Sidecountry, John Branch
Sidecountry, John Branch
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Sidecountry
Tales of Death and Life from the Back Roads of Sports

Author: John Branch

Narrator: Charles Constant

Unabridged: 10 hr 20 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/15/2021


Synopsis

New York Times reporter John Branch's riveting, humane pieces about ordinary people doing extraordinary things at the edges of the sporting world have won nearly every major journalism prize. Sidecountry gathers the best of Branch's work, featuring twenty of his favorites from the more than 2,000 pieces he has published in the paper.

Branch is renowned for covering the offbeat in the sporting world, from alligator hunting to wingsuit flying. Sidecountry features such classic Branch pieces as "Snow Fall," about downhill skiers caught in an avalanche in Washington state, and "Dawn Wall," about rock climbers trying to scale Yosemite's famed El Capitan. In other articles, Branch introduces people whose dedication and decency transcend their sporting lives, including a revered football coach rebuilding his tornado-devastated town in Iowa and a girls' basketball team in Tennessee that plays on despite never winning a game. The book culminates with his moving personal pieces, including "Children of the Cube," about the surprising drama of Rubik's Cube competitions as seen through the eyes of Branch's own sports-hating son, and "The Girl in the No. 8 Jersey," about a mother killed in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting whose daughter happens to play on Branch's daughter's soccer team.

About John Branch

John Branch is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the New York Times. He is the bestselling author of Boy on Ice and The Last Cowboys and has been featured multiple times in Best American Sports Writing. He lives near San Francisco, California.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Renee

Excellent! This book is best described by the author himself: "I write stories you didn't know you wanted to read." I found myself agreeing with that statement over and over as I finished each new story, from basketball and free climbing to alligator hunting and horseshoe throwing. John Branch does......more

Goodreads review by Mac

Suffers due to the format - there's repetition in the multipart articles. Normally I'm picky enough to bump something down to a 4* for that, but then I found myself tearing up in public at the final story and realized it was too good for that.......more

Goodreads review by Anjali

A collection of articles by Branch exploring the edges of the sports world, and rather a mixed bag for me. The story of skiers caught in an avalanche had me riveted throughout, while a few other offerings went on a bit too long or weren't my cup of tea. This needed better editing, as the multi-part......more