"Astonishing . . . Moving . . . One of the best books ever written about
a sport."
; *Walter Clemons
Newsweek
"A PENETRATING, FASCINATING AND REMARKABLY SUSPENSEFUL NARRATIVE."
; *David Guy
Chicago Tribune
In The Amateurs, David Halberstam once again displays the unique brand
of reportage, both penetrating and supple, that distinguished his
bestselling The Best and the Brightest and October 1964. This time he
has taken for his subject the dramatic and special world of amateur
rowing. While other athletes are earning fortunes in salaries and-or
endorsements, the oarsmen gain fame only with each other and strive
without any hope of financial reward.
What drives these men to endure a physical pain known to no other sport?
Who are they? Where do they come from? How do they regard themselves and
their competitors? What have they sacrificed, and what inner demons have
they appeased? In answering these questions, David Halberstam takes as
his focus the 1984 single sculls trials in Princeton. The man who wins
will gain the right to represent the United States in the 84 Olympiad;
the losers will then have to struggle further to gain a place in the
two- or four-man boats. And even if they succeed, they will have to live
with the bitter knowledge that they were not the best, only close to
it.
Informative and compelling, The Amateurs combines the vividness of
superb sportswriting with the narrative skills of a Pulitzer
Prize-winning correspondent.
"RIVETING."
; *Christopher Lehmann-Haupt
