I couldnt be arsed reading thru this whole thread but if not previouly mentioned “Rough Ride” by Paul Kimmage is a very insightful and emotive novel about drug use in sport and the general insanity of professional cycling.
Liam Hayes’s “out of our skins” is a decent read also.
my old man reccomends billy morgan’s book but i never looked at it.
[quote=“mickee321”]I couldnt be arsed reading thru this whole thread but if not previouly mentioned “Rough Ride” by Paul Kimmage is a very insightful and emotive novel about drug use in sport and the general insanity of professional cycling.
Liam Hayes’s “out of our skins” is a decent read also.
my old man reccomends billy morgan’s book but i never looked at it.[/quote]
Think Morgan’s book is written by Billy Kunteane which rules it out straight away for me. Bit like Cody’s by Martin Cuntheny.
Kimmages is a fine read alright mickee, but I though Hayes book was a pile of shite, nothing memorable to it whatsoever imo.
Nail on the head there. You’ll see them getting little plugs for their colleagues’ books in articles coming up to Christmas too.
My Da got Hayes’ book out of the library years ago and photocopied large sections of it, the scab. I read about 80 or 100 pages of it and thought it was very good. His newspaper articles are pure shite though obviously.
Rough Ride should be in the top five “books you must read” for any sports fan.
There has been a lot of good cycling books over the last decade, it’s a sport that lends itself to good writing, a bit like boxing. Planning to read “From Lance to Landis”, “The Death of Marco Pantani” and “In Search of Robert Millar” in the near future.
Looking forward to Bagman 2 by Colin Byrne.
The Caddie’s Role columns in the Times are a fine read and Byrne seems like an anlright sort 
[quote=“sid waddell”]My Da got Hayes’ book out of the library years ago and photocopied large sections of it, the scab. I read about 80 or 100 pages of it and thought it was very good. His newspaper articles are pure shite though obviously.
Rough Ride should be in the top five “books you must read” for any sports fan.
There has been a lot of good cycling books over the last decade, it’s a sport that lends itself to good writing, a bit like boxing. Planning to read “From Lance to Landis”, “The Death of Marco Pantani” and “In Search of Robert Millar” in the near future.[/quote]
I never realised a book had come out on Pantani, anyone know if its worth a read? Was a big fan of him, would love to read a good book about his rise and downfall.
I kept onto a lot of the old books in the house I did up, there are tons of hurling books there, don’t know where to start.
Loughnanes book is there, is that any good?
Also Hurling: The revolution years is supposed to be decent isn’t it?
I also found a book on the history of Doonbeg football club, I might put that to the back of the shelf for a while.
[quote=“The Runt”]I kept onto a lot of the old books in the house I did up, there are tons of hurling books there, don’t know where to start.
Loughnanes book is there, is that any good?
Also Hurling: The revolution years is supposed to be decent isn’t it?
I also found a book on the history of Doonbeg football club, I might put that to the back of the shelf for a while.[/quote]
The Revolution Years is a great read Runt, I’d start with that. I don’t remember much about Loughnanes book, but it was definitely better than Mike Macs for what it is worth. Last Man Standing is one of the more enjoyable books I’ve read in recent years by Christy O Connor.
I have the attention span of goldfish at the moment though and it looks quiet a hefty tome. I started Tom Barry - Guerilla days in Ireland last week and I’d say I have only 10 pages read.
thinly veiled “im a simpleton post by runt”
the more you declare about yourself here the more I think rintintin is a noble person to be hanging around with you - does he get money from the state for looking after you?
[quote=“north county corncrake”]thinly veiled “im a simpleton post by runt”
the more you declare about yourself here the more I think rintintin is a noble person to be hanging around with you - does he get money from the state for looking after you?[/quote]
I was waiting for that.
not great on the names of the books but here is my top 5 in no particular order
okay, top 7 but all I read are sports books really
Yeah I’ve read the Pantani book. Liked it but didn’t love it. Your man was obviously very fond of Pantani and while he doesn’t defend all his actions it comes across quite clearly which doesn’t make it the most impartial book ever.
Worth a read though.
Cycling does make for good books - Jeremy Whittle’s Bad Blood isn’t bad, but I don’t think anything really compares to A Rough Ride for the combination of an expos and the insight into a professional athlete’s mind. He did much the same of the latter with the Cascarino book, unfortunately Cascarino is just a pure cock.
Anyone hear Cas on the Last Word the other day by the end. Won some poker tournament (even though I reckon he’s shite, I saw him showing his cards after he folded before even though the hand was still going on the idiot) at the weekend and won 100 grand or something. Says to Matt Cooper “the best bit is that I divorced the ex-wife last year and she won’t get a penny of it!” What a complete moron.
Loughnane’s book is middling, still waiting for a really good book on Clare in the ‘90s, something akin to SLR’s Limerick book would be great…
Just finished Unlimited Heartbreak, it’s a great read although the narration jars at times compared to the stuff from the interviewees.
Last Man Standing is a great read, I doubt you’d learn anything new from The Revolution Years, it’s well written but is reads like a cut and paste job.
Older GAA books I really liked were Over the Bar and Humphries’ first book Green Fields.
Revolution Years is great stuff alright. Should get that Keith Duggan book from a few years ago too- ‘The Lifelong Season’.
Dan, Cusack’s book was good alright-nothing special though.
Futebol is a great read. Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life: Amazon.co.uk: Alex Bellos, Socrates: Books
Paddy Agnews tome on the Italian games - Forza Italia - suffers from his attempt to bring general Italian life and politics into the equation and he, in my opinion, focuses too much on this aspects of Calcio.
Reading Eamon Dunphy’s book at present and I’m thourougly enjoying a seemingly honest pro’s account of a season in the game.
Also, in light of the current dealings of the hallowed FIFA organisation, FOUL! by Adam Jennings is excellent and exposes a lot of the underhand dealings of one Mr Sepp Blatter and his cronies on the FIFA Executive Committee.
Cusack book wins William Hill award
Cork hurler Dnal g Cusacks full and frank autobiography has been named William Hill sports book of the year. Come what May, written in conjunction with Tom Humphries of the Irish Times, received the accolade at lunchtime today.
Primarily, Cusacks book tells the story of a life in hurling. His childhood and adolescence, his close relationship with his family, and his pride and sense of identification with Cloyne are all chronicled in detail.
His central role in the Cork hurling dispute is also explained, as is Cusacks relationship, or lack thereof, with the current Kilkenny panel.
But it was the disclosure of his sexuality that grabbed media attention. Cusacks descriptions of his bisexual past and of coming out to family, friends and team-mates take up but a few chapters in the book.
Nevertheless, as the first Irish sporting star to publicly declare his homosexuality, Cusacks admissions dominated discussion in the weeks after the books release and ensured the book would be one of the most important published in Ireland this year.
"Taking the decision to write this book was a difficult one but once I decided, I knew it had to be an honest account of my life, Cusack said today.
An essential part of this process was Tom Humphries’ skill and dedication to the project and his outrageous sense of humour which made the process less onerous, I would like to thank him sincerely."
The great thing about Cascarino’s book was that Kimmage managed to show what a miserly, whiny, pain in the arse Cas can be without the big man noticing (that’s if he ever read it)
I’ve always found Cas to be quite honest about what a prick he is and can be in general.