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The Resource Sporting lives : metaphor and myth in American sports autobiographies, James W. Pipkin

Sporting lives : metaphor and myth in American sports autobiographies, James W. Pipkin

Creator
Contributor
Summary
  • "Examines autobiographies by athletes such as Wilt Chamberlain, Babe Ruth, Martina Navratilova, and Dennis Rodman, and analyzes common themes and recurring patterns in the accounts of their lives and sporting experiences"--Provided by publisher
  • "Sometimes the crack of the bat or the roar of the crowd fails to capture the meaning of sports as athletes themselves understand it. Books about sports have ignored this dimension of the subject, particularly the athletes{u2019} own autobiographical accounts. In Sporting Lives, the first book to examine the two popular realms of sports and autobiography, James Pipkin looks at recurring patterns found in athletes{u2019} accounts of their lives and sporting experiences, examining language, metaphor, rhetorical strategies, and other elements to analyze sports from the inside out. Sporting Lives takes a fresh look at memoirs from baseball, football, basketball, golf, and other sports to explore how American athletes see themselves: not only how those images mesh with popular perceptions of them as heroes or celebrities but also how their accounts differ from those of sports journalists and other outsiders. Drawing on the life stories of such well-known figures as Wilt Chamberlain, Babe Ruth, and Martina Navratilova{u2014}both as-told-to and self-authored works{u2014}Pipkin follows players from the 2echoing green3 of eternal youth to the sometimes cultlike and isolated status of fame, interpreting recurring patterns both in the living of their lives and in the telling of them. He even considers Dennis Rodman{u2019}s four autobiographies to show how the contradictions of his self-portrayals reflect the Janus-faced quality of sports in the era of celebrity culture. As Pipkin shows, the life of the athlete involves more than mere athleticism; it is also a world of nostalgia and sentiment, missed opportunities and lost youth. He sheds light on athletes{u2019} common obsession with youth and body image{u2014}including gender and racial considerations{u2014}and explores their descriptions of being 2in a zone,3 that transcendent state when everything seems to click. And he considers the time that all athletes dread, when their bodies begin to betray them . . . and the cheering stops. While the lives of athletes may often suggest the magic of Peter Pan, Pipkin{u2019}s engaging study reveals that they are in many ways more like the Lost Boys. Sporting Lives shows that the meaning of sports is intertwined with the telling. It is both an eminently readable book for fans and a critically sophisticated analysis that will engage scholars of literature, sports or media studies, and American popular culture."--Publishers website
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
ix, 161 pages
Contents
  • "The echoing green"
  • Body songs
  • Magic : the performing body
  • The end of autumn
  • "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" : Dennis Rodman and the contemporary athlete as postmodern celebrity
Isbn
9780826217790
Instance
Label
Sporting lives : metaphor and myth in American sports autobiographies
Title
Sporting lives
Title remainder
metaphor and myth in American sports autobiographies
Statement of responsibility
James W. Pipkin
Creator
Contributor
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
  • "Examines autobiographies by athletes such as Wilt Chamberlain, Babe Ruth, Martina Navratilova, and Dennis Rodman, and analyzes common themes and recurring patterns in the accounts of their lives and sporting experiences"--Provided by publisher
  • "Sometimes the crack of the bat or the roar of the crowd fails to capture the meaning of sports as athletes themselves understand it. Books about sports have ignored this dimension of the subject, particularly the athletes{u2019} own autobiographical accounts. In Sporting Lives, the first book to examine the two popular realms of sports and autobiography, James Pipkin looks at recurring patterns found in athletes{u2019} accounts of their lives and sporting experiences, examining language, metaphor, rhetorical strategies, and other elements to analyze sports from the inside out. Sporting Lives takes a fresh look at memoirs from baseball, football, basketball, golf, and other sports to explore how American athletes see themselves: not only how those images mesh with popular perceptions of them as heroes or celebrities but also how their accounts differ from those of sports journalists and other outsiders. Drawing on the life stories of such well-known figures as Wilt Chamberlain, Babe Ruth, and Martina Navratilova{u2014}both as-told-to and self-authored works{u2014}Pipkin follows players from the 2echoing green3 of eternal youth to the sometimes cultlike and isolated status of fame, interpreting recurring patterns both in the living of their lives and in the telling of them. He even considers Dennis Rodman{u2019}s four autobiographies to show how the contradictions of his self-portrayals reflect the Janus-faced quality of sports in the era of celebrity culture. As Pipkin shows, the life of the athlete involves more than mere athleticism; it is also a world of nostalgia and sentiment, missed opportunities and lost youth. He sheds light on athletes{u2019} common obsession with youth and body image{u2014}including gender and racial considerations{u2014}and explores their descriptions of being 2in a zone,3 that transcendent state when everything seems to click. And he considers the time that all athletes dread, when their bodies begin to betray them . . . and the cheering stops. While the lives of athletes may often suggest the magic of Peter Pan, Pipkin{u2019}s engaging study reveals that they are in many ways more like the Lost Boys. Sporting Lives shows that the meaning of sports is intertwined with the telling. It is both an eminently readable book for fans and a critically sophisticated analysis that will engage scholars of literature, sports or media studies, and American popular culture."--Publishers website
Member of
Biography type
collective biography
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1944-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Pipkin, James W.
Dewey number
  • 796.092/273
  • B
Index
index present
LC call number
GV697.A1
LC item number
P475 2008
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorName
University of Missouri Press
Series statement
Sports and American culture series
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Athletes
  • Autobiographies
  • Sports
Label
Sporting lives : metaphor and myth in American sports autobiographies, James W. Pipkin
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
"The echoing green" -- Body songs -- Magic : the performing body -- The end of autumn -- "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" : Dennis Rodman and the contemporary athlete as postmodern celebrity
Control code
177819126
Dimensions
23 cm
Extent
ix, 161 pages
Isbn
9780826217790
Isbn Type
(alk. paper)
Lccn
2007042564
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
(OCoLC)177819126
Label
Sporting lives : metaphor and myth in American sports autobiographies, James W. Pipkin
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
"The echoing green" -- Body songs -- Magic : the performing body -- The end of autumn -- "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" : Dennis Rodman and the contemporary athlete as postmodern celebrity
Control code
177819126
Dimensions
23 cm
Extent
ix, 161 pages
Isbn
9780826217790
Isbn Type
(alk. paper)
Lccn
2007042564
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
(OCoLC)177819126

Subject

Genre

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      38.710138 -90.311107

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