How Life Imitates Sports

From the Pulitzer Prize winner, a “pleasurable compendium of his decades as one of this country’s premier sportswriters” (Chicago Tribune). Ira Berkow has been at the center of some of the most memorable moments in sports history. From World Series, NBA finals, and Super Bowls to heavyweight title fights, the Olympics, and the Masters, he’s seen and covered them all. Based on his fifty years covering sports, more than half of them as a journalist for the New York Times, How Life Imitates Sports reveals how these events—and their participants—have significantly shaped how we as a nation have come to understand and perceive our culture. From Muhammad Ali to Mike Tyson, Michael Jordan to LeBron James, Jackie Robinson to Derek Jeter, Billie Jean King to Tonya Harding, O.J. Simpson to Tiger Woods and beyond, this collection is a historical record of a half century, touching on matters of society, race and gender, politics, legal issues, and the fabric of our sports passions and human condition, ranging from pathos to humor, from introspection to perception. Including additional commentary on when these events first occurred and how they’ve impacted us today, the book shares the knowledge of someone who sat ringside, in the press box, and on the sidelines for some of the most notable moments in our history—with “the keen eye of a reporter, the literary touch of a highly skilled writer, and above all a feel for the humanity in every story” (Bob Costas). “A wide-ranging collection of pieces on athletes and sports events from 1970 forward. . . . a fine retrospective.” —Booklist