Ira Berkow has compiled from his newspaper columns these profiles of athletes at all stages of their art: the young who dream of glory ahead, those on the cusp of stardom, the athlete at the
height of his or her success, the player on the way down, and the retiree. There is also the would-be athlete who never quite made it; the writers, broadcasters, and promoters on the fringes
of the game; and the fan, who creates heroes and bums, stars and victims.
Sports is a business, a challenge, a vice, a character builder, a set of rules, a road to the top. For each person, it is something different. To see it all, one must look at such diverse
individuals as Casey Stengel, Chris Evert, Joe Louis, Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, George Sauer, Muhammad Ali, Bobby Fischer, Rod Laver, Hank Aaron, Arnold Palmer, Gale Sayers, Joe DiMaggio,
Roger Maris, Ted Williams, Jack Dempsey, and many others both as they see themselves and as others see them. The result of Berkow’s seventy-three pieces is no ordinary view of sports but a
composite of all games, all athletes, and the good and the bad in a book of compelling interest.
