GEORGE PLIMPTON - Paper Lion
George Plimpton (1927-2003) was the bestselling author and editor
of nearly thirty books, as well as the cofounder, publisher, and editor
of the Paris Review. He wrote regularly for such magazines as Sports Illustrated and Esquire, and he appeared numerous times in films and on television. (check out his bit-parts in Lawrence of Arabia and Good Will Hunting!)
In the mid-1960s, he talked his way into the Detroit Lions’
pre-season training camp and in doing so set the bar for participatory
sports journalism. With his characteristic wit, Plimpton recounts his
experience of a month practising and living with the team – getting to
know the pressures and tensions rookies confront, the hijinks, taking
behind the scenes snaps and capturing a host of American football rites
and rituals.
Plimpton followed up Paper Lion with forays into professional boxing, golf, ice-hockey, baseball and in Mad Ducks & Bears he revisits the world of gridiron football. He was quite a guy.
Yellow Jersey Press are celebrating the fiftieth publication of Paper Lion by rejacketing this series of classic sports writing.
