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14 reviews for:
The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That ChangedBasketball Forever
John Feinstein
3.65 AVERAGE
14 reviews for:
The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That ChangedBasketball Forever
John Feinstein
3.65 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
medium-paced
A well-written and engrossing look at one moment that changed the lives not only of the two men involved, but as the title suggests, the entire sport of basketball.
Feinstein did a great job of looking at the context of the punch, not just the one moment that gets shown every time there's a particularly violent act in professional sports. He told the life stories of both Rudy Tomjanovich and Kermit Washington, giving them both more depth than they get as a shorthand reference in today's sports culture. He neither condemns nor absolves Washington - or anyone else, for that matter - and he gives equal voice to every version of the incident, and there are many.
It's a powerful book, because this one adrenaline-driven moment really did shape the rest of both of their lives, and not for the positive. Feinstein chose the right topic, because there was plenty to talk about, pre- and post-punch.
My one complaint is the odd repetition: he worked his way up to the punch, giving a quick bio and profile of all the people involved, and then repeated himself frequently when he delved further into their lives after focusing on the moment itself in the first few chapters. Especially odd because he not only covered the same information and events, he used the same quotes and the same phrasing as he had before. It felt very copy and paste for a stretch.
Feinstein did a great job of looking at the context of the punch, not just the one moment that gets shown every time there's a particularly violent act in professional sports. He told the life stories of both Rudy Tomjanovich and Kermit Washington, giving them both more depth than they get as a shorthand reference in today's sports culture. He neither condemns nor absolves Washington - or anyone else, for that matter - and he gives equal voice to every version of the incident, and there are many.
It's a powerful book, because this one adrenaline-driven moment really did shape the rest of both of their lives, and not for the positive. Feinstein chose the right topic, because there was plenty to talk about, pre- and post-punch.
My one complaint is the odd repetition: he worked his way up to the punch, giving a quick bio and profile of all the people involved, and then repeated himself frequently when he delved further into their lives after focusing on the moment itself in the first few chapters. Especially odd because he not only covered the same information and events, he used the same quotes and the same phrasing as he had before. It felt very copy and paste for a stretch.
Honestly such a heartbreaking event that just kind of splintered for decades after. This book does an excellent job at giving the reader perspective of love before and after for both men, by giving a glimpse into their lives. As a basketball fan I can appreciate getting to read about such a significant piece of NBA history, as devastating as it was to both the game and players involved.