Mad Ducks and Bears, Steve Almond
Mad Ducks and Bears, Steve Almond
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

Mad Ducks and Bears
Football Revisited

Author: Steve Almond, George Plimpton

Narrator: L.J. Ganser

Unabridged: 9 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/26/2016

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

George Plimpton's follow-up to Paper Lion, one of his personal favorites among his classic books -- repackaged and including a foreword from Steve Almond and never-before-seen content from the Plimpton archives.

In Mad Ducks and Bears, George Plimpton's engaging companion to Paper Lion, Plimpton focuses on two of the most entertaining and roguish linemen and former teammates -- Alex Karras ("Mad Ducks") and John Gordy ("Bears"), both of whom went on to achieve brilliant post-football success.

A more reflective, less madcap book than Plimpton's other work, Mad Ducks and Bears is no less truthful and searching. In this fond exploration of football's values and follies, Plimpton rejoins his two teammates to discuss their careers in this brutal but captivating game. The result is an astute exploration into the fascinating lives and motivations of the players at home, in the locker room, and on the field.

About Steve Almond

Steve Almond was raised in Palo Alto, California and was a newspaper reporter in Texas and Florida before writing his first book, the story collection My Life in Heavy Metal. His second book, Candy Freak, a New York Times bestseller, was named the Booksense Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year and won the American Library Association Alex Award. His short fiction has been included in The Best American Short Stories and Pushcart Prize anthologies, and he writes commentary and journalism regularly for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the Los Angeles Times. Steve lives outside Boston with his wife and three children.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Timothy on January 18, 2012

George Plimpton initially wants to write a book about the technique of offensive and defensive lineman with The Mad Duck (Alex Karras) and The Bear (John Gordy) being interviewed for research. During their first meeting, the author, George, us in down lineman position in the apartment of one of the......more

Goodreads review by Pj on August 02, 2008

George Plimpton's books are very funny - this one is when he tried to play hockey with a pro hockey team - he has others about playing with a pro football team and being a caddy for a pro golfer, etc. - they are all hillarious.......more

Goodreads review by Matthew on March 22, 2018

I don't understand what the point of this book was. There were some pretty funny parts. And there were some pretty funny parts that turned out to be lies. And there were some pretty funny parts that seemed like swirling mists over deep canyons of truth, or something. The book is mostly anecdotes. I'l......more

Goodreads review by David on May 10, 2020

Mad Ducks and Bears by George Plimpton (Random House 1973) (796.22+/-). The author follows his success with Paper Lion by writing another book about pro football, this time focusing on the foundation of the game: the offensive and defensive lines. The book features extensive interviews with teammate......more

Goodreads review by Michael on July 03, 2009

lesser known sequel to paper lion, i liked this one even more. it focuses on the line (the original working title was high numbers) and the entire book ends up being focused on john "bear" gordy and alex "mad duck" karras. hilarious, insightful, and a few times phenomenally sad- i believe this is th......more


Quotes

"Plimpton has done it again."—Sports Illustrated

"[An] irreverent and roguish account of the lives of the two linemen.... Pure gold."—Chicago Tribune

"A delight--more entertaining, if possible, than I remembered... the reader leaves George Plimpton's wide world of sports with deep reluctance.... His prose is as elegant and seemingly effortless as Ted Williams's swing or an Arnold Palmer iron shot.... His teammates recede--like the old baseball players vanishing into the cornfield in Field of Dreams, taking their magical world with them but living on in fond memory."—Edward Kosner, Wall Street Journal

"Sports memoirs, like humor collections, rarely outlive their authors, but Plimpton's books have aged gracefully and even matured. Today they have the additional (and unintended) appeal of vivid history, bearing witness to a mythical era."—Nathaniel Rich, New York Review of Books