Benchwarmer: A Sports-Obsessed Memoir of Fatherhood
Autor Josh Wilkeren Limba Engleză Hardback – 4 mai 2015
A
moving,
funny,
inventive
parenting
memoir,
written
in
a
surprising
form:
an
encyclopedia
of
failure
in
sports
What can a new father learn about parenthood from reading sports almanacs? For most dads, the answer to this question is: nothing. But to Josh Wilker, whose life and writing have been defined by sports fandom, all of the joy, helplessness, and absurdity of parenthood are present between the lines.
After all, what better way to think about losing control than Eugenio Velez's forty-five consecutive at-bats without a hit? How better to understand ridiculous joy than the NFL career of Walter Achiu, whose nickname was “Sneeze”? In the stories of sports figures large and small, Wilker finds the pathos in success and the humor in losing.
As the terrified father of a one-day-old, Wilker recalls the 1986 World Series, when the moment was too big for the Red Sox. When he finds himself stealing away for an hour of alone time, Wilker thinks of boxer Roberto Duran, so beaten by Sugar Ray Leonard that he finally gave up. And yet, even as the frustrations and anxieties build, Wilker remembers Mets pitcher Anthony Young, who broke the baseball record for most consecutive losses—and never stopped showing up.
Finding the richness of life in obscure wrestling maneuvers and pop-ups lost in the sun,Benchwarmeris a book of unique humanity and surprising wisdom.
What can a new father learn about parenthood from reading sports almanacs? For most dads, the answer to this question is: nothing. But to Josh Wilker, whose life and writing have been defined by sports fandom, all of the joy, helplessness, and absurdity of parenthood are present between the lines.
After all, what better way to think about losing control than Eugenio Velez's forty-five consecutive at-bats without a hit? How better to understand ridiculous joy than the NFL career of Walter Achiu, whose nickname was “Sneeze”? In the stories of sports figures large and small, Wilker finds the pathos in success and the humor in losing.
As the terrified father of a one-day-old, Wilker recalls the 1986 World Series, when the moment was too big for the Red Sox. When he finds himself stealing away for an hour of alone time, Wilker thinks of boxer Roberto Duran, so beaten by Sugar Ray Leonard that he finally gave up. And yet, even as the frustrations and anxieties build, Wilker remembers Mets pitcher Anthony Young, who broke the baseball record for most consecutive losses—and never stopped showing up.
Finding the richness of life in obscure wrestling maneuvers and pop-ups lost in the sun,Benchwarmeris a book of unique humanity and surprising wisdom.
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Specificații
ISBN-13: 9781610394017
ISBN-10: 1610394011
Pagini: 320
Ilustrații: none
Dimensiuni: 165 x 241 x 25 mm
Greutate: 0.5 kg
Editura: PublicAffairs
Colecția PublicAffairs
ISBN-10: 1610394011
Pagini: 320
Ilustrații: none
Dimensiuni: 165 x 241 x 25 mm
Greutate: 0.5 kg
Editura: PublicAffairs
Colecția PublicAffairs
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Notă biografică
Josh
Wilkeris
a
contributor
to
FoxSports.com,
Vice
Sports,
The
Classical,
Baseball
Prospectus,
ESPN.com,
and
more.
His
previous
memoir,Cardboard
Gods,
was
a
featured
book
in
the
2010
“Year
in
Sports
Media”
issue
ofSports
Illustrated,
a
2010
Casey
Award
finalist,
and
a
2011Booklistbest
book
of
the
year.
He
also
blogs
on
his
own
site,
cardboardgods.net.
Recenzii
“Josh
Wilker
wants
you
to
believe
he
has
no
realm
of
expertise
at
all.
As
a
man,
a
husband,
a
breadwinner,
a
first-time
father,
a
onetime
college
athlete,
he's
not
only
never
sure
of
himself;
he's
often
so
unsure
that
he
beats
himself
up
over
it,
literally.
But
Wilker…
once
again
proves
himself
the
possessor
of
a
particular
kind
of
mastery
in
his
new
memoir,Benchwarmer.
By
fixating
on
failures
—
both
his
own,
personally
and
as
a
parent,
and
those
of
his
beloved
sports
heroes
—
he's
crafted
a
game
plan
that
turns
out
to
be
unbeatable.
If
the
unexamined
life
is
truly
not
worth
living,
Wilker
takes
its
flip
side
to
the
extreme.
