The Silent Season of a Hero: The Sports Writing of Gay Talese »

Gay Talese is a journalist and international best-selling author whose works include The Bridge (Walker & Company 2003), The Kingdom and the Power, Honor Thy Father, Thy Neighbors Wife, and Unto the Sons. Currently at work on the follow-up to Unto the Sons, he lives in New York City and Ocean City, New Jersey.

One of America's most acclaimed writers and journalists, Gay Talese has been fascinated by sports throughout his life. At age fifteen he became a sports reporter for his Ocean City High School newspaper; four years later, as sports editor of the University of Alabama's Crimson-White, he began to employ devices more common in fiction, such as establishing a "scene" with minute details—a technique that would later make him famous.

Later, as a sports reporter for the New York Times, Talese was drawn to individuals at poignant and vulnerable moments rather than to the spectacle of sports. Boxing held special appeal, and his Esquire pieces on Joe Louis and Floyd Patterson in decline won praise, as would his later essay "Ali in Havana," chronicling Muhammad Ali's visit to Fidel Castro. His profile of Joe DiMaggio, "The Silent Season of a Hero," perfectly captured the great player in his remote retirement, and displayed Talese's journalistic brilliance, for it grew out of his on-the-ground observation of the Yankee Clipper rather than from any interview. More recently, Talese traveled to China to track down and chronicle the female soccer player who missed a penalty kick that would have won China the World Cup.

Chronicling Talese's writing over more than six decades, from high school and college columns to his signature adult journalism— and including several never-before-published pieces (such as one on sports anthropology), a new introduction by the author, and notes on the background of each piece—The Silent Season of a Hero is a unique and indispensable collection for sports fans and those who enjoy the heights of journalism.

The New York Times - Gordon Marino

…Talese does not so much convince you that he got a person right—whatever that would mean—as make you feel as if you were actually hanging out with him as he practices what he has always humbly termed "the art of hanging out. Though the athletes he first shadowed and then captured predated even ESPN by a generation or two, Talese's work remains riveting…As this marvel of an anthology makes manifest, Talese transformed sportswriting into literature that is both serious and delightful.

Introduction Gay Talese 1

Sports Gay-zing 17

Short Shots in Sundry Sections 21

Talking Basketball with Angelo Musi 25

The Locker Room 29

An Afternoon on the Football Field 33

The .200 Hitter 37

The Loneliest Guy in Boxing 41

N.Y.U. Wins Despite 2-Way Freeze 49

Judy Is Many Things, Mostly Frank 51

It's a Wonderful Whirl to Gerry 55

Portrait of a Young Prize Fighter 57

Garden Horseshoer Works Fast 60

Last of Bare-Knuckle Fighters Still Spry at 93 62

Troupe of Midget Wrestlers Won't Work for Small Change 65

Barbell King: Muscle Over Mind 68

Dentist Puts the Bite in the Fight 70

Timekeeper as Quiet as a Clock 73

Diamonds Are a Boy's Best Friend 75

On the Road, Going Nowhere, With the Yankees 83

Notes from the Trip 88

The Story Behind the Signal To Brush Back Cliff Johnson 95

Race, Reporters and Responsibility 104

The Fighter's Son 108

The Loser 111

Portrait of the Ascetic Champ 113

Patterson, Indifferent at first, Finally Turns on Barking Dog 123

Liston Aides Extol His Gaiety, Benevolence and Ruggedness 127

Patterson Has 4 Friends, Too, But He'll Have to Fight Alone 129

Champion Talks About Sleep and Rain and Watches His Entourage Close Camp 132

Floyd Caught by 'a Good Punch' 135

Masked Ex-Champion 137

The Loser 141

Stories With Real Names 167

The Caddie-A Non-Alger Story 169

Suspicious Man In the Champ's Corner 175

Dr. Birdwhistell and the Athletes 186

Joe Louis: The King as a Middle-Aged Man 201

Silent Season of a Hero 218

Architect of the Fairways 246

Eric and Beth Heiden: A Bond of Blood on Skates 255

The Kick She Missed 261

The Greatest 273

Ali in Havana 275

Overtime 303

Swan Song for Gay Talese 305