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A review by manwithanagenda
Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I didn't read this when I was growing up, I'm not even sure if I ever saw a Chris Crutcher book before I did a Banned Books display at work in college. I'm sure I did, but all I'm conjuring up are Matt Christopher books (which I avoided like the plague) and hearing the occasional oral report in class from a 'sports' book, which instantly made me turn off my attention.
I sort've wish I had read Chris Crutcher, and I'm not just saying that because of issues of homophobia or racism that he brings up, but because he is one of those few authors who can really get how teenagers think. Each story is prefaced with a little intro from Crutcher saying where he got his inspiration or which one of his novels the story is spun out of, and in those intros you get an even better sense of how much Crutcher understood the struggles kids can go through. Even better you knew, from the way he wrote, that he wasn't just somehow patronizing the kids who wanted to read about sports. This was stuff he really cared about.
I wasn't an athlete, never aspired to be one, but there is something universal about what Crutcher is writing about that anyone can appreciate. We've all been there.
The only real flaw I noticed was that he overstates his case with homophobia, paired with AIDS specifically, and racism. The last two stories about befriending a young gay man with AIDS despite deep prejudices and a story told from the perspective of a racist are heavy-handed. With AIDS especially, there needed to be that kind of activism and directness. These days (fortunately) the social climate has changed enough that those stories can be told with more nuance.
My favorite story though was "A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune". It's the only story that didn't stem from one of Chris Crutcher's novels and also inspired a movie that I had completely forgotten about (along with the rest of the world): 'Angus'.
Anywho, Chris Crutcher rises above the rest of the "sports books" crowd and, I hope, is still challenging kids to think and read and perhaps inject a little substance into their weekly book reports.
I sort've wish I had read Chris Crutcher, and I'm not just saying that because of issues of homophobia or racism that he brings up, but because he is one of those few authors who can really get how teenagers think. Each story is prefaced with a little intro from Crutcher saying where he got his inspiration or which one of his novels the story is spun out of, and in those intros you get an even better sense of how much Crutcher understood the struggles kids can go through. Even better you knew, from the way he wrote, that he wasn't just somehow patronizing the kids who wanted to read about sports. This was stuff he really cared about.
I wasn't an athlete, never aspired to be one, but there is something universal about what Crutcher is writing about that anyone can appreciate. We've all been there.
The only real flaw I noticed was that he overstates his case with homophobia, paired with AIDS specifically, and racism. The last two stories about befriending a young gay man with AIDS despite deep prejudices and a story told from the perspective of a racist are heavy-handed. With AIDS especially, there needed to be that kind of activism and directness. These days (fortunately) the social climate has changed enough that those stories can be told with more nuance.
My favorite story though was "A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune". It's the only story that didn't stem from one of Chris Crutcher's novels and also inspired a movie that I had completely forgotten about (along with the rest of the world): 'Angus'.
Anywho, Chris Crutcher rises above the rest of the "sports books" crowd and, I hope, is still challenging kids to think and read and perhaps inject a little substance into their weekly book reports.