June Highlights
Our round up of the main releases for the month of June.
Key Cycling and Golf Releases
With 'Le Tour' scheduled to start in London on 7 July, publishers are jostling for position with their cycling releases. It's perhaps symptomatic of cycling's woes that the nature of the two headline books this month deal more with the spectre of drugs rather than the intrinsic value of the sport.
So we have From Lance to Landis by David Walsh and Positively False by Floyd Landis. Walsh previoulsy wrote about Armstrong in L.A. Confidentiel : Les secrets de Lance Armstrong, a book published in France and one that didn't get picked up by any UK publisher for fear of them falling foul of libel laws. I'm not entirely sure whether the fact this is States only at the moment repeats that formula, but it should be intriguing nevertheless.
There's also the book from Floyd Landis. I personally think it's a remarkably timed book and with the continuing controversy over his "victory" last year, not the smartest thing. Presumably it's to be used as the basis for the latest part of his PR campaign to clear his name. Perhaps he'd be better placed concentrating on keeping his team in order.
There's a fabulous looking biography of Robert Millar, the last British cyclist to feature on the podium. A record that won't be challenged this year. He's a remarkable character; let's hope that the book manages to capture some of his spirit.
Geoff Thomas will probably never escape that miss for England (not least because people like me keep referring to it!) but there's not too many other ex England internationals who manage to complete TDF course. He had the added incentive of trying to complete the course having recovered from leukaemia and this part tour, part autobiography blends the various strands of his life together.
There's a couple of other brand new releases for the Tour, including Matt Rendell's Blazing Saddles. Incidentially, his acclaimed portrait of Marco Pantani is also released in paperback. Aside from that virtually every other cycling book that's been published in the last few years is being reissued to try and cash in on the Tour. The highlights of the reissues is Rough Ride, one of sport's seminal books. Other noteworthy reissues are Put Me Back on My Bike, Le Tour and The Yellow Jersey Companion To the Tour de France.
The US Open takes place between 15-19 June but what about those players that struggle to make the Tour let alone one of the prestigious majors? They're the subject of John Feinstein's latest offering, Tales From Q School. He touched on the lives of Q school players in his classic Good Walk Spoiled and he's on characteristically good form with this one too. Other worthwhile looking golf titles include Tommy's Honour and The Marvellous Mania. There's also Back Nine, a work of fiction that uses golf as its backdrop that might be worth a look.
Other Original Releases
Lewis Hamilton is making an astonishing start to his Formula 1 career. It won't be long before the first of the rushed unauthorised biographies hits the shelves (and probably not that long before the first of the authorised/sanitised autobiographies also appears) but it wasn't that long ago that Nigel Mansell was the darling of the British crowd. There's a photographic release of his life and career in a book called, imaginatively enough, Nigel Mansell.
It's not really a new release but as it's being reissued having been out of print for over 40 years, it almost feels like it. Robert Daley's Cars at Speed is an excellent look at the personalities, the races and the scene of one of the most exciting periods in Grand Prix history.
India's relationship with Cricket is a fascinating topic. It's been considered before, notably by Mihir Bose, Ramachandra Guha and Boria Majumdar, but this account by former New Zealand test player John Wright, is a real insider's view as it covers his time as coach of this cricket obsessed county. The book's called Indian Summers.
The Played in Britain series continues to delight. The latest offering looks at Liverpool's sporting heritage and, as we've come to expect with this series, is beautifully presented and full of the fascinating detail with information on everything from baseball in Bootle to the first ever published plans of the famous Anfield Kop from 1928. If you haven't seen any of the series before now, take a look as it's well worth it.
College sports in America have an uneviable reputation for valuing athletic achievement over academic rigour. The stories are legion and the examples of misconduct seem to grow ever more lurid. Perhaps one of the most high profile examples of recent years has been the Duke Lacrosse scandal and there's two books examining the controversy. It's Not About the Truth is from the coach of the team, Mike Pressler and A Rush to Injustice is by a local attorney who offers a critical assessment of the way charges were brought and how the case was handled. It should of course, be stated that all the players were eventually cleared and and charges dropped.
If the prospect of sport's high profile sponsorship and sanitised exterior is too much for you, then give Dave Zirin a try. His latest offering, Welcome to the Terrodome offers a typically provocative examination of sport and its place in society.
New in paperback
Tennis doesn't bother the sports book market in the way that it should perhaps do. However, one of the sport's most regarded titles, Winning Ugly, is reissued this month. One assumes that the increased profile of its author, Brad Gilbert, is behind the decision to reissue but, regardless, it's a fabulous work and its status as a cult classic is well deserved.
The hardback edition of An Awful Lot of Bubbly in Brazil perhaps exceeded its publisher's expectations. This paperback release should offer even more reason for them to celebrate as I anticipate it having wide appeal. There's also a paperback release of Kings of the Kings Road - for Chelsea fans who prefer the Bridge rather than the Village - and Want Some Aggro? - for those who prefer rucks and calling cards.
Other noteable paperback releases include Jacklin, John Daly, Spun Out, Arm Ball to Zooter, Spalding's World Tour and Feeding the Monster.
And Finally.......
I've only just begun reading A Very British Coop so can't offer a fully fledged opinion yet but what I have read is top stuff. It looks delightfully quirky and could be a surprise hit.
About This Entry
‘June Highlights’ was posted by Liam Doyle on Mon, 11th June 2007 at 20:34:19 BST and filed under book reviews.
