JUNE 2018 - AudioFile
The author dives into the life of Jim Brown, arguably football’s greatest running back of all time. Through solid reporting, Zirin captures the essence of the fiercely independent Brown. The biography covers his youth, playing career, acting roles, relationships, work with the Amer-I-Can empowerment organization, and a litany of domestic violence charges. Zirin narrates in a relaxed tone that never wavers throughout the audiobook. While many famous people such as former teammates, comedian Richard Pryor, and others, are quoted, Zirin narrates straightforwardly throughout, a smart choice. Zirin, who writes often on race and sports, has done a nice job on the Hall of Famer. M.B. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
02/12/2018
In a far-reaching biography that goes well beyond football, Zirin (What’s My Name, Fool?) narrates the life of NFL legend Jim Brown. Brown walked away from the Cleveland Browns in 1966 as the NFL’s leading rusher after only nine seasons to pursue acting and become a civil rights activist. Readers shouldn’t be surprised that Zirin directs much of his attention to Brown’s postfootball career, given the author’s background as sports editor for the Nation and a columnist for the Progressive. Zirin focuses chapters on Brown’s entrepreneurial endeavors and political affiliations—including support of both Richard Nixon’s and Donald Trump’s presidencies. Brown also created the Black Economic Union (a nationwide attempt to boost black businesses) and Amer-I-Can (a gang-intervention program) while defending himself against numerous allegations of violence against women. Throughout, Zirin portrays Brown as someone deeply aware of the “unassailable masculinity” in everything he does, both on and off the field. Given its breadth and detail, this stands as the definitive biography of Brown. (June)
From the Publisher
Jim Brown is heroic but no hero. Dave Zirin gives us an extraordinary life of fame, manhood and masculinity that is not always a compliment to its subject but is undeniably important. Last Man Standing confronts the three third rails of American Life—race, class and gender—through an American icon whose triumphs are matched only by his flaws.”—Howard Bryant, Author of The Heritage: Black Athletes, a Divided America, and the Politics of Patriotism
“Dave Zirin incisively explores the fault lines of race, gender, masculinity, and celebrity while chronicling the career of an American legend. As athletes and women speak out against racial and sexual violence, Jim Brown: Last Man Standing provides compelling context for understanding the urgency of today’s activism.”—Barbara Smith, Black Feminist Author and Activist, Co-founder of the Combahee River Collective and Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press
“In this deeply engrossing, bracingly honest book, Zirin reveals that ‘Jim Brown’ is far more than a mythic name, far more than one of the greatest athletes of all time. This is no fawning homage. This is a sculpted work of truth, a quintessentially American story that will resonate today in a time of burgeoning social activism among athletes.”—Jonathan Coleman, Author of Long Way to Go: Black and White in America and coauthor (with Jerry West) of West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life
“Jim brown, the most fascinating, complex, and gifted athlete of my time, has finally gotten the powerful and graceful biography he deserves. Now I understand why he always took my breath away, in his presence or watching him play.”—Robert Lipsyte, author SportsWorld: An American Dreamland
“Jim Brown has been one of the most mercurial, headline-making figures atop the intersection of sports and activism for decades. Dave Zirin has shrewdly captured this man’s odyssey—and psyche—in this smart, timely, and fearless chronicle.”—Wil Haygood, Author of Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination that Changed America
“Dave Zirin’s writing is, much like Jim Brown, tough, powerful, blunt and uncompromising. This book is the perfect match of writer and subject.”—Wright Thompson, Senior Writer at ESPN
JUNE 2018 - AudioFile
The author dives into the life of Jim Brown, arguably football’s greatest running back of all time. Through solid reporting, Zirin captures the essence of the fiercely independent Brown. The biography covers his youth, playing career, acting roles, relationships, work with the Amer-I-Can empowerment organization, and a litany of domestic violence charges. Zirin narrates in a relaxed tone that never wavers throughout the audiobook. While many famous people such as former teammates, comedian Richard Pryor, and others, are quoted, Zirin narrates straightforwardly throughout, a smart choice. Zirin, who writes often on race and sports, has done a nice job on the Hall of Famer. M.B. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2018-03-19
One of the greatest—and most controversial—athletes of all time gets a well-balanced biographical and historical treatment.Jim Brown (b. 1936) is arguably the best football player in the history of the sport, a truly larger-than-life figure who may have also been the best lacrosse player ever. "From the moment he stepped onto a playing field," writes Nation sports editor Zirin (Brazil's Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, the Olympics, and the Fight for Democracy, 2014, etc.), "the operative emotion expressed in describing Jim Brown has been reverence." Few would argue, but as always in Zirin's books, the playing field is only one element of the narrative equation. The author ticks all the biographical boxes—multisport star in both high school and college; tumultuous career at Syracuse, where he truly began to understand the scourge of racism; Hall of Fame career with the Cleveland Browns; up-and-down forays into Hollywood; lifelong activism—but what is most refreshing about this book is Zirin's focus on Brown's character, both awe-inspiring and highly flawed. Brown has spent his life fighting racism and advocating for economic and social justice for the black community, but he has also been accused of rampant misogyny and instances of violence against women. He has brought together rival gang members in his own home but also managed to shut out some of those closest to him due to stubbornness to remain on top in a "world of competing male egos and unfettered ids." As Zirin notes, for Brown, maintaining his manhood—however he conceives of it—has been the most important driving factor of his life. Brown simply refuses to be "soft" in any way, and he is not shy about criticizing the current athletes who, writes the author, "have fumbled the baton passed to them and surrendered an awesome opportunity to affect seismic social change." Zirin, who spent considerable time with Brown, deftly navigates this rocky terrain, providing ample room for Brown to tell his own story and for others to weigh in as well.A truly rounded, fully fleshed portrait of a significant 20th-century figure.
