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.