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The Best American Sports Writing 1991
Presents a selection of the year's finest sports writing, with excerpts by both veteran and rookie sports writers from national and regional newpapers and magazines
338 pages, Paperback
First published November 11, 1991
About the author
David Halberstam
100 books909 followersDavid Halberstam was an American journalist and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, and later, sports journalism. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1964.
Halberstam graduated from Harvard University with a degree in journalism in 1955 and started his career writing for the Daily Times Leader in West Point, Mississippi. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, writing for The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee, he covered the beginnings of the American Civil Rights Movement.
In the mid 1960s, Halberstam covered the Vietnam War for The New York Times. While there, he gathered material for his book The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era. In 1963, he received a George Polk Award for his reporting at the New York Times. At the age of 30, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the war. He is interviewed in the 1968 documentary film on the Vietnam War entitled In the Year of the Pig.
Halberstam's most well known work is The Best and the Brightest. Halberstam focused on the paradox that those who shaped the U.S. war effort in Vietnam were some of the most intelligent, well-connected and self-confident men in America—"the best and the brightest"—and yet those same individuals were responsible for the failure of the United States Vientnam policy.
After publication of The Best and the Brightest in 1972, Halberstam plunged right into another book and in 1979 published The Powers That Be. The book provided profiles of men like William Paley of CBS, Henry Luce of Time magazine, Phil Graham of The Washington Post—and many others.
Later in his career, Halberstam turned to the subjects of sports, publishing The Breaks of the Game, an inside look at the Bill Walton and the 1978 Portland Trailblazers basketball team; an ambitious book on Michael Jordan in 1999 called Playing for Keeps; and on the pennant race battle between the Yankees and Red Sox called Summer of '49.
Halberstam published two books in the 1960s, three books in the 1970s, four books in the 1980s, and six books in the 1990s. He published four books in the 2000s and was on a pace to publish six or more books in that decade before his death.
David Halberstam was killed in a car crash on April 23, 2007 in Menlo Park, California.
Halberstam graduated from Harvard University with a degree in journalism in 1955 and started his career writing for the Daily Times Leader in West Point, Mississippi. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, writing for The Tennessean in Nashville, Tennessee, he covered the beginnings of the American Civil Rights Movement.
In the mid 1960s, Halberstam covered the Vietnam War for The New York Times. While there, he gathered material for his book The Making of a Quagmire: America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era. In 1963, he received a George Polk Award for his reporting at the New York Times. At the age of 30, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the war. He is interviewed in the 1968 documentary film on the Vietnam War entitled In the Year of the Pig.
Halberstam's most well known work is The Best and the Brightest. Halberstam focused on the paradox that those who shaped the U.S. war effort in Vietnam were some of the most intelligent, well-connected and self-confident men in America—"the best and the brightest"—and yet those same individuals were responsible for the failure of the United States Vientnam policy.
After publication of The Best and the Brightest in 1972, Halberstam plunged right into another book and in 1979 published The Powers That Be. The book provided profiles of men like William Paley of CBS, Henry Luce of Time magazine, Phil Graham of The Washington Post—and many others.
Later in his career, Halberstam turned to the subjects of sports, publishing The Breaks of the Game, an inside look at the Bill Walton and the 1978 Portland Trailblazers basketball team; an ambitious book on Michael Jordan in 1999 called Playing for Keeps; and on the pennant race battle between the Yankees and Red Sox called Summer of '49.
Halberstam published two books in the 1960s, three books in the 1970s, four books in the 1980s, and six books in the 1990s. He published four books in the 2000s and was on a pace to publish six or more books in that decade before his death.
David Halberstam was killed in a car crash on April 23, 2007 in Menlo Park, California.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 19, 2024
This is by far one of the best collections of articles I have ever read in a Best of America Series. Usually with these books, there are always two-three articles that are a struggle to get through, but not this one. Also, there is a great article written by Stephen King, yes that Stephen King, that covers the postseason of his son's little league baseball team and is one of the best pieces of writing I've read in awhile. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of sports as they would love reading every second of it.
