A fond look back at a once-great basketball franchise that, now hapless, fans have “longed for…ever since.”
An account of the 1990s-era New York Knicks, who left a trail of mayhem in their wake.
It was a flash in the historical pan, but a memorable one, the confluence of a take-no-prisoners coach, Pat Riley, with a squad of talented, hard-nosed players that included Patrick Ewing, Anthony Mason, John Starks, Latrell Sprewell, and others. It helped matters, notes Sports Illustrated senior writer Herring, that as the Knicks were coming together, archnemesis Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls had decided to retire—at least to play baseball. The Knicks were lean, mean, and ready to brawl if necessary. In the memorable opening section, Herring recounts how Riley, 20 minutes into his five-year stint as coach, had to break up a fight between Mason and forward Xavier McDonald in a team practice. “Mason was nothing if not enigmatic,” the author writes later; he was hard to pin down but also hard to beat. There are some wonderful set pieces, including a 1994 NBA Finals game that no one, commentator Bob Costas included, paid much attention to, given that O.J. Simpson was then barreling down a Los Angeles highway, the police in close pursuit. But the author is at his best with on-the-court, you-are-there accounts of the game in action and its players, including Starks, who “had been the Knicks’ most reliable option, hitting 49 percent of his shots—and 45 percent of his threes—averaging a team-best 21 points and seven assists per contest.” Still, as Herring knows, all the stars in the world won’t make a real team, and throughout the decade of the 1990s, the Knicks came together, as in 1999, when “they displayed heart and resolve, showing they could sidestep distractions to sneak into the playoffs with their beloved coach’s back against the wall.”
A fond look back at a once-great basketball franchise that, now hapless, fans have “longed for…ever since.”Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-982132-11-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
A sharp, entertaining view of the news media from one of its star players.
The veteran newscaster reflects on her triumphs and hardships, both professional and private.
In this eagerly anticipated memoir, Couric (b. 1957) transforms the events of her long, illustrious career into an immensely readable story—a legacy-preserving exercise, for sure, yet judiciously polished and insightful, several notches above the fray of typical celebrity memoirs. The narrative unfolds through a series of lean chapters as she recounts the many career ascendency steps that led to her massively successful run on the Today Show and comparably disappointing stints as CBS Evening News anchor, talk show host, and Yahoo’s Global News Anchor. On the personal front, the author is candid in her recollections about her midlife adventures in the dating scene and deeply sorrowful and affecting regarding the experience of losing her husband to colon cancer as well as the deaths of other beloved family members, including her sister and parents. Throughout, Couric maintains a sharp yet cool-headed perspective on the broadcast news industry and its many outsized personalities and even how her celebrated role has diminished in recent years. “It’s AN ADJUSTMENT when the white-hot spotlight moves on,” she writes. “The ego gratification of being the It girl is intoxicating (toxic being the root of the word). When that starts to fade, it takes some getting used to—at least it did for me.” Readers who can recall when network news coverage and morning shows were not only relevant, but powerfully influential forces will be particularly drawn to Couric’s insights as she tracks how the media has evolved over recent decades and reflects on the negative effects of the increasing shift away from reliable sources of informed news coverage. The author also discusses recent important cultural and social revolutions, casting light on issues of race and sexual orientation, sexism, and the predatory behavior that led to the #MeToo movement. In that vein, she expresses her disillusionment with former co-host and friend Matt Lauer.
A sharp, entertaining view of the news media from one of its star players.Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-53586-1
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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