The Cost of These Dreams: Sports Stories and Other Serious Business

How did I miss this guy's work. Wonderfully written poignant stories showing the cost of glory. It ends with his own story about fathers and sons and Augusta. If your eyes are dry at the end....

This was a gift, no personal knowledge of the content

I am a sucker for sports anthologies such as the Best American Sports Writing series. I love the story behind the story, which is why I was so excited for this release of Wright Thompson's work. Some of his stories did not disappoint, such as his portrait of a highly competitive, middle-aged Michael Jordan or the historical perspective of the integration of the Ole Miss football program in 1962. His preface to the book was also very reflective. I found some of the stories to be unnecessarily long, such as the story of the New Orleans Saints' role in the re-development of the city after Hurricane Katrina. Some of the stories contained repetitive themes, such as the difficulty of a coach to find balance between and professional and personal life (stories of Urban Meyer, Dan Gable, and Pat Riley). I also found the book to be overly male-centric, which would have been fine if the subtitle of the book somehow warranted such a theme, but the only real mention of women were the wives of the male athletes and coaches portrayed throughout the book. Overall, this could have been much, much better, I believe, if Wright Thompson himself had selected the stories that would end up in it.

I did enjoy this book especially the more famous sports stars after they had aged out of their sport and how difficult it was for them to do something else with their lives. They still felt like they could play their sport (in their mind) but the aging bodies say no way.. Some of the lesser known sports figures were not as interesting but still worth a read and some mysterious. I thought the one on New Orleans was a little too long.

Wright Thompson is like today's Jim Murray--a sportswriter who covers way more than the game. He's incredible. He uncovers motivation and personality like a forensic scientist with a knack for subjects and verbs. He's up there with the greats like David Halberstam, Joan Didion, Malcolm Gladwell, Jim Murray, and Rick Reilly. Great book. Especially loved the essays on MJ, Pat Riley, and Tiger Woods. Fathers and sons. I'd give this book six stars if possible.

Wright Thompson is writer with a voice. He is up there with the other Mississippi greats, writing plainly, poetically, and shifting between the two without a hitch or hesitation. This is by far one of the best books on sports--even though it is really about the lives of athletes outside the lines. He can write about Ole Miss during the ugly time of de-segregation without being politically correct or tone deaf--I'm sure it would make a millineal squirm, but for those of us who lived through it in the south, he really got it right. Terrible, horrible, and extremely human. I'd buy a cookbook written by this guy.

An amazing collection of essays by a great writer. Just a wonderful book!

Strong collection of stories about the desires of life and how all of us go about satisfying those elusive & expensive desires. Sports & athletes may be the chosen vessel but the inner messages are aimed at our personal relationships with our families & friends. Highly recommended.

Outstanding, which is what we take for granted with this brilliant storyteller. The best in the business. A must-read for any lover of sport and of a good, insightful yarn.

I've long admired Wright Thompson's long-form sports stories, and so I had high expectations when buying this collection. It not only meets but arguably surpasses those expectations. This is exceptional reportage and storytelling, taking us into the minds, lives, and hearts of globally famous and lesser-known sports figures, and the impact the game had on them as much as they had on it. A book about life as much as sport. Terrific.

Honestly I wanted to love this book, the truth is I found it very hard to read. I find the writers style very uncomfortable and frustrating to read. I got to the end of Jordan’s chapter and that was a struggle as I could not get comfortable with the flow.

great stories, brilliant writing.

Great present