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John (Watusi) Branch

Författare till Boy on Ice: The Life and Death of Derek Boogaard

13 verk 255 medlemmar 9 recensioner

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Inkluderar namnet: John Watusi Branch

Verk av John (Watusi) Branch

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male
Nationalitet
USA

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I loved this one. Twenty of New York Times sports writer John Branch's favourite stories written over the course of his career.

None of the stories are actually about sports, but stories about people. I sobbed at several. They range from a short blog post about a woman killed during the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, her young daughter soccer teammates with the author's daughter, to a massive multimedia story about a deadly avalanche that won the Pulitzer Prize.

There's a story about Sherpas bringing down the bodies of two Indian climbers who died on Everest. One about the death of BASE jumpers. Another about the first two men to free climb the Dawn Wall of El Capitan in Yosemite (immediately followed that up with watching the documentary about it on Netflix, titled 'The Dawn Wall').

One of the longer ones I particularly liked was about the always-losing Lady Jaguars of Carroll Academy. A small, district-run school in a poverty-stricken area, Carroll Academy is a halfway-school of sorts for kids that are struggling with behaviour issues at their regular schools or minor crimes to give them structure and boundaries. Because there are only ever a handful of girls at the school, joining the basketball team is mandatory. That's where John Branch starts, letting you into the world of these children that you can't help but root for.
… (mer)
 
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xaverie | 1 annan recension | Apr 3, 2023 |
This was a fascinating book. After reading the first couple of articles I went looking for the documentary. It was really great, too. There is a bit of repetition because these are reprinted from original publication in the NY Times and so each essay starts from scratch in case the reader didn't catch earlier publications. I had a hard time with the Lady Jaguars. It was so heartbreaking and there were many articles published about different aspects of the team. The repetition was difficult here. The last story really touched me. Great to have the author open up in such a way to let us know his inside feelings when reporting on tragedy.… (mer)
 
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njcur | 1 annan recension | Feb 7, 2023 |
This book is very intensely focused on the sport of rodeo, with which I was only vaguely familiar before I started reading it.

I had hoped to read about life in small-town Utah, something for which I am very nostalgic. There was a little of that. I can remember as a kid being on a family trip sometime in the 1970s, and we pulled into a motel in Green River, Utah, one Sunday afternoon. Dad came back to the car from the motel office and said that there was a sign at the front desk that said the owners of the motel were in church, and would-be lodgers should take a key and let themselves into a room, and everything would be worked out when church services were over. Reference in this book to Toquerville reminded me of the scores of times I'd ridden on the highway through the town. I believe that it is one of the many Utah towns settled by pioneers who did so by calling, not so much by choice. There's still something special about those towns, made sacred by the settlers' sacrifices.

I had also hoped to read descriptions of the natural beauty of Utah. There was a little more of that. There were descriptions of the red-rock formations around Smith Mesa, and of the alpine landscape of the Tushar Mountains. It takes more work to see the beauty of Milford but I believe it can be done!

I admit to not being able to keep very good track of who is who in the Wright clan, but I was impressed by the unconditional love they had for each other.
… (mer)
 
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cpg | 3 andra recensioner | Sep 6, 2021 |
This book is well-written. Recommended not only for the general reader but also and especially for cattlemen, rodeo fans and anyone who wonders where their steak comes from or about the effort and skills required for cattle ranching and rodeo.

These cowboys (and their wives), the Wright family, Utah Mormons, work so long and hard it makes my teeth hurt just reading about it, but they never complain. Their courage and compassion are remarkable. Most of the men have enough metal device repairs in them from rodeo mishaps to jam a radar.

The writer researched well the Wright family and the cattle and rodeo businesses, and the reader is amply rewarded with the most arresting features. The book is primarily about rodeo, the most interesting calling of the Wright family, and several were national champions.

Don't worry, the Mormon business is rarely mentioned as such but rather noticed in the quiet ethos of the Wrights.
… (mer)
 
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KENNERLYDAN | 3 andra recensioner | Jul 11, 2021 |

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Statistik

Verk
13
Medlemmar
255
Popularitet
#89,877
Betyg
4.1
Recensioner
9
ISBN
29
Språk
3

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