A Review Of Peter King's New Book "Monday Morning Quarterback"

by Dave Choate on Nov 18, 2009 12:39 PM EST in Editorial

I'm a bit late to the party here, but I wanted to take the opportunity to ~~gloat about free stuff~~ review a copy of Peter King's book which was sent to me by Sports Illustrated Books. King is a guy I've read infrequently over the years in Sports Illustrated—mostly in doctor's office and at the dentist's, because I never had a subscription—but I liked his columns enough to sit down and read through the the book in a few sittings.

While much of this book is made up of classic columns with added commentary and tidbits, most of it was new to me, and that made for an enjoyable read most of the way through. While they're not all truly classics in that sense of the word—nothing against a high school girl's field hockey team, but I found myself speed reading through that bit a little—but the football stuff is great. I especially enjoy some of the older stuff, where King takes a look at where he nailed his predictions and where that crystal ball might've been broken.

His top 100 players list is also an interesting read, even if it's decidedly light on Falcons. That might have something to do with our history, but who knows? I'll concur with fellow bloggers who have reviewed it that it gives you a behind-the-scenes look at football journalism that's usually frank and entertaining. Even the non-football stuff, is usually worth your time, dealing as it does with the military, charity and (why not?) airports. One column, where King recounts having to put down the long-time family dog, is refreshingly free of cliche and a tough read for anyone who loves their pets.

In that way and many others, it's a different sort of football book. You're not reading it for cohesion or a logical progression of columns; you're reading it for the writing and to get a sense of King's career and snapshots of the NFL landscape during the times he covered. I'd definitely recommend giving it a read.

If you're interested in a once-read copy of the book, I'll be giving it away for free raffle-style. Just indicate your interest in the comments.

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Sound like a good read

put me down for the raffle

In Dimitroff we trust

by Bonhoffer on Nov 18, 2009 12:56 PM EST reply actions

Me me me

Generally enjoy his writing, book should be interesting.

by tom slick on Nov 18, 2009 1:12 PM EST reply actions

Sure

I like to read. Why not.

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Nov 18, 2009 1:21 PM EST reply actions

Raffle me up Dave

… or something like that

Reporter: How will you address all of the dropped passes?

Mike Smith: I don’t think that we were as sharp as we have been catching the football. It’s something that is very fixable. It’s VERY fixable.

by FrankyWren on Nov 18, 2009 2:14 PM EST reply actions

me!!!!!!!

sounds awesome

by !AtlFalcons-fan! on Nov 18, 2009 3:23 PM EST reply actions

ive got this book on deliver.

although in other King related news, every week in his online article Monday Morning QB he ranks the top 15 teams…it appears after our loss to the Panthers we are no longer in the top 15 according to him….but the Panthers are :S

Would like him to explain how it works that we drop from around 8 to out of it in one game. Sure Matty Ice has been thawing slightly but the rest of the team are still playing well.

go hard or go home

by TO falcon on Nov 18, 2009 5:38 PM EST reply actions