Heaven Is a Playground
by Rick Telander
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Book Summary Information
Author: Rick TelanderEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-03-01
ISBN: 0803294530
Number of pages: 236
Publisher: Bison Books
Book Reviews of Heaven Is a Playground
Book Review: 2ND Best book on inner N.Y.C. basketball
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is about a hot bed of baketball in inner N.Y.C. namely Bklyn in the mid 70's When the King wasn't called Lebron James, but King Albert (Albert King) averaging 44 a game in H.S. he was hailed & christianed the greatest ever to come out of New York City (although his pro career did not live up to the billing Albert & brother Bernard will always be fondly remembered). This book is about Albert and his come up through Bedstuy and so forth. It also gives you an inside look at some of BK'S playground legends circa 1970's and some of their tragic downfalls. The best N.Y.C. ball-book ever written will always be "The City Game" by Pete Axthlem, but this is a close 2nd.
Summary of Heaven Is a Playground
In 1974 Rick Telander intended to spend a few days doing a magazine piece on the court wizards of Brooklyn?s Foster Park. He ended up staying the entire summer, becoming part of the players? lives, and eventually the coach of a loose aggregation known as the Subway Stars.
Telander tells of everything he saw: the on-court flash, the off-court jargon, the late-night graffiti raids, the tireless efforts of one promoter-hustler-benefactor to get these kids a chance at a college education. He lets the kids speak for themselves, revealing their grand dreams and ambitions, but he never flinches from showing us how far their dreams are from reality. The roots of today?s inner-city basketball can be traced to the world Telander presents in Heaven Is a Playground, the first book of its kind.
In 1974, Rick Telander intended to spend a few days doing a magazine piece on the court wizards of Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant area. He ended up staying the entire summer, become part of the players' lives and eventually the coach of a loose aggregation known as the Subway Stars.
Telander lets these kids speak for themselves, revealing their grand dreams and ambitions, but never flinches from showing us how far their dreams are from reality. The precursor to Ben Joravsky's Hoop Dreams.
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