THE BOZ: Confessions of a Modern Anti-Hero

by Brian with Rick Reilly Bosworth ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 4, 1988

Lively bad-boy rant from a controversial linebacker and 23-year-old media megastar. Bosworth, the Oklahoma University defensive standout who made headlines with his multicolored hair and his $11 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks, takes on hypocrites, football institutions, and anyone who's ever made him mad in this self-consciously obnoxious autobiography. Not that we get much narrative, with the exception of play-by-play reminiscences of the big college games. What we do get is the irreverent tough-talk that Boz fans devour. There's a chapter on the history of the haircut. There's the scoop on how he intimidates opponents: by sticking his finger in ears, his knee in groins, and by trying to tackle the other guys' heads. There's his pregame regimen: no food, but eight Uptime caffeine pills and four Advils in anticipation of collisons. He has poisonous scorn for the NCAA (the ""National Center for Aging Assholes"") and the NFL (""the NCAA in nicer suits""). He shares his view of drugs: ""If those guys want to freebase hubcaps, they could for all I cared. . .But freebasing on the day of the game really pissed me off."" Bosworth was suspended his junior year for scoring positive on a test for steroids: he claims that his steroid use (some teeny doses to speed recovery from an injury) was months before the test, before the antisteroid rule was instituted. He acknowledges the free meals, sports cars, places to live, fixed speeding tickets, and other favors college stars get, and argues it's only their due. And so on. A postadolescent anthem to selfishness, buoyed with humor, spirit, and a relentless will to challenge authority.

Pub Date: Sept. 4, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1988

Categories: NONFICTION