About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherNorton & Company, Incorporated, w. w.

ISBN-10039323939X

ISBN-139780393239393

eBay Product ID (ePID)16038637325

Product Key Features

Book TitleBoy on Ice : the Life and Death of Derek Boogaard

Number of Pages384 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicCultural Heritage, Hockey, Sociology of Sports, Sports

Publication Year2014

IllustratorYes

GenreSports & Recreation, Biography & Autobiography

AuthorJohn Branch

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1.4 in

Item Weight24.7 Oz

Item Length9.6 in

Item Width6.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2014-015731

ReviewsA heartbreaking examination of a young man's life destroyed by the sport he loved. Highly recommended., Punch by punch, pill by pill, the dread mounts in John Branch's brilliantly reported account of Derek Boogaard, a modern-day gladiator who gave everything for a career in hockey, not least of all his hauntingly short and quietly kind life., As tense and exciting as a hockey game... captur[ing] the sorrow and anguish of a young athlete's career... and ask[ing] piercing questions about violence in sports., Devastating... Heartbreaking because it shows us, in tender detail, a life consumed by our unholy appetites... Boy on Ice is a startling indictment of the groupthink that prevails within America's vast athletic industrial complex., Fascinating and chilling. In meticulous detail, John Branch creates a blood-drenched parable for the hidden human toll of sports violence staged for our entertainment. The rise and fall of Derek Boogaard--quintessential NHL goon--is unlike any sports biography you will ever read., Branch captures the sorrow and anguish of a young athlete's career collapsing...and asks piercing questions about violence in sports., [Boy on Ice] highlights the unique power that careful journalism, combined with the unique lens a curious outsider brings to a culture, can add to a story that is already powerful on its own., Anything written by John Branch is a compelling must-read. Boy on Ice is transcendent and riveting and his best work yet., Boy on Ice is a beautifully written and haunting journey into the jagged psychology of the modern athlete. It compels fans to examine their own roles in the spectacle and reminds us in often brutal terms that for our sports heroes, the real struggles take place far beyond the ice or the field of play.

Dewey Edition23

Dewey Decimal796.962092 B

SynopsisThe tragic death of hockey star Derek Boogaard at twenty-eight was front-page news across the country in 2011 and helped shatter the silence about violence and concussions in professional sports. Now, in a gripping work of narrative nonfiction, acclaimed reporter John Branch tells the shocking story of Boogaard's life and heartbreaking death. Boy on Ice is the richly told story of a mountain of a man who made it to the absolute pinnacle of his sport. Widely regarded as the toughest man in the NHL, Boogaard was a gentle man off the ice but a merciless fighter on it. With great narrative drive, Branch recounts Boogaard's unlikely journey from lumbering kid playing pond-hockey on the prairies of Saskatchewan, so big his skates would routinely break beneath his feet; to his teenaged junior hockey days, when one brutal outburst of violence brought Boogaard to the attention of professional scouts; to his days and nights as a star enforcer with the Minnesota Wild and the storied New York Rangers, capable of delivering career-ending punches and intimidating entire teams. But, as Branch reveals, behind the scenes Boogaard's injuries and concussions were mounting and his mental state was deteriorating, culminating in his early death from an overdose of alcohol and painkillers. Based on months of investigation and hundreds of interviews with Boogaard's family, friends, teammates, and coaches, Boy on Ice is a brilliant work for fans of Michael Lewis's The Blind Side or Buzz Bissinger's Friday Night Lights . This is a book that raises deep and disturbing questions about the systemic brutality of contact sports--from peewees to professionals--and the damage that reaches far beyond the game. * A 2014 Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, Winner of the 2015 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing The much-anticipated debut from the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter, Boy on Ice is a moving human story and behind-the-scenes account of a life lived in the glare of sporting fame., The tragic death of hockey star Derek Boogaard at twenty-eight was front-page news across the country in 2011 and helped shatter the silence about violence and concussions in professional sports. Now, in a gripping work of narrative nonfiction, acclaimed reporter John Branch tells the shocking story of Boogaard's life and heartbreaking death. Boy on Ice is the richly told story of a mountain of a man who made it to the absolute pinnacle of his sport. Widely regarded as the toughest man in the NHL, Boogaard was a gentle man off the ice but a merciless fighter on it. With great narrative drive, Branch recounts Boogaard's unlikely journey from lumbering kid playing pond-hockey on the prairies of Saskatchewan, so big his skates would routinely break beneath his feet; to his teenaged junior hockey days, when one brutal outburst of violence brought Boogaard to the attention of professional scouts; to his days and nights as a star enforcer with the Minnesota Wild and the storied New York Rangers, capable of delivering career-ending punches and intimidating entire teams. But, as Branch reveals, behind the scenes Boogaard's injuries and concussions were mounting and his mental state was deteriorating, culminating in his early death from an overdose of alcohol and painkillers. Based on months of investigation and hundreds of interviews with Boogaard's family, friends, teammates, and coaches, Boy on Ice is a brilliant work for fans of Michael Lewis's The Blind Side or Buzz Bissinger's Friday Night Lights. This is a book that raises deep and disturbing questions about the systemic brutality of contact sports--from peewees to professionals--and the damage that reaches far beyond the game. * A 2014 Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year

LC Classification NumberGV848.5.B669B73 2014