Overview

Full Product Details

Author:   Richard Hoffer
Publisher:   University of Nebraska Press
Imprint:   Bison Books
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.404kg
ISBN:  

9780803236295

ISBN 10:   0803236298
Pages:   268
Publication Date:   01 April 2011
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   In Print  
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.

Table of Contents

1. Roads to Glory - Dogs on Ice, a Third-String End, and Robin Hood2. 1968 - Tanks on the Streets, Dead on a Balcony, and Audie Murphy3. Speed City - Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, Tutti Frutti, and Jack Daniels4. Countdown to Mexico - Lymphocytes, Zip Guns, and ROTC5. Boycott - Hells Angels, a Petrified Pig, and More Ralph Henry Barbour6. A Desperate Innovation - Rolls, Straddles, and an Airborne Seizure7. The Trials - Spondylolisthesis, Brush Spikes, and a Brutal Stomping8. Denver - The Anarchists' Convention, a Vote for Nixon, and a Cold Chill9. Mexico City - Thin Air, Fresh Paint, and Shots in the Night10. Opening Ceremony - Flag Dipping, a Family Feud, and 6,300 Pigeons11. And They're Off - A Grisly Tableau, Pinochle, and a Guided Missile Launch12. Protest - Licorice Hammers, Tommie Jets, and Black Gloves13. Harder and Higher - The Little Stinker, Beauty and the Beast, and Hollywood Agents14. Aftershocks - Pimped-Out Socks, a Mutation Performance, and Sparks Under His Feet15. Monday - A Grunion Hunt, a Crying Tigerbelle, and a Jig for Joy16. Week Two - A Cuddlesome Junior, a Ragtag Bunch, and a Blonde in a Beehive17. Pappy's Boys - Rateros, Various Sarges, and a Lucky Picture of a Pretty Girl18. Going Home - Boy Scouts, Psychedelic Mileage, and a Black BraAcknowledgmentsNotes on SourcesIndex

Reviews

Richard Hoffer has given us a wonderful cross-section of characters and a thorough portrayal of the controversial events surrounding the 1968 Olympics, so that we learn to appreciate these Mexico City Games in a way we never did before. It's sports history at both its finest and most fun. -Frank Deford, Sports Illustrated senior contributing writer -- Frank Deford Suddenly, as if picked up by some gust, you're hurtled into the political, cultural, and athletic tempest of 1968, and into the hearts and minds of the American Olympians in its swirl. That gust is Richard Hoffer's exhilarating prose. Just go with the wind. -Gary Smith, Sports Illustrated senior writer -- Gary Smith Richard Hoffer reminds us why sports matter, deftly returning to the roiling 1968 Olympics, when it was the athlete who often stood at the forefront of social change... Something in the Air reconnects sports to America, as it should be. It is a truly terrific book. -Howard Bryant, ESPN senior writer and author of Juicing the Game -- Howard Bryant [Hoffer's] jaunty but disciplined prose puts the wind at the reader's back and shows us how the leaps, lifts and dashes of 1968 made a significant impact on the civil rights movement and raised the political consciousness of athletes. -Gordon Marino, New York Times -- Gordon Marino New York Times

Suddenly, as if picked up by some gust, you're hurtled into the political, cultural, and athletic tempest of 1968, and into the hearts and minds of the American Olympians in its swirl. That gust is Richard Hoffer's exhilarating prose. Just go with the wind. --Gary Smith, Sports Illustrated senior writer--Gary Smith

Author Information

Richard Hoffer was a senior writer at Sports Illustrated for nineteen years and is the author of A Savage Business: The Comeback and Comedown of Mike Tyson and Jackpot Nation. He lives in Santa Barbara, California, with his wife.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions