American Pastimes: The Very Best of Red Smith

A Library of America Special Publication

Nonfiction, Sports, Baseball, Essays & Writings, Reference, Essays, Reference & Language, Language Arts, Journalism
Cover of the book American Pastimes: The Very Best of Red Smith by Red Smith, Library of America
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Red Smith ISBN: 9781598532760
Publisher: Library of America Publication: May 16, 2013
Imprint: Library of America Language: English
Author: Red Smith
ISBN: 9781598532760
Publisher: Library of America
Publication: May 16, 2013
Imprint: Library of America
Language: English

Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith was the most widely read sportswriter of the last century and the first to win the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. From the 1940s to the 1980s, his nationally syndicated columns for the New York Herald Tribune and later for The New York Times traversed the world of sports with literary panache and wry humor. “I’ve always had the notion,” Smith once said, “that people go to spectator sports to have fun and then they grab the paper to read about it and have fun again.” Now, writer and editor (and inventor of Rotisserie League Baseball) Daniel Okrent presents the best of Smith’s inimitable columns—miniature masterpieces that remain the gold standard in sportswriting.

Here are Smith’s indelible profiles of sports luminaries, which show his gift for distilling a career’s essence in a single column. Unforgettable accounts of historic occasions—Bobby Thompson’s Shot Heard ’Round the World, Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series, the first Ali-Frazier fight—are joined by more offbeat stories that display Smith’s unmistakable wit, intelligence, and breadth of feeling. Here, too, are more personal glimpses into Smith’s life and work, revealed in stories about his lifelong passion for fishing and in “My Press-Box Memoirs,” a 1975 reminiscence for Esquire collected here for the first time.

A Special Publication of The Library of America.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith was the most widely read sportswriter of the last century and the first to win the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. From the 1940s to the 1980s, his nationally syndicated columns for the New York Herald Tribune and later for The New York Times traversed the world of sports with literary panache and wry humor. “I’ve always had the notion,” Smith once said, “that people go to spectator sports to have fun and then they grab the paper to read about it and have fun again.” Now, writer and editor (and inventor of Rotisserie League Baseball) Daniel Okrent presents the best of Smith’s inimitable columns—miniature masterpieces that remain the gold standard in sportswriting.

Here are Smith’s indelible profiles of sports luminaries, which show his gift for distilling a career’s essence in a single column. Unforgettable accounts of historic occasions—Bobby Thompson’s Shot Heard ’Round the World, Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series, the first Ali-Frazier fight—are joined by more offbeat stories that display Smith’s unmistakable wit, intelligence, and breadth of feeling. Here, too, are more personal glimpses into Smith’s life and work, revealed in stories about his lifelong passion for fishing and in “My Press-Box Memoirs,” a 1975 reminiscence for Esquire collected here for the first time.

A Special Publication of The Library of America.

More books from Library of America

Cover of the book John Muir: Nature Writings (LOA #92) by Red Smith
Cover of the book Ulysses S. Grant: Memoirs and Selected Letters (LOA #50) by Red Smith
Cover of the book The Collected Writings of Joe Brainard by Red Smith
Cover of the book Dark Passage by Red Smith
Cover of the book Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy in America (LOA #147) by Red Smith
Cover of the book James Fenimore Cooper: The Leatherstocking Tales Vol. 2 (LOA #27) by Red Smith
Cover of the book Samuel Menashe: New and Selected Poems by Red Smith
Cover of the book The American Revolution: Writings from the Pamphlet Debate Vol. 1 1764-1772 (LOA #265) by Red Smith
Cover of the book Sleep with Strangers by Red Smith
Cover of the book The State of Music by Red Smith
Cover of the book William Tecumseh Sherman: Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman (LOA #51) by Red Smith
Cover of the book The Peanuts Papers: Charlie Brown, Snoopy & the Gang, and the Meaning of Life by Red Smith
Cover of the book Walt Whitman Speaks: His Final Thoughts on Life, Writing, Spirituality, and the Promise of America by Red Smith
Cover of the book Peter Taylor: Complete Stories 1960-1992 (LOA #299) by Red Smith
Cover of the book The Civil War: The Second Year Told By Those Who Lived It (LOA #221) by Red Smith
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy