Lately, my Friend Who Cooks and I have really gotten into hockey. We've been attending Indiana Ice games and watching Miracle far too often. Hockey is a fantastic sport. I may even like it more than football (and I think football is the greatest sport ever invented). There's action, sweet gear, and fights. Even more importantly, there's major chances for injury. Hockey brings out the brute in me, the lover of violence and danger. Much like I love movies where men shoot each other while chasing elaborate plotlines (see The Departed), I enjoy hockey because it is far outside the realm of "normal" for me. I can't ever imagine myself shooting an informer or checking a guy while slamming him in the face with the end of a stick, so these things work as my escapism.
So how does this apply to books, you might wonder? Well, that is exactly my point. There's not enough of a connection. In my sudden hockey-obsession, I realized that it is next to impossible to find quality fiction about hockey, or sports in general. The only serious one I can think of is Updike's Rabbit books, which have to overcome my inate dislike of John Updike (RIP, sorry) if they want to be read. But outside of that, I haven't been able to find any good books about sports - about the culture of them, about the players or fans or coaches. Why? I want these things to be connected! So this entry isn't so much a rumination as much as it is a call for help.
Here's what I want:
1. More books involving some aspect of sports - and the more violent the better!
2. Recommendations for what to read as a lover of both literature and hockey? Even nonfiction works at this point. Any suggestions?
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Hockey!
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