My Turf: Horses, Boxers, Blood Money, and the Sporting Life

I've always enjoyed William Nack on ESPN's Sports Century programs, and I'd read some of these selections in Sports Illustrated. It's great to have a collection of such eloquent sportswriting. The characters he writes about come to life. Even non sports fans would enjoy the features on Secretariat, Bobby Fishcher, and Bob Kalzu. In a nutshell, this is a treasure. Next how about a book of Gary Smith's SI stories?

I thought this book would be for sports enthusiasts only. Instead, it is actually a compilation of beautiful human interest stories that capture and inspire the hearts and minds of its readers. I highly recommend this book for boys and girls, young and old.

Bill Nack reports the "back stories" of human and equine athletes better than anyone around and this collection of some of his best work kept me turning the pages for more. From Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston to Secretariat, interesting and important figures from the world of sports are shown as human (or animal) beings, not simply athletic commodities. Nack's writing is elegant without being flowery, and often ironic. This book is a terrific read. The best quote in the collection is attributed to Liston and the meanest person was Rocky Marciano.