"Breathtaking tales of climbers and hunters, runners and racers, winners and losers by the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter. New York Times reporter John Branch's riveting, humane features on ordinary people doing extraordinary things at the edges of the sporting world have won nearly every major journalism prize. Sidecountry gathers the best of Branch's work for the first time, including classic pieces like "Snow Fall," about skiers caught in an avalanche...

Drawing from more than 250 interviews to take the first full measure of the Lakers' epic Showtime era, this spectacular account of one of America's greatest sports sagas is jam-packed with colorful characters, vicious rivalries and 1980s-style excess.

"An electrifying debut novel about the radical intimacy of physical competition"--

"Today's youth sports experience provokes countless questions for well-intentioned parents. How young should kids start playing sports? Should they specialize-and when? What should a parent do when their kid is not getting the playing time they think their child deserves? How do parents encourage children without overwhelming them? And most importantly: how do we ensure our kids both reach their true potential on the playing field, and are well-prepared...

"If you want to gain insight into the mind of great athletes, adventurers, and peak performers then prepare to be enthralled byAlex Hutchinson'sEndure."--Bear Grylls From the National Magazine Award-winning Runner's World columnist, frequent New Yorker online contributor, and Cambridge-trained physicist: a fascinating and definitive exploration of the revolutionary new science ofendurance and the secrets ofhuman performance. Alex Hutchinson, Ph.D.,revealswhy...

"While on assignment in Greece, journalist James Nestor witnessed something that confounded him: a man diving 300 feet below the ocean's surface on a single breath of air and returning four minutes later, unharmed and smiling. This man was a freediver, and his amphibious abilities inspired Nestor to seek out the secrets of this little-known discipline. In Deep, Nestor embeds with a gang of extreme athletes and renegade researchers who are transforming...

"Sugar Ray Robinson was one of the most iconic figures in sports and possibly the greatest boxer of all time. His legendary career spanned nearly 26 years, including his titles as the middleweight and welterweight champion of the world and close to 200 professional bouts. This illuminating biography grounds the spectacular story of Robinson's rise to greatness within the context of the fighter's life and times. Born Walker Smith Jr. in 1921, Robinson's...

In The Perfect Mile, Neal Bascomb, the New York Times bestselling author of Faster, presenst the riveting, true story of the three world-class athletes who individually became the first runners to break the four-minute mile. There was a time when running the mile in four minutes was believed to be beyond the limits of human foot speed, and in all of sport it was the elusive holy grail. In 1952, after suffering defeat at the Helsinki Olympics, three...

"The third novel by New York Times bestselling author Douglas Brunt, Trophy Son tells the story of tennis prodigy Anton Stratis, from an isolated childhood of grueling practice under the eye of his obsessed father, to his dramatic rise through the intensely competitive world of professional tennis. Written with an insider knowledge of the tennis circuit, Trophy Son explores a young man striving to find balance in his life, navigating moral compromises,...

"Gregg Easterbrook is one of the country's best-known football commentators, having analyzed football on-air for ESPN and the NFL Network. MSNBC calls his ESPN blog "the best and most compelling football column anywhere." The King of Sports takes an expansive look at our biggest sport. Easterbrook explores these and many other topics: The real harm done by concussions (It's not to NFL players) The real way in which college football players are exploited...