Summaries of the last two books I read.<\/p>\n
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Heartland – Keith O\u2019Brien<\/a> Famously Bird first went to IU – and lived in the same dorm C lived in last year – but felt horribly out-of-place, was mocked and rejected by his older teammates, and did not connect with Bobby Knight. Bird lasted about a month in Bloomington before dropping out and heading back home to French Lick.<\/p>\n This became one of the biggest What If\u2019s in college hoops history. The 1975 Hoosiers<\/a> lost just one game, in the Elite 8 to Kentucky by two points in a game they played without starter Scott May, who had broken his arm a couple weeks earlier. The next season IU went undefeated and won the national title. And Larry Bird should have been on these teams. Consecutive undefeated seasons? Bird and Magic Johnson never play against each other in 1979? The Celtics don\u2019t get a chance to draft him? And so on.<\/p>\n Bird eventually landed in Terre Haute at Indiana State and had three incredible seasons. However, in his first two the Sycamores could only land NIT bids thanks to the much more restrictive NCAA tournament size than today.[1]<\/a> His senior year, though, they went undefeated until that night Magic and the Spartans ran them off the court in Salt Lake City and won the national title.<\/p>\n O\u2019Brien traces, as best he can, Bird\u2019s life through this era. Bird refused to speak to O\u2019Brien, and has never said much publicly about these years, so it was tough. More interesting was the accounting of those three ISU seasons. It was a much simpler time in so many ways, but especially in how fans followed college basketball. People in western Indiana could occasionally watch their heroes on regional TV, but the nation as a whole didn\u2019t see Bird play live until deep into his senior year. O\u2019Brien gets into how ISU and Magic Johnson\u2019s Michigan State team transformed the way NBC broadcast college hoops, which led to CBS out-bidding them for the tournament a couple years later and then pushing the NCAA to expand the field to 48 and then 64 teams.<\/p>\n O\u2019Brien has written other sports books, so I thought it a little strange that I found some of his descriptions of the actual sports of the story to be lacking. Still a very interesting story that lines up with when I was discovering and falling in love with basketball.<\/p>\n The Rules of Civility – Amor Towles<\/a> I\u2019m glad I did.<\/p>\n While not quite as charming as A Gentleman in Moscow<\/em>, The Rules of Civility<\/em> is still a delight.<\/p>\n There are a lot of common aspects to the books. Where Gentleman<\/em> took place in post-Revolution Moscow, Civility<\/em> takes place in New York just as the US is shaking off the Depression and preparing for World War II. And rather than focusing on a Russian aristocrat under internal exile, this book puts Katey Kontent, a young woman who spends her evenings running around town with her roommate and the rich man their age they have befriended, frequenting jazz clubs and parties hosted by the most wealthy people in Manhattan. A car accident splits their friendship and soon Kontent in on her own, at least socially, while she carves out a career in the publishing industry. She is smart, sharp, and can handle her own business, chafing under the limitations the era placed on women.<\/p>\n This was published before A Gentleman in Moscow<\/em>. You can feel Towles feeling out the territory he would master in his next book, focusing on a remarkable individual living in a remarkable time. The Rules Of Civility<\/em> is quite good, but was clearly an exercise for Towles to establish himself and his voice before locking it all in for his second novel.<\/p>\n
\nThis is a look at Larry Bird\u2019s life before he got to the NBA, with a focus on his college years. This is important because it was one of the most remarkable runs in college hoops history, and was a foundational element of both college basketball and the NBA exploding in popularity in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
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\nYears ago I read Towles\u2019 A Gentleman in Moscow<\/em>,<\/a> a thoroughly delightful and enjoyable novel. For some reason I\u2019ve never tackled any of his other works. Brother in Books Sir Dave suggested Towles\u2019 latest short story collection, which I have on hold. But said it would be useful to read this first, as one of the characters carries over to the newest publication.<\/p>\n