The joy of sports: End zones, bases, baskets, balls, and the consecration of the American spirit

by Michael Novak

Book Overview

"...an exhilarating exercise full of uncanny insights..." -PublishersWeekly This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465036791
• ISBN13: 9780465036790
• Release Date: January 1976
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Play ball! God bless America

No less authority on America than Jacques Barzun said, "Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball." You can apply the same thought to heaven. When you ask a bricklayer what he does, he says, "I lay brick"...an author, "I write...", or machine operator, "I work at a machine". But ask an athlete, "I play ball..." with the operative word here "PLAY". There will be an element of "play" in heaven, Novak demonstrates, and this element appeals to young and old alike. Toys become tools because there is something intrinsically joyful about play. Sport is a religion without a creed. I enjoyed this book, it provides value added for spectator and participant. Watching my boys play ball can be a reflective as well as vicarious experience. Novak brings a liveliness to any subject he writes about. Play ball!