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Season on the Brink |  | Author: John Feinstein
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Seller: Books Squared
Rating:  40 reviews
Sales Rank: 56555
Media: Paperback
Edition: Fireside
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.6 x 1
ISBN: 0671688774
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.323092
EAN: 9780671688776
ASIN: 0671688774
Publication Date: November 15, 1989
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Why is A Season on the Brink the bestselling sports book of all time? The answer is easy: Bobby Knight. Audaciously brilliant, exasperatingly volatile, and never boring, the Indiana University basketball coach is Greek drama and comedy neatly wrapped in a red sweater. Like all high-strung people, Knight is particularly interesting when things don't go according to his playbook. John Feinstein had the good fortune to follow Knight and his Hoosiers through a difficult 1985-86 campaign; that Feinstein could watch that season attached to Knight's hip gives A Season on the Brink its sights and its sounds. That such closeness allowed entry into Knight's heart gives the book its fury. The combination is irresistible.
Product Description
A Season on the Brink chronicles the basketball season that John Feinstein spent following the Indiana Hoosiers and their fiery coach, Bob Knight. Knight granted Feinstein an unprecedented inside look at college basketball -- with complete access to every moment of the season. Feinstein saw and heard it all -- practices, team meetings, strategy sessions, and mid-game huddles -- during Knight's struggle to avoid a losing season. A Season on the Brink not only captures the drama and pressure of big-time college basketball but paints a vivid portrait of a complex, brilliant coach walking a fine line between genius and madness.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 40
 The Rabbit Hunter July 18, 2010
OlingerStories
John Feinstein's look at Bob Knight and the 1986 Indiana Hoosiers is actually a inspired fleshing out of Frank Deford's bonus piece in SI on Knight, "The Rabbit Hunter." Feinstein, like Deford before him, understands that Knight is a man who can never let it drop. But, because he never gets off the horse, his teams often achieved greatness. However, in 1986, Knight's gift for exactness wore thin and the team didn't reach its potential. Of course, the kicker to the story is that the 1987 team cemented Knight as an all-time coach as it overachieved as much as any team in the past half century.
Feinstein's journalistic skills are on display with a narrative that reads like a novel. His best book, and for my money, the best book ever on a coach, and that regardless of whether you love or hate Knight.
 A love-hate relationship December 19, 2009
S. G. Fortosis (North Port, Florida)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I read A Season on the Brink and found it entertaining. It is the account of the 1985-86 basketball season of the Indiana Hoosiers. Feinstein is a colorful and straightforward writer and he shoots from the hip. Knight may not have been very happy with the resulting book, but surely he couldn't expect Feinstein to sugar coat him as a coach who never lost his temper, never made bad decisions, never crossed the line.
I believe much of Knight's public has a love-hate attitude toward him. He can be a warm friend and it is evident that, when someone he cares about is in trouble, he goes to great lengths to comfort, encourage, help in any way he can. The man has heart, but he also has a dark side. Did he abuse players through the years? I would have to say yes. I'm amazed in one sense that he got so many blue chip players to play for him. I would have refused in a heartbeat, knowing that he would crush me with his screaming and his profanity. But I guess it speaks to his amazing reputation as a smart coach that so many players gravitated to his program. Players learned a great deal from him.
I must admit I resented the constant psychological games Knight played with his team. He would curse, cajole, encourage, give pep talks, scream in-your-face dress downs, and then act as if nothing unusual had ever happened.
But in regard to this book, I still say it was entertaining to read and it's a great basketball story.
Absolute Must Read!!! July 23, 2009
Kyle Hach (Iowa City, Iowa)
If you like basketball, and have enjoyed the ever entertaining Bobby Knight over his years of coaching, you have to read this book. John Feinstein's writing on Bobby Knight is well done and he portrays a good image of him...well maybe "good image" is not the right wording. Regardless, it is an interesting book, and you find out how gifted Bobby Knight truly was as a coach, even if he was not the best at handling his players. The book is much more interesting than the movie ESPN had on a few years ago.
One of the great sports books February 6, 2009
Joseph C. Sweeney (Portland, Maine)
This one goes in the sports book hall of fame, along with "boys of summer", "ball four", "breaks of the game" and a bunch of others. Simply put, any serious sports fan who has NOT read this is ill informed and not allowed to say anything about bobby knight. The coach of IU is fascinating and actually comes off pretty well despite the excessive language. Coach Knight was upset with feinstein for using his actual words, but in today's media world, it doesn't seem all that bad.
Can't be recommended highly enough for sports fans and people interested in American culture in the 1980's! Enjoy!
an assembled hall of Hoosier magic November 28, 2007
Paul J. Fitzgerald
As best I can tell, this is the finest book yet written about Indiana University basketball and Bob Knight, and it's 21 years old. Feinstein is a top notch biographer and he doesn't sugar coat anything in this book. It's filled with interesting anecdotes and quite a few raw quotes. The mid-1980s was a magical time for IU basketball, including in their rivalry with Purdue and Gene Keady. And Feinstein tagging along for a whole season gives the reader a good feel for some of the magic of basketball in the state of Indiana, as portrayed in the movie Hoosiers. I think Feinstein is quite objective in his portrayal of the good, the bad, and the ugly in Knight. Regardless of your opinion of Knight, I think it's clear that he cares about his players, the sport of college basketball, and about running a clean program. Feinstein ends by stating that the then 46-year-old Knight is "A young man with a bright future. If he doesn't destroy it." Knight may have come close to doing so around 2000, but he's recovered nicely and seems to be doing well at Texas Tech. Author of Adjust Your Brain: A Practical Theory for Maximizing Mental Health.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 40
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