I'd Know That Voice Anywhere: My Favorite NPR Commentaries - Softcover

Deford, Frank

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802126723 ISBN 13: 9780802126726

Publisher: Black Cat, 2017

Synopsis

Frank Deford is one of the most beloved sports commentators in America. A contributing writer to Sports Illustrated for more than fifty years, he is also a longtime correspondent on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. These days, Deford is perhaps best known for his weekly commentaries on NPR's Morning Edition. Beginning in 1980, Deford has recorded over 1,600 of them, and in I'd Know That Voice Anywhere he brings together the very best, creating a charming, insightful, and wide-ranging look at athletes and the world of sports.

In I'd Know That Voice Anywhere, Deford discusses everything from sex scandals and steroids to Americans' perennial nostalgia for Joe DiMaggio and why, in a culture dominated by celebrity, sport is the only field on earth where popularity and excellence thrive in tandem. He considers the similarities between Babe Ruth and Winnie the Pooh, why football reminds him of Venice, and how the Olympics are like Groundhog Day--or like an independent movie filled with foreign actors you've never heard of. He considers the prevalence of cheating in the classroom among student-athletes and why academic whistle-blowers are castigated as tattletales, pens a one-size-fits-all sports movie script, and even delivers Super Bowl coverage in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet. This page-turning compendium of Deford's witty and frank pieces covers more than thirty years of sports history while showcasing the vast range of Deford's interests and opinions, including his thoughts on the NCAA (a shameless autocracy, where college players are essentially indentured servants), why gay athletes "play straight" (more for fear of their audience than their colleagues), and why he's worried about living in an economy that is so dominated by golfers.

A rollicking sampler of one of NPR's most popular segments, I'd Know That Voice Anywhere is perfect for sports enthusiasts--as well as sports skeptics--and a must-read for any Frank Deford fan.

About this title

Review

Praise for I'd Know That Voice Anywhere

Named a Best Sports Book of 2016 by Buffalo News

"Frank Deford definitely is worthy of a spot on the Mt. Rushmore of sportswriters . . . As always, Deford's writing is glorious, hitting all the notes from funny to emotional to profound . . . Once again, his words make sports come alive."--Chicago Tribune

"One of the all-time greats in sports journalism . . . Man, he's good."--Buffalo News (Best Sports Books for 2016)

"A sparkling sampler of commentaries from celebrated sports journalist Frank Deford . . . This prime selection of Deford's most insightful NPR pieces offers a kaleidoscope of sports highs and lows . . . I'd Know That Voice Anywhere is an eclectic joy to read, highly recommended."--Midwest Book Review

"Deford . . . has a wickedly droll sense of humor, which, when coupled with his encyclopedic knowledge of sports, results in commentaries that are incisive, amusing, touching, or incendiary in various combinations . . . A rich collection for anyone interested in the sporting life."--Booklist

"Wonderful . . . Deford's new book underscores his brilliance as a writer . . . Deford fans are well-advised to check [it] out."--Poynter

Praise for Frank Deford:

"Deford . . . is the handsome, swashbuckling man of sports journalism. For fifty years, he has been issuing perhaps the greatest writing the realm has known."--Chicago Sun-Times

"[Deford is] sports writing's Sinatra."--San Francisco Chronicle

"Deford's cred is incredible, his accolades deserved . . . [Deford] has long been the genuine article."--Los Angeles Times

"Deford has seen it all, and boy, has he got stories."--Dallas Morning News

"Thank heaven for Frank Deford."--San Antonio Express-News

"One of the greatest writers of our time."--Billie Jean King

"Frank Deford is the best sportswriter I've ever read . . . If there's a Mount Rushmore of sportswriting, Deford is up there, purple ties and all."--Tony Kornheiser

"Of all the magazine writers of the last half-century, Frank Deford holds a special place at the top . . . Not very bright, someone said of him long ago at Princeton, and it was true--he has been brilliant instead."--David Maraniss, author of When Pride Still Mattered and Clemente

"Frank Deford writes the kind of sentences you find yourself rereading for the sheer pleasure of it."--Jim Bouton, author of Ball Four

"Frank Deford is the best there is."--Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights

"One of our best-loved and most gifted writers . . . A master storyteller."--Jeremy Schaap, author of Cinderella Man and Triumph

"Frank Deford knows more baseball and writes with more graceful good humor than any man I know."--Richard Ben Cramer, author of Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life, on The Old Ball Game

"One of our more melodious sportswriters . . . Deford writes with a cunning sparkle in his eye."--Kirkus Reviews, on The Old Ball Game (starred review)

"A man whose talent is every bit the equal of the great athletes whose stories he's revealed to us."--Shelf Awareness

"Deford is the Holy Grail. He's simply one of the greatest sportswriters of all time."--Peter King, SI.com

About the Author

In addition to his work at National Public Radio, Sports Illustrated, and Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Frank Deford is the author of numerous works of nonfiction, including The Old Ball Game and Over Time, as well as ten novels and two screenplays. He is a recipient of the PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing and the National Humanities Medal.

About this edition

• Publisher: Black Cat
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0802126723
• ISBN 13: 9780802126726
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288