March 23, 2026
I had one copy of this back in college (a Christmas present) and a lot of the recent handwringing over the state and future of sports journalism in the wake of the Washington Post sports department being shuttered made me want to go back and enjoy quality short and long-form pieces. So many fascinating entries on subjects I would never seek out on my own. Also, an incredible recap of the 1990 MLB season by the legendary Roger Angell and a surprise entry by Stephen King (yes, that Stephen King) on a Little League team in Maine was the perfect conclusion. I plan on reading all of the entries in this series, thank you to Glenn Stout for putting in the hard work to start this venture 37 years ago. Anthologies are important for history, and this is a great snapshot of sports life in 1989-90, with many stories that sound almost like they could have been written today.
May 4, 2017
5 stars for Pure Heart by William Nack; The Sports Fan by Peter Richmond; Pride and Poison by Linda Robertson; Let the Games Begin by Duane Noriyuki; Ten Days of Torture in Junction by Kevin Sherrington; The Right Call by Jeff Coplon; Death of a Cowboy by Peter Richmond and Head Down by Stephen King.
February 14, 2023
Highlights incl Thieves of time/Charles Pierce, The unnatural/Peter Whitmer, The Hand & Eye of Tx Billy Mays/Brian Wooley & 10 Days of Torture>Junction/Kevin Sherrington; also quite good were The Right Call/Jeff Coplon, Pride & Poison/Robertson, An Amer tragedy/Shelby Strother, Pure Heart/Nack, Death of a Cowboy/Peter Richmond, Tell me a story/Roger Angell & Head Down↓/Stephen King
February 20, 2013
I first discovered the "Best American.." series of annually published books when my local Borders was closing up shop (a dark day.) Every year a volume of the best of various types of writing comes out, such as best sports writing, essays, short stories, mystery stories, spiritual writing, non-required reading, etc. This particular volume was the first in the sports writing catagory, and was very good. Just about every story was well written and interesting. This is the kind of book that I like to keep on my nightstand, as most of the stories are readable in their entirety before I fall asleep. Not only that, but it's a medium sized paperback, so that if you do fall asleep while reading it, it won't break your nose as you drop it on your face. I read quite a few large hardcover history and biography books, and have almost had that happen a time or two. :-)
June 30, 2016
I have a passing interest in a couple of sports and no interest in the rest. But with The Best American Sports Writing 1991, I guess what they say is true-good writing is good writing. You get 24 essays on all kinds of sports, almost all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. Two of the stories-about the racehorse Secretariat and about a rodeo bull rider-brought me to tears. (Rodeo...really?....who am I!?) It ends with a great essay by Stephen King about the Maine State Little League championship that confirmed the fact that I do not want to live in a world without Mr. King in it. (Please find a way to make yourself immortal!)
May 7, 2016
The gem in this collection is "Head Down" by Stephen King. It is his recounting of the 1989 Little League team from Bangor West in Maine, which happens to have his son Owen on it as a pitcher/first baseman. It is a sweet, sentimental piece (no horror!) that reminds one of all that can be good in baseball. I especially smiled when reading about the Hampden Horns, fans who watch the games from their cars, tooting/blasting their horns in support! This little piece reassures us, at least as of that time, that it is a game, played by children, and it is fun!
May 31, 2015
I bought this book for my son Jacob. I'm pretty much sports agnostic myself, but he seems to have inherited a lot of his maternal grandfather's genes. I picked it up on a whim and ended up being captivated by the writing. (There was only one selection that I got bored enough to skip finishing.)
March 26, 2017
Wonderful--that is, full of wonders. The Sports Fan, Pride & Poison, Thieves of Time, The Right Call, The Unnatural, Tell Me a Story, Death of a Cowboy, An American Tragedy, and Head Down were personal favorites. I found An American Tragedy particularly touching.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews