Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback
- Book Review,
by George Plimpton
Amazon.com
Through the course of a long and distinguished career in letters, George Plimpton has crafted an art form from participatory journalism, and Paper Lion is his big touchdown. In the mid-'60s, Plimpton joined the Detroit Lions at their preseason camp as a 36-year-old rookie quarterback wannabe, and stuck with the club through an intra-squad game before the paying public a month later. What resulted is one of the funniest and most insightful books ever written on the game; 30 years later it remains a major model of what was then blossoming into New Journalism. Plimpton's breezy style wonderfully captures the pressures and tensions rookies confront in trying to make it, the hijinks that pervade the atmosphere when 60 high-strung guys are forced to live together in close quarters, and the host of rites and rituals with which football loves to coat itself. Of course, Plimpton didn't make it as a football hero; he barely accounts himself with dignity on the field, which is just as well. You don't have to be a lion when you've got a typewriter that can roar.
Review
"Paper Lion is the best book written about pro football-maybe about any sport-because Plimpton captures with absolute fidelity how the average fan might feel given the opportunity to try out for a professional football team."
-The Saturday Review
Additional quotes:
"¿One of the great books written on sports, and the most thoroughly engaging book on any subject in recent memory."
"As a writer, he is truthful without betraying anyone, modest but never falsely so, hilariously funny without once being arch. He makes his subject absolutely fascinating, football fan or no."
"¿A tale to gladden the envious heart of any 'average weekend athelete,' or anyone else for that matter."
--Eliot Fremont Smith, The New York Times
"This has been called the best book ever written about football. We think it is one of the best books written this year about anything-and not only because Plimpton combines a smooth-flowing style with high good humor. It's fascination lies rather in its unmistakable air of reality¿An utterly engaging book."
"It is unquestionably the heavyweight champion of it's field."
--Red Smith
"The best book about football I've ever read."
--W.C. Heinz
"It is perceptive and informative about football specifically, and athletes and men in general; it is funny, here and there it is moving, and Plimpton surveys his own pratfalls with an over-all grace and modesty that are thoroughly engaging."
--Loudon Wainright
LIFE Magazine
"The agility and imaginativeness of his prose transforms his account of this daydream into a classic of sports reporting."
"It's a gentle irony worthy of the author himself: The week George Plimpton died, a new collection of his finest sports writing was set to go to the printer. Despite the tragedy, the book came out on time, and for Lyons Press' and many of the author's fans, George Plimpton On Sports has become perhaps the best final tribute to old #0 in silver and blue.
The book is part of a nearly ten-title-thick Plimpton retrospective - a series that also includes Paper Lion, The Bogey Man and reprints of many other Plimpton classics as well as a Plimpton-edited book of adventure stories from The Explorer's Club - that form one of the most comprehensive collection of Plimpton books in years and that, eerily, came out last month at almost exactly the same time the author passed away.
Lyons says that for reasons of taste, it has taken an understated publicity approach. "We've been very low-key," says editorial director Jay Cassell. "In fact, we've barely promoted it." But the books, in part as a result of all the fond recollections of Plimpton, have sold well; Paper Lion, for instance, sold out its original print run of 10,000 copies and has almost depleted its new stock of 10,000 more."
Review
"Paper Lion is the best book written about pro football-maybe about any sport-because Plimpton captures with absolute fidelity how the average fan might feel given the opportunity to try out for a professional football team."
-The Saturday Review
Additional quotes:
"...One of the great books written on sports, and the most thoroughly engaging book on any subject in recent memory."
"As a writer, he is truthful without betraying anyone, modest but never falsely so, hilariously funny without once being arch. He makes his subject absolutely fascinating, football fan or no."
"...A tale to gladden the envious heart of any 'average weekend athelete,' or anyone else for that matter."
--Eliot Fremont Smith, The New York Times
"This has been called the best book ever written about football. We think it is one of the best books written this year about anything-and not only because Plimpton combines a smooth-flowing style with high good humor. It's fascination lies rather in its unmistakable air of reality...An utterly engaging book."
"It is unquestionably the heavyweight champion of it's field."
--Red Smith
"The best book about football I've ever read."
--W.C. Heinz
"It is perceptive and informative about football specifically, and athletes and men in general; it is funny, here and there it is moving, and Plimpton surveys his own pratfalls with an over-all grace and modesty that are thoroughly engaging."
--Loudon Wainright
LIFE Magazine
"The agility and imaginativeness of his prose transforms his account of this daydream into a classic of sports reporting."
"It's a gentle irony worthy of the author himself: The week George Plimpton died, a new collection of his finest sports writing was set to go to the printer. Despite the tragedy, the book came out on time, and for Lyons Press' and many of the author's fans, George Plimpton On Sports has become perhaps the best final tribute to old #0 in silver and blue.
The book is part of a nearly ten-title-thick Plimpton retrospective - a series that also includes Paper Lion, The Bogey Man and reprints of many other Plimpton classics as well as a Plimpton-edited book of adventure stories from The Explorer's Club - that form one of the most comprehensive collection of Plimpton books in years and that, eerily, came out last month at almost exactly the same time the author passed away.
Lyons says that for reasons of taste, it has taken an understated publicity approach. "We've been very low-key," says editorial director Jay Cassell. "In fact, we've barely promoted it." But the books, in part as a result of all the fond recollections of Plimpton, have sold well; Paper Lion, for instance, sold out its original print run of 10,000 copies and has almost depleted its new stock of 10,000 more."
Book Description
In the mid-'60s, Plimpton joined the Detroit Lions at their preseason camp as a 36-year-old rookie quarterback wannabe, and stuck with the club through an intra-squad game before the paying public a month later. The result is a literary masterpiece about professional football that not only elevated the art of participatory journalism to an art form, but also remains one of the most insightful and hilarious books ever written on the game.
The Detroit Lions agreed to permit Plimpton-wearing Number 0-to join them for four weeks of training camp, and to culminate his apprenticeship by calling a series of plays in an intra-squad game in Pontiac Stadium. No holds are barred in this memorable, on-the-field look at football and how the professionals play it. Naturally, Plimpton didn't make it as a football hero; he barely affords himself a dignified account of his performance on the field, which is just as well. What remains is an enduring classic of professional football as it looks to a first-string writer trying out as a last-string quarterback.
From the Back Cover
A thirty-six-year-old rookie quarterback wannabe, George Plimpton joined the Detroit Lions for their preseason camp and stuck with the club through an exhibition game before the paying public a month later. The result is Paper Lion, a literary masterpiece about professional football that not only elevated participatory journalism to an art form, but that also remains one of the most insightful and hilarious books ever written on the game. No holds barred in this memorable inside look at football and how the professionals play it.
Plimpton ¿ wearing number 0 ¿ culminates his apprenticeship by calling a series of plays in an exhibition game in Pontiac Stadium. Naturally, Plimpton didn't make it as a last-string football hero; he barely affords himself a dignified account of his performance ¿ netting minus 29 yards in his five plays ¿ on the field, which is just as well. What remains is an enduring classic of professional football as it looks to a first-string writer.
About the Author
GEORGE PLIMPTON, the originator of "participatory journalism," is a founder and the editor and publisher of The Paris Review. His books include Out of My League, The Bogey Man, Open Net, Shadow Box and Mad Ducks and Bears.
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