Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback Summary and Reviews

Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback
by George Plimpton

Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback
List Price: $15.95
Our Price: $5.56
You Save: $10.39 (65%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.25 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: George Plimpton
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-09-01
ISBN: 1599210053
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: The Lyons Press

Book Reviews of Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback

Book Review: A masterpiece of sports journalism
Summary: 5 Stars

36 year old writer and editor George Plimpton had previously (in "Out Of My League") pitched in a demonstration baseball match. In "Paper Lion" he set himself the target of playing as quarterback for the Detroit Lions. The book covers his time with the Lions from arrival at their preseason training camp in 1963 to the end of his active involvement with them.

It's as much a book about (American!) football and footballers as it is about Plimpton's own achievements. The descriptions of tactics and training are less important than Plimpton's relationship with the established professionals and the other rookies, almost 15 years his junior. We learn much about the sociology and dynamics of the football team, the coaches, the fans, the team owners; about what motivates men to play such a visceral and often brutal sport. It's also a book full of immortal characters; Alex Karras, "Night Train" Lane, Gail Cogdill and many others come alive in the pages of this book.

This is participatory journalism at its best. We feel every sack Plimpton is the victim of; we share his joy every time he learns a new play and carries it off in training; we share his despair when a demonstration game turns out to be a disaster.

The landscape in American football has changed dramatically - there are many more professional teams in one league structure; the players are paid orders of magnitude more, the plays infinitely more complex - but that's irrelevant. This is a boook about sportsmen and sport, about teamwork and rivalry, about effort and attainment. Some things are eternal and transcend the time and place.

A wonderfully insightful book about an intelligent outsider taking part in professional sport.

Biographies & Memoirs Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Books with a Sports Theme
Playing for Pizza ImagePlaying for Pizza
by John Grisham
Dell; Published: 2008-07-22; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.50
Price in other shops: $7.99
Tales from Q School: Inside Golf's Fifth Major ImageTales from Q School: Inside Golf's Fifth Major
by John Feinstein
Back Bay Books; Published: 2008-06-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.83
Price in other shops: $15.99
Bleachers ImageBleachers
by John Grisham
Delta; Published: 2007-05-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops: $12.00
Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback ImagePaper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback
by George Plimpton
The Lyons Press; Published: 2006-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.71
Price in other shops: $15.95
North Dallas Forty (Hall of Fame Edition, No. 1) ImageNorth Dallas Forty (Hall of Fame Edition, No. 1)
by Peter Gent
SportClassic Books; Published: 2003-11-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.04
Price in other shops: $13.95
The Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever ImageThe Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever
by Mark Frost
Booklegger; Hyperion; Published: 2007-11-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.08
Price in other shops: $24.95
Grand Slam, The: Bobby Jones, America, and the Story of Golf ImageGrand Slam, The: Bobby Jones, America, and the Story of Golf
by Mark Frost
Booklegger; Hyperion; Published: 2005-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops: $15.95
Slim and None ImageSlim and None
by Dan Jenkins
Booklegger; Doubleday; Published: 2005-05-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.36
Price in other shops: $24.95
My Usual Game ImageMy Usual Game
by David Owen
Main Street Books; Published: 1996-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.89
Price in other shops: $19.00
Missing Links ImageMissing Links
by Rick Reilly
Booklegger; Broadway Books; Published: 2000-05-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.06
Price in other shops: $14.95
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
About Three Bricks Shy: And The Load Filled Up ImageAbout Three Bricks Shy: And The Load Filled Up
by Roy Blount Jr
University of Pittsburgh Press; Published: 2004-07-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.34
Price in other shops: $19.95
Outliers: The Story of Success ImageOutliers: The Story of Success
by Malcolm Gladwell
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2008-11-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.50
Price in other shops: $27.99
Ball Four: The Final Pitch ImageBall Four: The Final Pitch
by Jim Bouton
Midpoint Trade Books, Inc.; Published: 2008-04-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.47
Price in other shops: $24.95
Season on the Brink ImageSeason on the Brink
by John Feinstein
Simon & Schuster; Published: 1989-11-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.69
Price in other shops: $15.00
Mad Ducks and Bears ImageMad Ducks and Bears
by George Plimpton
The Lyons Press; Published: 2003-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.44
Price in other shops: $12.95
George, Being George: George Plimpton's Life as Told, Admired, Deplored, and Envied by 200 Friends, Relatives, Lovers, Acquaintances, Rivals--and a Few Unappreciative ... ImageGeorge, Being George: George Plimpton's Life as Told, Admired, Deplored, and Envied by 200 Friends, Relatives, Lovers, Acquaintances, Rivals--and a Few Unappreciative ...
Random House; Published: 2008-10-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.76
Price in other shops: $30.00
The Bogey Man: A Month on the PGA Tour ImageThe Bogey Man: A Month on the PGA Tour
by George Plimpton
The Lyons Press; Published: 2003-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.40
Price in other shops: $12.95
The Best of Plimpton ImageThe Best of Plimpton
by George Plimpton
Atlantic Monthly Press; Published: 1994-01-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops: $15.00
A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-Foot-8, 170-Pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL ImageA Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-Foot-8, 170-Pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL
by Stefan Fatsis
Penguin Press HC, The; Published: 2008-07-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.49
Price in other shops: $25.95
Out of My League: The Classic Hilarious Account of an Amateur's Ordeal in Professional Baseball ImageOut of My League: The Classic Hilarious Account of an Amateur's Ordeal in Professional Baseball
by George Plimpton
The Lyons Press; Published: 2010-02-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.17
Price in other shops: $14.95