The Sporting Life

Understated and witty compilation of selected essays that explore unique facets of games with the manliest appeal: horses, boxing, fishing, and baseball.

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Bill Barich's widely praised work doesn't get any better than these intimate glimpses into the stories behind the stories, the real lives behind the public facade of the sporting world. Barich delves into both participatory and spectator sports, examining three different types of horse racing, two boxers from radically opposite ends of the spectrum, two fly-fishing adventures on legendary California rivers, and the world's strangest baseball club. Every piece shines with Barich's distinctive voice, an approach that splendidly balances both enthusiasm and intelligence with healthy doses of humor. The result is the very best kind of sports writing -from one of the master prose stylists of our time.