A review by blevins
Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football by Rich Cohen

4.0

This one took me back to 1985 when I fell in love with the motley group of personalities that made up the Chicago Bears. Although a die hard Pittsburgh Steeler fan, I always loved watching running back Walter Payton and watched a lot of Bears games just to see Sweetness. Sadly Payton played on a bunch of crappy teams before the tail end of his career. So, when the Bears became unearthly good in '85, I was already watching them play along w/ the Black n Gold obviously. There were so many personalities on the team--McMahan, The Fridge, Singletary, Hampton, McMichael, Ditka, Ryan and on and on. One of my favorites was Gary Fencik--a guy who would lay you out if you crossed the field in such a manner that would result in suspension today...but don't get me started on that, ha. What made this so good was not only the highly readable way that Rich Cohen writes history, but I loved the fact that he injected his own personal, intimate obsession with the team, the city and all the elements from his life. The book has scenes where there is actual comedy as a result. I was not expecting that. Terrific sports writing and memoir seen through the prism of fandom.