We’re not the first to notice that sport comes with a built-in narrative arc. There will be both heroes and antagonists. There will be successes as well as failures. There will be winners and losers (unless it’s a sport like football, which, much to Ted Lasso’s chagrin, allows for a “tie”). But what occurs off the pitch, field, or court can sometimes be as dramatic – if not more so – than what happens on, since it takes a specific type of person to excel at sport: brilliant, determined, and, yes, occasionally a bit insane.
It appears that I have measured out my life in sports books at times. I guess I’ve been more immersed in reading and thinking about sports writing than most since I founded Sportspages, the UK’s first bookshop devoted solely to sports books, in 1985, and created the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award with Graham Sharpe in 1989 – we’re celebrating the 25th award this year. I’ve probably read more than 50 sports books every year for the last 30 years, and I’m encouraged by how much better sports books have gotten since we established the prize. There’s little doubt that publishers have become far more daring and inventive, and overall quality has skyrocketed.
In the absence of live sports on our televisions, The Washington Post’s sportswriters, columnists, and editors share their top sports books.
Well, in this article, I’ll be listing the Best Sports Books of All Time. Note that this is not a sponsored post, all books listed below are highly recommended by psychology experts.
Contents
Best sports books of all time
The following are the best sports books of all time you should be considering:
- Touching The Void by Joe Simpson (1988)
- Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by HG Bissinger
- “When Pride Still Mattered” (1999), by David Maraniss
- Addicted by Tony Adams (1998)
- Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times by Thomas Hauser
- “Mad Ducks and Bears” (1973), by George Plimpton
- Paper Lion by George Plimpton (1966)
Touching The Void by Joe Simpson (1988)
Simpson’s terrible narrative of his and Simon Yates’s disastrous attempt on Siula Grande, Peru, in 1985, has properly transcended climbing and became a legendary fable about what humans are capable of doing to survive. It revolves, of course, around one of the most incredible escapes ever pulled off: with Simpson dangling from one end of a rope, Yates is forced to cut it to keep them both alive. Simpson manages to survive the fall. His condition is terrible when he is alone in a chasm with a shattered leg. What follows is a breathtaking story of determination and bravery that also confronts the eternal subject of what motivates individuals to climb mountains in the first place. “When you’re going through hell,” Winston Churchill once stated, “Keep going.”
Read more: List of best Popular Science Books of All Time.
Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by HG Bissinger
Texas loves its football, and this film provides a fascinating depiction of high school football in a little community in West Texas. The hard-luck town of Odessa is obsessed with its Permian High School Panthers; Bissinger’s account of their 1988 season illustrates how the immense emotional investment in the team affects the city and inspires, or breaks, the teens who play for them. It’s a delicate story, both candid and compassionate, yet the picture it creates is ultimately frightening; one of fandom gone awry.
Read more: List of Best Children’s Picture Books of All Time
“When Pride Still Mattered” (1999), by David Maraniss
With all of the amazing reporting and gorgeous prose we’ve been blessed with over time, it’s difficult for contemporary work to achieve the rank of pioneering, but Maraniss did so in his lyrical 544-page biography of complex, iconic football coach Vince Lombardi. The work is extensive, but the great writing never becomes tiresome to read. It should be regarded as the gold standard for sports biographies. Jerry Brewer’s
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Addicted by Tony Adams (1998)
When Adams’ book was published at the start of the 1998-99 season, he was still a regular for Arsenal and England. His drinking issue ruined him personally, but it seemed to have no effect on his football (putting bin bags beneath his training gear helped him sweat off the booze). If any stories were left out, they had to be genuinely horrifying. Here are some memories of rummaging through jeans on the bedroom floor in search of the least-piss-soaked pair to wear. Expect brawls, prostitutes, damaged families, and redemption.
Read more: List of best Metaphysical Books of All Time
Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times by Thomas Hauser
How do you create a biography of the world’s most famous man? Hauser’s response was to weave together the stories of over 200 people whose lives had been impacted by Ali and who knew him best – family, associates, opponents, friends, adversaries, and others, as well as Ali himself. The end result preserves all of their distinct voices while providing a vivid and realistic portrait of Ali’s life and significance in a way that is both comprehensive and magisterial.
Read more: List of best Life Coaching Books of All Time (That Will Change Your Life)
“Mad Ducks and Bears” (1973), by George Plimpton
Plimpton’s best-selling book analyzes the NFL through the eyes and lives of two Detroit Lions linemen, Alex Karras, and John Gordy. Plimpton investigates the delights of physically pushing men out of the way. His exquisite language applied to a game that may wreck men while exalting them is engrossing. He never pulls a single punch or says anything that isn’t true regarding the game. It’s a work of art. Sally Jenkins’s
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Paper Lion by George Plimpton (1966)
Plimpton’s participatory journalism (“that ugly descriptive,” in his words) may sound ludicrous and magnificent to millennial sportswriters who never leave the office (or sofa) to live blog sport on TV. The fact that Plimpton came out as slightly ludicrous and magnificent was not lost on the guy himself, who punctured his public persona with a fantastically humorous, investigative writing style that functioned best when applied to sports. Paper Lion, his book about competing in pro-level matches in boxing, baseball, ice hockey, golf, and US football, is the best of his five novels.
Read more: List of best Life Coaching Books of All Time (That Will Change Your Life)
Some other best sports books of all time
Below are some other best sports books of all time
Pocket Money by Gordon Burn (1986)
Road Swing by Steve Rushin
“God’s Coach” (1990), by Skip Bayless
That is all for this article, where we’ve stated and discussed the best sports books of all time. I hope it was helpful. if so, kindly share with others. thanks for reading; see you around!
