Review - The Agony of Victory

The Agony of Victory (2007), by Steve Friedman, is a book of essays that have been written to explore "Champions and the Price They Pay for Glory" (and "When Winning Isn't Enough", which makes this the rare book with two secondary titles). These essays were written at various times (from 1987 to 2007) for various publications.

I don't like to dwell on secondary titles too much; the author rarely has much to do with picking them, as I understand it. But for a book with such a generic primary title, they become important in deciding whether to buy or rent a paricular book. These titles are quite misleading.

Before I get into that, let me say that I quite liked this book. The stories of runners, hikers, cyclists, bowlers (plus one each from basketball, boxing, and golfing) are fine personality profiles, most quite poignant. This is not the place to come if you're looking for insight into the sports themselves - I learned nothing I didn't already know about any of them as disciplines. However, the author, who has worked for GQ and Esquire, writes stories that do what good magazine profiles should do, tell stories about the subjects that inform and touch us.

But this isn't a book about champions or winners. For every Marco Pantani, the great bicycle racer, or Gerry Lindgren, record-holding track star, there is a Steve Vaught, who walked across the country to lose some of his 410 pounds. Or the author's father, a golfer of great commitment but no great fame.

Some of the subjects are clearly mentally ill. Some, like John Moylan, who survived 9/11 by walking down the stairs from his World Trade Center office, are only peripherally sports people at all. The amazing survival story of Danelle Ballengee is recounted, and is surprisingly intense (despite a lack of suspense), but there is only brief mention made of her many accomplishments in adventure racing.

So, while the impression one gets from the cover and flyleaf is misleading, the book is still a fine read. If you aren't moved by the story of Willie McCool, you're short on heart (even if his story is, once again, only marginally about sports). These are first-rate personality profiles.