Home › Books › There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascen…
There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension
by
84/99
Critics' Rating Index
59/99
Readers' Rating Index
n/a
Scholars' Citation Index
89/99
Volume of Reviews
88/99
Volume of Reader Ratings
Sign in to add to your shelf, rate, or review this book.
About This Book
Growing up in Columbus, Ohio, in the 1990s, Hanif Abdurraqib witnessed a golden era of basketball, one in which legends like LeBron James were forged, and countless others weren't. His lifelong love of the game leads Abdurraqib into a lyrical, historical, and emotionally rich exploration of what it means to make it, who we think deserves success, the tensions between excellence and expectation, and the very notion of role models, all of which he expertly weaves together with intimate, personal storytelling. "Here is where I would like to tell you about the form on my father's jump shot," Abdurraqib writes. "The truth, though, is that I saw my father shoot a basketball only one time." There's Always This Year is a triumph, brimming with joy, pain, solidarity, comfort, outrage, and hope. No matter the subject of his keen focus—whether it's basketball, or music, or performance—Hanif Abdurraqib's exquisite writing is always poetry, always profound, and always a clarion call to radically reimagine how we think about our culture, our country, and ourselves.
Reviews
"Fans of Abdurraqib and basketball will enjoy the book."
"Lyrically stunning and profoundly moving, the confessional text wanders through a variety of topics without ever losing its vulnerability, insight, or focus."
"With carefully constructed and imaginative prose, he immerses us in the basketball culture of his native East Columbus, Ohio, telling stories of hoop dreams, both deferred and fully realized ..."
"He is also, in this book, more formally audacious with prose than he's ever been before."
"The narrative works as if by alchemy, forging personal anecdotes, sports history, and cultural analysis into a bracing contemplation of the relationship between sport teams and their communities."
"Abdurraqib also offers a nuanced line of thought that forces the reader to recontextualize their definition of success in the face of insurmountable pressure ..."
"Abdurraqib has found an entertaining way to make the act of watching sport akin to witnessing miracles."
"It's another remarkable book from one of the country's smartest cultural critics ..."
"Abdurraqib keeps multiple balls in the air as he swerves, spins, and scores, and every thoughtfully considered and vividly described element and emotion, action and moment, ultimately, connects."
Preview
Reader Reviews
0 reviewsSign in to write a review.
No reader reviews yet. Be the first!