Life on the Run

What readers first notice about Bill Bradley's exceptional book about his life as a pro-athlete, key basketball player for the New York Knicks, is his incredible candor. Bradley holds nothing back—giving us the straight story, describing in full detail the physical and emotional position on the court, to what was said and how it was said, to the somewhat surreal experience of seeing and experiencing the fans in their seats as they applaud or throw things.Bradley's on-court writing is as fast and direct and full of vigor as the game of basketball. The book conveys to us what it was really all about: how it felt to be him in the moment. And he succeeds. What is more striking perhaps is that Bradley balances this with his off-court writing: scenes of driving on the bus with the team through a grey downtown Cleveland as they make their way to the airport—industrial cities that have long ago burnt out, he tell us, the car wheels sucking on the wet pavement. Bradley...