Ten sports book that will change your life!

In no particular order:

Paper Lion by George Plimpton
In Paper Lion, journalist George Plimpton (pictured right) joins the training camp of the 1963 Detroit Lions on the premise of trying out to be the team’s third-string quarterback. Paper Lion was Plimpton’s first magnificent effort in his participatory sports writing series.

Friday Night Lights by HG Bissinger
The synopsis is unpromising, but the final product is brilliant. The book follows the story of the 1988 Permian High School Panthers football team as they make a run towards the Texas state championship.

The Great American Novel by Philip Roth
A wonderful mock history of baseball, Roth’s comic masterpiece and an encyclopedic satire of mid-20th century American life - sections of the book, which recounts the story of a struggling baseball outfit, will have you falling out of your chair with laughter.

Brilliant Orange by David Winner
Brilliant Orange is a very personal and compelling study of the weird and wonderful history of Dutch soccer and society of the 20th century.

Over The Bar by Breandán Ó hEithir
Breandán Ó hEithir’s masterful stands head and shoulders above the rest: it’s the very best GAA reminiscence ever published and really shames several uninspired histories and curiously bloodless autobiographies which can be found on the bookshelves this Christmas.

The Game by Ken Dryden
The book is a non-fiction account of the 1979 Montreal Canadiens detailing what it is like to be a professional hockey player. Dryden writes with intelligence and insight about the life of an athlete coping with the demands of a professional sport and reconciling these pressures with life outside the arena.

Stolen Season by David Lamb
A foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, Lamb came back from several years of covering foreign hot spots and decided to get in touch with America by spending a summer following minor-league baseball.

The Fight by Norman Mailer
The Fight tells the story of 'The Rumble in the Jungle' in a magnificently blunt writing style. Mailer had the good fortune to be there and his writing on this magical experience is spellbinding.

The Book Of Fame by Lloyd Jones
This semi-fictional describes the 1905 All-Black tour of the British Isles when a group of New Zealanders landed in Europe like a rock thrown through a window and made rugby history. The Book of Fame belongs to the category of whimsical sporting chronicle pioneered by JL Carr’s How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the FA Cup, but it’s cunningly written and deviously constructed.

Three Nights In August by Buzz Bissinger
Three 2003 Major League baseball games as seen through the eyes of the St. Louis Cardinals’ manager Tony La Russa - a seasoned veteran who defends the game’s traditions from selfish players and bloodless technocrats.

Brian McDonnell