The Punch: One Night Two Lives and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever: Amazon.ca: John Feinstein: Books

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He had always worried about the scoreboards. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

41 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

Average Customer Review

3.2 out of 5 stars (41 customer reviews)

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2.0 out of 5 stars Misses his own point, Feb 9 2004

By

patchman512 (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Punch: One Night Two Lives and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever (Hardcover)

In the introduction, Feinstein tells us how compelling he found this subject and how he pursued Tomjanovich and Washington rather than writing a book on golf. Then he inexplicably rushes through the book without apparent editing or proofreading. As many of the other reviewers point out, the repetition is extremely distracting. Of course, Feinstein's work never really qualifies as fine literature, but he's usually a very good sports journalist. This plainly is not his best work, which is too bad because he was right -- there was an interesting story here.
Regarding that story, the author's presentation was reasonable but could have been more comprehensive. In particular, he presents the punch and it's aftermath as an unfortunate incident -- almost an accident. Although he mentions in passing that Tomjanovich came close to dying, he never explores just what that would have meant, both to Washington and to professional sports. Instead, he recounts both players' careers and alternates between sympathetic and pathetic portrayals of Washington. He seems to want us to choose sides and then tells us that there are no sides.
As for Washington, it's unfortunate that this one event has overshadowed all of the good things that he has done inside and outside of basketball. But I have to agree with John Lucas that Washington has never owned up and taken responsibility for his actions. He refers to events using the passive voice. He childishly blames someone else for starting the fight. Heck, Tomjanovich takes more responsibility for what happened than Washington does. And if we use the measure that bad people are people who do bad things, for one moment at least Kermit Washington was a bad person.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Deja View all over again, Feb 3 2004

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M. A. Ney "Irishwasherwoman" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever (Paperback)

Like so many other reviewers, I concur with their repeated assaults on the repetitiveness of this book. I tend to read several books at a time, never having a problem picking up where I left off. However, with this book, I kept feeling that I was reading backwards with the rehashing of events and personalities time after time. A good story, yes, but a difficult read.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Redundant as All Get Out, Jan 23 2004

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Nathan I. Stromberg "natestromberg" (St. Paul, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever (Paperback)

The first 40 pages of "The Punch" will have you racing to the next page- It's a great opener to a great story about the most infamous fight in basketball history. Feinstein has a great oportunity to tell the story of Rudy Tomjonavich and Kermit Washington before and after the punch, and for the most part, the book is fairly interesting. The problem is that he describes the incident and the immediate effects brilliantly in the first 40 pages, so for the next 250 pages there is a strong redundancy. At times I was amazed that I was reading the exact same paragraphs I had already read previously in the book. The book would be exceptional if the author had the trust in the reader to know that they would remember the events of the books beginning and thus cut all the re-telling. Still- I enjoyed this book because it shed a lot of insight not just into these two players lives, but also the NBA and basketball as a sport. It is definatly worth the read but be prepared to skim-

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Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Promises the world, delivers squat
I hadn't read a sports book since junior high school, and if John Feinstein truly is one of the best authors in the genre, this stinker may well be my last. Read more

Published on Dec 30 2003

3.0 out of 5 stars Mind-numbing repetition, but strangely compelling
If you are reading this, then you already know what the book is about, so there is no need for me to describe "The Punch" and who was involved. Read more

Published on Dec 25 2003 by E. Davis