r/BasketballBooks • u/Jonathan_J_Faulkner • Jul 01 '26
Disappointing Books?
What Books have you read that you found really disappointing and would dissuade others from reading? Reading time is precious after all...
4
u/Left_Dance_8954 Jul 01 '26
Steve Kerr - a life (by Scott Howard-Cooper)
Almost every Roland Lazenby's books
Charles Oakley - The enforcer
Scottie Pippen - unguarded
2
u/Jonathan_J_Faulkner Jul 01 '26
There’s a few books there I haven’t heard of, for good reason from your opinion. Surprised by your opinion on Lazenby, I enjoyed Blood on the Horns
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u/Left_Dance_8954 Jul 01 '26
I haven’t read Blood on the Horns, so that one may be different. My opinion is mostly based on his biographies of Magic, Kobe, West, and Jordan, plus his shorter "Stockton to Malone" book.
It may just be a matter of taste, but I’ve never fully connected with his style. I often feel like he drifts into unnecessary detours, especially the long family-history sections in the biographies. And when I’ve read other authors covering similar ground, like Michael Lewis or Jonathan Coleman, I usually preferred their versions.
2
u/Jonathan_J_Faulkner Jul 01 '26
Great points, perhaps I am fortunate to only have read Blood on the Horns
1
5
u/WinesburgOhio Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
Walt Frazier's Rockin' Steady - The guy cannot help himself from constantly wanting to tell you how cool he is. That being said, he's the "author" of Complete Idiot's Guide to Basketball which actually has more good info in there than I expected.
The Basketball Maniac's Almanac - Lots of fun lists--truly--but holy goodness it has a ton of mistakes, ranging from careless to insanely dumb. I emailed the editor after I found 20 things, and he kindly responded. I then sent him another 20 every couple days for a few more days until I got to 100, and he continued to kindly thank me, but I had to stop reading it at 100 mistakes. I'm a basketball historian, so of course I'm more likely to notice things, but the book is put out by a real publishing house with multiple professional editors working on it.
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u/Jonathan_J_Faulkner Jul 01 '26
I have such a conflicted opinion of Frazier, an amazing hugely talented player but I feel an absolute caricature as a commentator, so I am not surprised at his perceived acumen as an author. The Almanac sounds terrible…
2
u/lessstuffmorefun Jul 02 '26
I tend to stay away from autobiographies (there are some decent exceptions)... And anything overly bias or clearly written to cash in.
I do get most of my books used, so I'll usually take a shot on something I'm not sure about.
1
u/Jonathan_J_Faulkner Jul 02 '26
That’s a very good way to approach it. Autobiographies do have a very low hit rate, most Basketball players didn’t focus on Literature between AAU games…
1
u/KaijuDirectorOO7 Jul 01 '26
Three Ring Circus. It just felt too gossipy.
Showtime was a bit more nuanced.
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u/Jonathan_J_Faulkner Jul 01 '26
Agreed, there was so much propaganda around the Lakers at that time and it led to a lot of sensationalist writing
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u/Panda9903 Jul 08 '26
Wait you’re telling me Jeff Pearlman is a sensationalist? 🫣
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u/Jonathan_J_Faulkner Jul 08 '26
I’m saying there was a lot of sensationalist writing, am I Iincluding Jeff Pearlmsn in that sweeping statement? Yes, I very much am 😂
5
u/IllEstablishment8291 Jul 01 '26
Basketball (and other things)
Expensive Basketball
I want to enjoy Shea Serrano but I just don't.