Body Politic
The Great American Sports Machine
1st Edition
Published on 11. May 2010
208 pages
978-1-4391-4157-1 (ISBN)
Description
In Body Politic, David Shields looks at contemporary America and its mythology through the lens of professional and college sports. The result is an unusually insightful and provocative book about an empire in denial. Shields relentlessly examines the way we tell our sports stories (both fictional and nonfictional), considers the kinds of athletes we choose as heroes, and delineates the lessons and values we glean from sports. He explores the intricate and telling relationships between players and coaches, black and white players, immigrant and native players, male and female players, players and broadcasters, players and fans, and players and advertisers. In the process, he shows us the stories we Americans tell ourselves about the kind of people we believe ourselves to be.
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Book
05/2004
Simon & Schuster
€41.16
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Person
David Shields is the author of seven previous books, including Black Planet: Facing Race During an NBA Season, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; Remote: Reflections on Life in the Shadow of Celebrity, winner of the PEN/Revson Award; and Dead Languages: A Novel, winner of the Governor's Writers Award of the State of Washington.
Content
The Wound and the Bow: A Long Prologue
On the Need to Connect with Something Larger than Yourself
Fairy Tale of Reinvention and Escape
Words Can't Begin to Describe What I'm Feeling
Heaven Is a Playground
Fandom
History of America, #34
How It Feels to Be a Problem
Myths of Place
A Little Euro Trash-Talk
Being Ichiro
Matsui Among the Americans
Bring the Pain
Being Random Is the Key to Life
42 Tattoos: An Epilogue
