Can I Keep My Jersey?: 11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond
by Paul Shirley
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Book Summary Information
Author: Paul ShirleyIntroduction: Chuck Klosterman
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-03-25
ISBN: 0345495705
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Villard
Book Reviews of Can I Keep My Jersey?: 11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond
Book Review: for the cynic and the pessimist
Summary: 5 Stars
For all those people who didn't like this book because of the so-called "whining" and complaining - this book isn't really for them. I suggest they go to the self-help section of the bookstore and grab something there . . . or perhaps join the Oprah Book Club. For the people who've enjoyed Paul Shirley's blog over the years, you'd expect this book to be full of negative comments and complaints . . . as Paul himself said in the book, he writes better when the chips are down (p.54 - Jan. 12 entry) so y'all have been warned early on . . . However, as a pessimist and a cynic myself - I really didn't see his whining and complaining as such . . . it really is just an honest observation and being a basketball player that travels halfway around the globe - those observations are truly interesting and his witty remarks makes the book entertaining as well. It's well-written and would recommend the book to almost anybody (except Oprah and Dr. Phil).
More Can I Keep My Jersey?: 11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond reviews:
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Summary of Can I Keep My Jersey?: 11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond
He?s been called a journeyman. Even Paul wouldn?t dispute that classification. Regardless, Bill Simmons, ESPN.com?s ?The Sports Guy,? has said of Paul Shirley, ?We could finally have an answer to the question ?What would it be like if one of our friends was an NBA player??There?s no denying that Paul Shirley is the closest thing pro basketball?s got to Odysseus. In Homeric fashion, he has logged time practically everywhere in the roundball universe, from six NBA cities to pro leagues in Spain and Greece to North America?s pro ball Siberia, the minor leagues. Hell, he?s even played in the real Siberia. And in Can I Keep My Jersey?, Shirley finally puts down roots long enough to deliver one of the great locker-room chronicles of the modern age.
With sharp elbows and an even sharper wit, Shirley?whose writings have been described as ?wildly entertaining? by The Wall Street Journal?drops hilarious commentary, revealing which teams have the best cheerleaders (he?s spent many a time-out watching them ply their trade), why Christ is rapidly becoming every team?s ?sixth man,? and even the best ways to get bloodstains out of your game uniform, using only an ordinary bar of soap and a hotel bathroom sink.
From sharing the court with Kobe and Shaq to perusing the food court at some mall in a bush-league burg; from taking pregame layups to getting laid out by a stray knee from an NBA power forward; from hopping a limo to the team?s charter jet to dashing to catch the van home from a B-league game in Tijuana, Shirley dishes on what it?s like to try to make it as a professional athlete. Can I Keep My Jersey? is a rollicking, thoughtful, even thought-provoking insider?s look at a pro baller?s life on the fringe. Like Jim Bouton?s Ball Four or John Feinstein?s A Season on the Brink, Shirley?s odyssey deserves to find a home on every sports fan?s bookshelf.
From the Hardcover edition.
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