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4.0 

The Cost of These Dreams

By Wright Thompson
The Cost of These Dreams by Wright Thompson digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

The instant New York Times bestseller!

From one of America's most beloved sportswriters and the bestselling author of Pappyland, a collection of true stories about the dream of greatness and its cost in the world of sports.


"Wright Thompson's stories are so full of rich characters, bad actors, heroes, drama, suffering, courage, conflict, and vivid detail that I sometimes thinks he's working my side of the street - the world of fiction." - John Grisham

There is only one Wright Thompson. He is, as they say, famous if you know who he is: his work includes the most read articles in the history of ESPN (and it's not even close) and has been anthologized in the Best American Sports Writing series ten times, and he counts John Grisham and Richard Ford among his ardent admirers (see back of book). But to say his pieces are about sports, while true as far as it goes, is like saying Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove is a book about a cattle drive. Wright Thompson figures people out. He jimmies the lock to the furnaces inside the people he profiles and does an analysis of the fuel that fires their ambition. Whether it be Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods or Pat Riley or Urban Meyer, he strips the away the self-serving myths and fantasies to reveal his characters in full. There are fascinating common denominators: it may not be the case that every single great performer or coach had a complex relationship with his father, but it can sure seem that way. And there is much marvelous local knowledge: about specific sports, and times and places, and people. Ludicrously entertaining and often powerfully moving, The Cost of These Dreams is an ode to the reporter's art, and a celebration of true greatness and the high price that it exacts.

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The Cost of These Dreams Reviews

4.0
“I’ve read a lot of mediocre sports articles, and Thompson has shown me that not all sports writers are created equal. He is brilliant and this book completely shocked me. I went in expecting one thing and came out much more emotional and moved. Sometimes to be great, you have to give absolutely everything. I knew that in theory, but to hear these stories made that old platitude feel completely real.”

About Wright Thompson

Wright Thompson is a senior writer for ESPN and the bestselling author of Pappyland. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi with his family.

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