A
lifetime
of
addiction
to
the
minutiae
of
sports,
the
box
scores,
career
averages,
and
endless
anecdotal
legends,
has
made
him
a
top-shelf
Socratic
thinker”—Publishers
Weekly
"The delights of this fatherhood confessional are various. Perhaps most striking and unusual is Wilker's choice of framing his narrative in the form of an almanac. The almanac becomes a moving metaphor for a universal need to organize the chaotic borders of life experience...This almanac of fatherhood (and other failures) is honest, relatable and humorous—an indispensable read for fathers (and sons) whose joy in life comes not from winning the big game but being alive to witness the beauty of its happening."—Kirkus Reviews
“[Wilker expounds] randomly on his lifelong fandom and new fatherhood…amidst a pantheon of athletic failures, goof-ups, goats, mediocrities, and losers. Most fans will find something in that litany to enjoy.”—Booklist
“Benchwarmeris the funniest, saddest, most touching picture of manhood in the 21st century that I have ever read.”—Jonathan Eig, author ofLuckiest Man
“Saying Josh Wilker writes about sports is like saying Proust wrote about cookies, or Tolstoy about Russia. The courts and ball fields are merely arenas in which he illuminates the entire human experience. Wilker is able to recognize within the ordinary—missed free throws, child rearing, the unheroic challenges of daily life— the authentically sublime.Benchwarmeris the best kind of art there is, the kind that makes you delighted to be alive.”—Matthew Specktor, author ofAmerican Dream Machine
“Josh Wilker and I traded baseball cards and played Little League together. Yet each time I read his moving prose, I learn more about life's journey—his, and that of our generation.” —Buster Olney, senior writer, ESPN
“Benchwarmeris a book for anyone who's ever loved sports, or had a kid. It's a book about boys and about men, and you will weep.” —Rob Neyer, Fox Sports
"The delights of this fatherhood confessional are various. Perhaps most striking and unusual is Wilker's choice of framing his narrative in the form of an almanac. The almanac becomes a moving metaphor for a universal need to organize the chaotic borders of life experience...This almanac of fatherhood (and other failures) is honest, relatable and humorous—an indispensable read for fathers (and sons) whose joy in life comes not from winning the big game but being alive to witness the beauty of its happening."—Kirkus Reviews
“Sports
as
an
organizing
principle
for
stumbling
through
life
and
fatherhood—funny,
enchanting
and
lyrical.
Painfully
familiar.”—Sports
Illustrated
“Josh Wilker wants you to believe he has no realm of expertise at all. As a man, a husband, a breadwinner, a first-time father, a onetime college athlete, he's not only never sure of himself; he's often so unsure that he beats himself up over it, literally. But Wilker… once again proves himself the possessor of a particular kind of mastery in his new memoir,Benchwarmer. By fixating on failures — both his own, personally and as a parent, and those of his beloved sports heroes — he's crafted a game plan that turns out to be unbeatable.”—The Boston Globe
“Josh Wilker wants you to believe he has no realm of expertise at all. As a man, a husband, a breadwinner, a first-time father, a onetime college athlete, he's not only never sure of himself; he's often so unsure that he beats himself up over it, literally. But Wilker… once again proves himself the possessor of a particular kind of mastery in his new memoir,Benchwarmer. By fixating on failures — both his own, personally and as a parent, and those of his beloved sports heroes — he's crafted a game plan that turns out to be unbeatable.”—The Boston Globe
“[Wilker expounds] randomly on his lifelong fandom and new fatherhood…amidst a pantheon of athletic failures, goof-ups, goats, mediocrities, and losers. Most fans will find something in that litany to enjoy.”—Booklist
“Benchwarmeris the funniest, saddest, most touching picture of manhood in the 21st century that I have ever read.”—Jonathan Eig, author ofLuckiest Man
“Saying Josh Wilker writes about sports is like saying Proust wrote about cookies, or Tolstoy about Russia. The courts and ball fields are merely arenas in which he illuminates the entire human experience. Wilker is able to recognize within the ordinary—missed free throws, child rearing, the unheroic challenges of daily life— the authentically sublime.Benchwarmeris the best kind of art there is, the kind that makes you delighted to be alive.”—Matthew Specktor, author ofAmerican Dream Machine
“Josh Wilker and I traded baseball cards and played Little League together. Yet each time I read his moving prose, I learn more about life's journey—his, and that of our generation.” —Buster Olney, senior writer, ESPN
“Benchwarmeris a book for anyone who's ever loved sports, or had a kid. It's a book about boys and about men, and you will weep.” —Rob Neyer, Fox Sports