made me care about George O’Leary, the ill-famed former Notre Dame football coach who was fired for lying on his resume. The author's profile brings you up with O’Leary in his Irish Catholic home, then knocks you down with him when news of his embellished résumé first breaks. It ushers you into the team's weight room, granting you access to its sacred rituals. It lets you peek over O’Leary’s shoulder as he pens his own demise. And eventually it transforms you into a juror, prompting you to evaluate O'Leary's guilt or innocence. If I could captivate readers as well as Smith does, I would consider myself a gifted and successful journalist.
Smith is also a remarkable reporter. He seamlessly interweaves action with intimate details and personal anecdotes that make the reader feel as if he or she is privy to privileged information. It’s almost as if he moves in with his subjects, rises to their alarm clocks, eats their casseroles, and says their prayers -- he's the ultimate fly on the wall.
I also admire how he creatively organizes his work. Both the mock résumé format of “Lying in Wait” and the twelve-angled approach of “Crime and Punishment” impressed me. I find the task of organization the most difficult part of writing, but Smith seems to have an instinct for how best to piece together a story. His organization is often symbolic, always inventive, and never stale.
Smith's writing style made me care about George O’Leary, the ill-famed former Notre Dame football coach who was fired for lying on his resume. The author's profile brings you up with O’Leary in his Irish Catholic home, then knocks you down with him when news of his embellished résumé first breaks. It ushers you into the team's weight room, granting you access to its sacred rituals. It lets you peek over O’Leary’s shoulder as he pens his own demise. And eventually it transforms you into a juror, prompting you to evaluate O'Leary's guilt or innocence. If I could captivate readers as well as Smith does, I would consider myself a gifted and successful journalist.
Smith is also a remarkable reporter. He seamlessly interweaves action with intimate details and personal anecdotes that make the reader feel as if he or she is privy to privileged information. It’s almost as if he moves in with his subjects, rises to their alarm clocks, eats their casseroles, and says their prayers -- he's the ultimate fly on the wall.
I also admire how he creatively organizes his work. Both the mock résumé format of “Lying in Wait” and the twelve-angled approach of “Crime and Punishment” impressed me. I find the task of organization the most difficult part of writing, but Smith seems to have an instinct for how best to piece together a story. His organization is often symbolic, always inventive, and never stale.
September 22, 2020
I knew of a Gary Smith’s writing from Sports Illustrated. Revisiting these stories after 15-20 years made me realize not just how great his prose and storytelling is, but how poorly written most sports columns are today. The lone current exception to that is the writers at The Athletic website. I am sure they all know and revere Gary Smith. This book is a wonderful read for everyone, not just sports enthusiasts. Give it a whirl
March 24, 2021
My favorites from this anthology: Shadow of a Nation, Damned Yankee, Crime and Punishment, Eyes of the Storm, Tyson the Timid, Tyson the Terrible (the story, not Tyson himself, obviously.) I can also see how Smith's writing matured by the early 90's as the stories in '86 and '87 read a little bit clumsy.
December 18, 2024
I wouldn’t describe myself as an avid sports fan, and yet I enjoyed all of the stories in this book. The first piece I ever read by Gary Smith was “Shadow of a Nation,” which is included in this collection. It’s one of my favorite stories ever, and it’s about the role of high school basketball in sustaining and harming the Crow Tribe in Montana. All of the stories truly go “beyond the game” and explore universal human yearning.
As a writer, I admire the experiments with form, point of view, and psychic distance. He really inhabits the world and mindset of the people he writes about, and he uses point of view in a way I’ve mostly seen in fiction and not much in nonfiction. I plan to keep this book as a reference for when I’m writing creative nonfiction.
As a writer, I admire the experiments with form, point of view, and psychic distance. He really inhabits the world and mindset of the people he writes about, and he uses point of view in a way I’ve mostly seen in fiction and not much in nonfiction. I plan to keep this book as a reference for when I’m writing creative nonfiction.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2020
Smith goes deep on sports topics, and does an exemplary job of displaying the human being behind the sports star. He also has a knack for sussing out way offbeat sports stories, such as fistfight battles in remote Bolivia. Smith is a fearless reporter with a knack for getting people to open up.
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March 29, 2023It had great content
November 9, 2008
This was a book that I found to be very interesting due to its genre. It was about sports and the writing about it and it really caught my attention. This book is about Gary smith (a sports writer) who sees the game from his perspective and writes on it.
What surprised me about was that it kept in tune. His sports writing is really descriptive which keeps me into the book. What I liked about this book is the way Gary smith describes what he is seeing. It is very interesting what he does and how he sees sports. His writing is really alive and just gets me involved in the situation going on. I recommend this book to people who are big sports fans and enjoy reading about sports.
What surprised me about was that it kept in tune. His sports writing is really descriptive which keeps me into the book. What I liked about this book is the way Gary smith describes what he is seeing. It is very interesting what he does and how he sees sports. His writing is really alive and just gets me involved in the situation going on. I recommend this book to people who are big sports fans and enjoy reading about sports.
August 17, 2011
Hands down the best sportswriter ever. He goes well beyond sports and has a way of drawing the reader in. The most detailed sports writer I have ever read. He writes so incredibly well and with such great ease, that you can smell the sweat on the court, the grass, the passion, the determination, and at the same time empathize with what drives some of the most well known and unknown athletes past and present. I read this book in three weeks in Turkey. It was perfect timing,-the book game me some part of myself to hold onto as I encountered new experience after new experience.
February 13, 2008
Smith is probably the best "pure sportswriter" of the modern era, so (of course) the writing in this anthology is excellent (esp. his profile of a pre-rape Mike Tyson). However, a lot of his best work seems to be missing from this collection.
December 18, 2012
Smith is the best storyteller in sports journalism today. In an age where we move on to the next big thing in the time it takes an anchor to spout a catchphrase, Smith's dedication to story, craft and voice are so refreshing. I'll read anything he writes just because his byline is on the piece.
August 30, 2007
Smith captures people who are in sport with empathy and precision.
February 23, 2008
His article on Magic Johnson is one of the best pieces of journalistic writing I have come across. Some of his other stories, notably his profile of Pat Summit, come close.
March 28, 2009
This is sports writing as it should be. Make time for it, even if you don't care about sports.
August 29, 2010
Smith remains the standard for sportswriting and long-form narrative.
August 12, 2014
Wonderful writing, don't need to be a sports fan to appreciate these great stories.
January 4, 2013
The man can write. He almost made me wish I liked baseball and boxing.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews