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AUDIBLES: My Life in Football by Joe & Bob Raissman Montana

AUDIBLES: My Life in Football

By

Pub Date: Oct. 22nd, 1986
Publisher: Morrow

An infraordinary jockography of the San Francisco 49ers' quarterback, offering nothing but pulled punches, locker-room bromides, and uninspired sarcasm. The book follows Montana from his backyard tire swing through the rough early years at Notre Dame, where his career of being underappreciated began, and on to the pros. The key to his success, not surprisingly, was that he never stopped believing in himself. With Montana at the helm, the Fighting Irish won a national championship. He was drafted by the 49ers and then spent two years being groomed for the starting slot. In 1981, he finally got his chance, and, in story-book fashion, led his squad to their Super Bowl victory. Montana appeared on the cover of Time. After reaching this peak, the book then devotes chapters to Joe's parents, to his disagreements with the Player's Union, to the false minors of cocaine use, to Coach Bill Walsh, and to his wife Jennifer--yes, the model he first met when they filmed the razor ad together. Most of the book is composed of game recollections, retold without particular insight from a unique perspective. Many sports biographies share this book's penchant for clichÉd reportage, with momentum and adrenalin pumping back and forth, but others make up for that failing with tough-guy, wisecracking commentary. The patter concocted here is dishwater. A sacking.