Play Their Hearts Out: A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780345508614)

"A tour de force of reporting" (The Washington Post) from a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist that examines the often-corrupt machine producing America's basketball stars

"Indispensable."--The Wall Street Journal
"Often heart-breaking, always riveting."--The New York Times Book Review
"Tremendous."--The Plain Dealer

Winner of the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sportswriting- Winner of the Award for Excellence in the Coverage of Youth Sports

Using eight years of unfettered access and a keen sense of a story's deepest truths, journalist George Dohrmann reveals a cutthroat world where boys as young as eight or nine are subjected to a dizzying torrent of scrutiny and exploitation. At the book's heart are the personal stories of two compelling figures: Joe Keller, an ambitious coach with a master plan to find and promote "the next LeBron," and Demetrius Walker, a fatherless latchkey kid who falls under Keller's sway and struggles to live up to unrealistic expectations.

Complete with a new "where-are-they-now" epilogue by the author, Play Their Hearts Out is a thoroughly compelling narrative exposing the gritty reality that lies beneath so many dreams of fame and glory.

One of GQ'S 50 Best Books of Literary Journalism of the 21st Century - One of the Best Books of the Year: Los Angeles Times, The Christian Science Monitor, Kirkus Reviews

This edition includes an exclusive conversation between George Dohrmann and bestselling author Seth Davis.

Author: George Dohrmann
ISBN-10: 0345508610
ISBN-13: 9780345508614
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Language: English
Published: 02/07/2012
Pages: 448
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.20w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 03/04/2012 pg. 24