The Best American Sports Writing 2002 (The Best American Series)
Reilly (Life of Reilly) gathers 28 cracking pieces on sport-and  not just the usual suspects. The stunning "Near Death in the  Afternoon," by Elizabeth Gilbert is the story of El Juli, a  young and arrogant bull fighter who is gored in Madrid. Equally  fringe and more disturbing is Bob Norman's "Backyard Bloodbath,"  which documents EFW ("Extreme Fuckin' Wrestling"), particularly  two brothers who put on shows with tacks on the mat,  barbed-wire-wrapped baseball bats, garbage cans and staple guns.  It's bloody, raw, dangerous, utterly engrossing and revolting.  Sports columnist Bill Plaschke's "Her Blue Heaven" is a moving  story about being at odds with one of his critics, a  30-year-old-woman with cerebral palsy who lives in a shack in  Texas and maintains her own Dodgers Web site. Equally poignant  is Mark Kram Jr.'s "Joe's Gift," about Kansas City Chiefs  running back Joe Delaney, who lost his life when he pulled a  drowning boy from a pond. The book can be bleak, but Steve  Ruskin's "Cold Comfort," a meditation on childhood, snow and  sport, is a welcome relief from this motif-one that's sure to  stir childhood memories in all readers. Peter Richmond's "Flesh  and Blood" covers the mysteries and trial of Rae Carruth and the  women who loved him, even though he set out to have them killed.  Richmond goes on to blame this on the violent nature of sport,  particularly football. At their best, these essays go beyond  sport and into social commentary; these aren't pleas to change  the world but acknowledgment of what draws one to sport in the  first place: passion. (Oct. 15)Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.