{"product_id":"the-amateurs-the-story-of-four-young-men-and-their-quest-for-an-olympic-gold-medal-9780449910030","title":"The Amateurs: The Story of Four Young Men and Their Quest for an Olympic Gold Medal","description":"\"Astonishing . . . Moving . . . One of the best books ever written about a sport.\"\u003cbr\u003e *Walter Clemons\u003cbr\u003e Newsweek \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A PENETRATING, FASCINATING AND REMARKABLY SUSPENSEFUL NARRATIVE.\"\u003cbr\u003e *David Guy\u003cbr\u003e Chicago Tribune\u003cbr\u003eIn The Amateurs, David Halberstam once again displays the unique brand of reportage, both penetrating and supple, that distinguished his bestselling The Best and the Brightest and October 1964. This time he has taken for his subject the dramatic and special world of amateur rowing. While other athletes are earning fortunes in salaries and-or endorsements, the oarsmen gain fame only with each other and strive without any hope of financial reward.\u003cbr\u003eWhat drives these men to endure a physical pain known to no other sport? Who are they? Where do they come from? How do they regard themselves and their competitors? What have they sacrificed, and what inner demons have they appeased? In answering these questions, David Halberstam takes as his focus the 1984 single sculls trials in Princeton. The man who wins will gain the right to represent the United States in the 84 Olympiad; the losers will then have to struggle further to gain a place in the two- or four-man boats. And even if they succeed, they will have to live with the bitter knowledge that they were not the best, only close to it.\u003cbr\u003eInformative and compelling, The Amateurs combines the vividness of superb sportswriting with the narrative skills of a Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent.\u003cbr\u003e\"RIVETING.\"\u003cbr\u003e *Christopher Lehmann-Haupt\u003cbr\u003e The New York Times\u003cbr\u003e\" A] MASTERFUL JOB . . . Maintains the suspense to the very last stroke . . . Halberstam makes us care about the four men, their disappointments and the brutal testing of their friendships.\"\u003cbr\u003e *Dan Levin\u003cbr\u003e Sports Illustrated\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Halberstam\u003c\/b\u003e was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the author of numerous books, including \u003ci\u003eThe Best and the Brightest, The Powers That Be, The Reckoning, Summer of '49, Playing for Keeps, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eWar in a Time of Peace. \u003c\/i\u003eHe died in April 2007.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Ballantine Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51181910556946,"sku":"9780449910030","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_78855ce0-6b11-4556-865b-22619cef9538.jpg?v=1744408740","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-amateurs-the-story-of-four-young-men-and-their-quest-for-an-olympic-gold-medal-9780449910030","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}