Norwich
One Tiny Vermont Town's Secret to Happiness and Excellence

Name: Norwich
Brand: Simon & Schuster Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Karen Crouse
ISBN: 9781508251262

Author: Karen Crouse

Narrator: Gabra Zackman

Unabridged: 4 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Published: 01/23/2018

Categories: Nonfiction, Social Science, Sociology, Sports & Recreation, Olympics & Paralympics, Children's Studies

Synopsis

The extraordinary story of the small Vermont town that has likely produced more Olympians per capita than any other place in the country, Norwich gives “parents of young athletes a great gift—a glimpse at another way to raise accomplished and joyous competitors” (The Washington Post).

In Norwich, Vermont—a charming town of organic farms and clapboard colonial buildings—a culture has taken root that’s the opposite of the hypercompetitive schoolyard of today’s tiger moms and eagle dads. In Norwich, kids aren’t cut from teams. They don’t specialize in a single sport, and they even root for their rivals. What’s more, their hands-off parents encourage them to simply enjoy themselves. Yet this village of roughly three thousand residents has won three Olympic medals and sent an athlete to almost every Winter Olympics for the past thirty years.

Now, New York Times reporter and “gifted storyteller” (The Wall Street Journal) Karen Crouse spills Norwich’s secret to raising not just better athletes than the rest of America but happier, healthier kids. And while these “counterintuitive” (Amy Chua, bestselling author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother) lessons were honed in the New England snow, parents across the country will find that “Crouse’s message applies beyond a particular town or state” (The Wall Street Journal).

If you’re looking for answers about how to raise joyful, resilient kids, let Norwich take you to a place that has figured it out.

About Karen Crouse

Karen Crouse is an award-winning sportswriter who has been on the staff of The New York Times since 2005. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Norwich is her first book.

About Gabra Zackman

Gabra Zackman knows romance. Her clever and “thrilling romantic caper” (Library Journal) Bod Squad series was inspired by the more than one hundred romance and women’s fiction titles she has narrated for audio. She divides her time between her native New York City and Denver, Colorado.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Dave

This was a fun and uplifting quick read. In an era of Tiger Woods and Tiger Moms we see how programming kids from age 3 to be athletic superstars is a recipe for disaster - pretty much like child Hollywood stars. Here's a town, Norwich, that has 1 Olympian per 350 people and that doesn't buy into Iv......more

Goodreads review by Rachel

Norwich, Vermont has produced a lot of Olympians for a small town, and this author’s thesis is that this is because of a town-wide hands off parenting style in a pastoral landscape with room for its kids to roam (despite the fact that at least two or three of these athletes went to specialized schoo......more

Goodreads review by Mike

Two and a half stars. I found this book a bit disappointing. The theme is an interesting one ... a small town (with small town values) that has regularly produced Olympians. I loved the concept but during the reading, the structure of the book felt wrong to me. It felt as though the concept of the s......more

Goodreads review by Msimone

This book takes one hypothèses and hammers it. The author provides up close and personal stories of Norwich athlètes to prove that a town's non- c0mpetitive, self-development attidute , and all accepting approach to "no-cut" sports produces great athletes within the context of a richly endowed envio......more

Quotes

“With her small but timely book, Crouse has given parents of young athletes a great gift — a glimpse at another way to raise accomplished and joyous competitors.”

“Splendid.... Crouse’s message applies beyond a particular town or state.”

“Crouse has written a powerfully inspiring and thought-provoking book filled with wisdom and counterintuitive insights. I couldn’t put it down. Norwich is a refreshing and much-needed intervention that puts joy at the center of the parenting conversation.”

“Hold this piece of carbon in your hands, parents, as it shines like a diamond, revealing the path to raise happy, resilient children.”

“Both a brilliant book and a needed blueprint. Sports parents and aspiring young athletes can now, through this charming and revelatory story, follow the best and healthiest example. Crouse has performed the neat feat of providing both a terrific piece of reportage, and a public service.”

“The tremendous focus and sacrifice it takes to become an Olympian often leads to imbalance in life. The village of Norwich has shown that a strong community can foster love of sport and competitive success without sacrificing balance.”

“A small gem of a book—a quiet Jeremiad about what's gone wrong in this country with the way we raise athletes into adulthood and a meditation on how we might begin to repair that broken process.”

“The lessons of Norwich are inspiring and compelling.”

“Crouse proves that there really is a town in which all the kids are above average—in this case, in a range of Olympic winter sports. Be careful Norwich. After reading this, the rest of the country will be headed your way!”

“Crouse, a Times sportswriter disillusioned by drug-enhanced results and joyless competitions, stumbled on Norwich in the midst of her travels with more or less the same stunned enthusiasm with which Ronald Colman, in the movie “Lost Horizon,” stumbles on Shangri-La.”