A quick read while cashiering at the co-op. Because of limited time, I just read the pieces that Dusty had bookmarked for whatever reason: "The Wound and the Bow" by David Shields, "Duel in the Sun" by John Brant, and about half of "Why We Must Listen" by Michael Rosenberg. I really liked the first two but had trouble getting past the uncomfortably short sentences in the Rosenberg piece. Which is too bad, because he makes a series of important points and I kind of missed out. ( )

After the Best American Travel Writing series, this one is a close second as far as reliable enjoyability. I’ve probably read at least a dozen of this series. Some are better than others, but every single one has been worthwhile, albeit with a different emphasis.

Lupica’s choices are almost all great ones. I was especially pleased that he opted to pick an order for the stories as opposed to copping out and just putting them in alphabetical order by author. There are some great pieces on various subjects: the near-death by overdose of talented baseball prospect Jeff Allison; a piece on a high school running team of Latino youths by the always reliable Gary Smith; a terrific piece on the all-time most competitive Boston Marathon race—and how it nearly destroyed the lives of both men who engaged in that classic duel; plus a distressing piece on the death of football player Pat Tillman, who volunteered for the armed forces and died from friendly fire in Afghanistan.

As you might infer from all of that, many of these stories are much more about people and dramatic events versus “sports” per se. Unless you hate sports, you’re bound to like this anthology. ( )