A review by dlberglund
Pick-Up Game: A Full Day of Full Court by Marc Aronson, Charles R. Smith Jr.

4.0

This was a great collection of short stories, strung together with poems in between, that followed the events on one street court on one weekend day. The first story takes place early in the morning, and the last is edging on dusk. Each is written by a different author, with a different narrative perspective. Some of the characters- the strong personalities and the best ball players, who get to play the most games over the day- show up in multiple stories. You'll meet one as an opponent in an early game, as background noise in another, as an ally in another. Together, this makes for a cohesive whole. This is one of the strongest multi-author story collections I have read. Whether you love basketball or only tolerate it, this is a a great study of the characters who play, want to play, used to play, and watch street ball.