bdurraqib uses one subject as a lens through which he views the culture at large — it's about hoops, sure, but it's also about so much more. It's another remarkable book from one of the country's smartest cultural critics ... Abdurraqib's chronicle of the game is fascinating, but it's his analysis of James — as a person, a baller, a phenomenon — that shines ... Another brilliant book from Abdurraqib, who has firmly established himself as one of the country's most original and talented authors. It's also a piercing look at how we consider others, as well as ourselves.
Abdurraqib’s willingness to pile everything he’s able into his quasi-autobiographical, proto-philosophical inquiry into turn-of-the-twenty-first-century basketball ... In no way a conventional biography or appreciation of one athlete’s career. It is more a portrait of Abdurraqib-the-artist as a young man ... He is a poet. He is also, in this book, more formally audacious with prose than he’s ever been before.
Abdurraqib has found an entertaining way to make the act of watching sport akin to witnessing miracles. If you are looking to read something that 'pushes against the door of reality and offers an elsewhere', I recommend this title.
With carefully constructed and imaginative prose, he immerses us in the basketball culture of his native East Columbus, Ohio, telling stories of hoop dreams, both deferred and fully realized ... Beautiful reflections on personal and communal journeys that have the power to transform anyone willing to step on the court.
[A] unique, memoir-propelled, far-ranging, and affecting inquiry ... Abdurraqib keeps multiple balls in the air as he swerves, spins, and scores, and every thoughtfully considered and vividly described element and emotion, action and moment, ultimately, connects. An exhilarating, heartfelt, virtuoso, and profound performance.
Lyrically stunning and profoundly moving, the confessional text wanders through a variety of topics without ever losing its vulnerability, insight, or focus. Abdurraqib’s use of second person is sometimes cloying, but overall, this is a formally inventive, gorgeously personal triumph. An innovative memoir encompassing sports, mortality, belonging, and home.
Triumphant ... The narrative works as if by alchemy, forging personal anecdotes, sports history, and cultural analysis into a bracing contemplation of the relationship between sport teams and their communities. This is another slam dunk from Abdurraqib.
