The Cockroach Basketball League

The Commercial Basketball Association (wink, wink) may be minor league, but Charley's novel describing a year there certainly isn't. This is as honest a portrayal as we are likely to see about any sport. Exposing the dark side of the basketball business -- and most of it's participants -- at first left me yearning for a more wholesome, less complicated (and more naive) view of the game. Soon the story hooked me and I was able to look at the ugly, and alongside it the excitement and beauty as well. It is a human triumph that one's love for the game, and for one's teammates, survives assaults of all kinds. Charley's love shines through. If you love hoops, this is one of a handful of books I'd call, "must read."