Open Net
A Professional Amateur in the World of Big-Time Hockey
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
George Plimpton takes to the ice with the Boston Bruins in this memorable portrait of the rough-and-tumble world of professional hockey, repackaged and featuring a foreword from Denis Leary and never-before-seen content from the Plimpton Archives.
In Open Net, George Plimpton takes to the ice as goalie for his beloved Boston Bruins. After signing a release holding the Bruins blameless if he should meet with injury or death, he survives a harrowing, seemingly eternal five minutes in an exhibition game against the always-tough Philadelphia Flyers.
With reflections on such hockey greats as Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, and Eddie Shore, Open Net is at once a celebration of the thrills and grace of the greatest sport on ice and a probing meditation into the hopes and fears of every man.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Participatory journalist (and celebrity editor) Plimpton delivers yet another insider's account of professional sports; this time, the game is ice hockey. A season with the Boston Bruins is the basis for Plimpton's absorbing personal report of what many consider the most awesomely brutal of sports. The crowds, coaches, athletes' wives and players each have their own stories, and each is recounted in a seemingly effortless, breezy, captivating style. As Plimpton learns his formidable duties as a goal-tender (a position which detailed description and hockey legend explicates is remarkably dangerous and isolated), he gathers the spirited tales and ambience of the brouhaha and brawls that belie the agility and skilland team camaraderieof the game. A winning entertainment for fans of sports, told with warmth and integrity. Photos. Foreign rights: Russell & Volkening. November 25