New Releases by John Feinstein

The definitive biography of enigmatic golfer, commentator, and performer David Feherty—one of the most universally beloved figures in the game. John Feinstein, who has spent four decades finding intriguing sports characters and narratives and turning them into classic books, chronicles the life and career of David Feherty. The two have known each other for years, beginning with Feinstein’s work on A Good Walk Spoiled, researched and written at a time when Feherty was an excellent player, who won five times in Europe and was on the ''91 Ryder Cup team, but also a functioning alcoholic. In retirement from the game, Feherty has sobered up, while his golf world persona has only grown in stature. Feherty is now a grand ambassador for golf, a man who is feted by US Presidents and respected by every big name in the game. Feinstein tells hilarious true tales about Feherty’s time in the limelight and interactions with stars such as Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Payne Stewart, and Seve Ballesteros. He also details Feherty’s struggles with alcoholism, the death of his son who was lost to addiction, and the highs and lows of Feherty’s marriages. Feinstein captures the human being behind the athlete, and his triumphant rebound as a golf commentator after his athletic career fell apart. Feherty is fall-down-funny, self-deprecating, and a lifelong underdog who has thrived as a commentator and television interview host, and most recently as a touring standup comic, using the difficult experiences of his life as a source for humor and understanding, which Feinstein mines with an expert’s touch.

Jeff and Andi return to serve up trouble in tennis season, in this standalone third middle-grade book in the Benchwarmers series by #1 New York Times–bestselling sportswriter John Feinstein. Andi Carillo may have been a soccer prodigy and a basketball superstar, but tennis is where she really shines—she’s eleven years old and nationally ranked. For her, the sport is just for fun, but suddenly agents are crawling out of the woodwork to offer her deals. Her best friend, Jeff Michaels, is a pretty talented player himself, but he’s been dropped into the number-two slot in spite of a perfect record—and he’s getting a little jealous of Andi’s star potential. These teammates will have to lean on each other more than ever if they’re going to handle new emotions, face tough competition, and close out this challenging season with a win. Mixed Doubles is the exhilarating final volume of this popular middle-grade series by a #1 New York Times–bestselling sportswriter.

From legendary sportswriter and #1 New York Times bestselling author John Feinstein, a deep dive into the most coveted and hallowed position in the NFL. "Another must-read from a master of long-form sports journalism."--Booklist, starred review In the mighty National Football League, one player becomes the face of a franchise, one player receives all the accolades and all the blame, and one player''s hand will guide the rise or fall of an entire team''s season--and the dreams of millions of fans. There are thirty-two starting quarterbacks in the NFL, and their lives are built around pressure, stardom, and incredible talent. In his most insightful book yet, John Feinstein shows readers what it''s really like to play the glory position and to live that life--mapping out a journey that runs from college stardom to the NFL draft to taking command of the huddle and marching a team down the field with a nation of fans cheering. Centering on five NFL starting quarterbacks--Alex Smith, Andrew Luck, Joe Flacco, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Doug Williams--Quarterback provides readers with incredible inside access to the locker room, huddle, and heat of battle. Through spectacular moments and embarrassing defeats, this is as close as most of us will ever come to experiencing life in the most glamorous position in America''s greatest game.

From legendary sportswriter and #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a dramatic chronicle of the bitterly-fought 2016 Ryder Cup pitting a U.S. team out for revenge against the Europeans determined to keep the Cup out of American hands. "Richly detailed and entertaining. . . . Feinstein captures the intensity, the flavor, the pomp and all the circumstance that is. . .the biggest event in golf."--USA Today The rivalry between the U.S. and European teams was at an all-time high even before the first swing of the 2016 Ryder Cup. The Americans had lost an astounding six out of the last seven matches. With the U.S. team out for revenge and the Europeans determined to keep the Cup out of American hands, the showdown took place in Hazeltine, Minnesota—just days after the death of golf legend Arnold Palmer. It became one of the most raucous and heated face-offs in the Cup’s history. Award-winning author John Feinstein takes readers behind the scenes, providing an inside view of the dramatic stories as they unfolded, including the assembly of veteran Phil Mickelson’s superb team, the intense match between European superstar Rory McIlroy and American Patrick Reed that almost came to blows, and the return of Tiger Woods. Throughout, Feinstein vividly illustrates why the Ryder Cup has become golf’s most intense and emotional event.

In Backfield Boys, renowned sports journalist and New York Times–bestselling author John Feinstein tells a thrilling story of friendship, football, and a fight for justice. Freshman footballers Jason Roddin and Tom Jefferson are a perfect pair: Jason is a blazing-fast wide-receiver, while his best friend Tom has all the skills a standout quarterback needs. After summer football camp at an elite sports-focused boarding school, the boys are thrilled to be invited back with full-ride scholarships. But on day one of practice, they''re shocked when the team''s coaching staff makes Tom, a black kid, a receiver and Jason, a white kid, a quarterback. Confronted with mounting evidence of deep-seated racial bias, the boys speak out, risking their scholarships and chances to play. As tensions ratchet up with coaches and other players, Tom and Jason must decide how much they''re willing to lose in a conflict with powerful forces that has nothing—and everything—to do with the game they love.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The riveting inside story of college basketball''s fiercest rivalry among three coaching legends—University of North Carolina''s Dean Smith, Duke''s Mike Krzyzewski, and North Carolina State''s Jim Valvano—by the king of college basketball writers. "One of Feinstein’s best."—Chicago Tribune On March 18, 1980, the Duke basketball program announced the hiring of Mike Krzyzewski, the man who would restore glory to the team. The only problem: no one knew who Krzyzewski was. Nine days later, Jim Valvano was hired by North Carolina State to be their new head coach. The hiring didn''t raise as many eyebrows, but the two new coaches had a similar goal: to unseat North Carolina''s Dean Smith as the king of college basketball. And just like that, the most sensational competitive decade in history was about to unfold. In the skillful hands of John Feinstein, The Legends Club captures an era in American sport and culture, documenting the inside view of a decade of absolutely incredible competition. Feinstein pulls back the curtain on the recruiting wars, the intensely personal competition that wasn''t always friendly, the enormous pressure and national stakes, and the battle for the very soul of college basketball.

New York Times bestselling author John Feinstein delivers a hard-hitting account of prejudice and perseverance on the basketball court. It’s basketball season. And for once, triple threat Alex Myers is not the one in the spotlight. There’s a new new guy in town, and Max Bellotti promises to turn the Lions’ losing streak around and lead the team to a conference title. Alex is psyched, but some of the older guys on the team resent being benched in favor of an upstart freshman. Team morale is rocky at best. And when Max comes out as gay, not everyone takes the news in stride. Snide comments and cold shoulders escalate into heated protests and an out-and-out war with the school board. While controversy swirls around them, the Lions have to decide: Will personal issues sink their season, or can they find a way to stand together as a team? John Feinstein has been praised as “the best writer of sports books in America today” (The Boston Globe). This second installment in his Triple Threat series delivers action and intensity, and a look beyond the headlines of a hot-button topic in sports today.

Minor league baseball is quintessentially American: small towns, small stadiums, $5 tickets, $2 hot dogs, the never-ending possibility of making it big. But looming above it all is always the real deal: Major League Baseball. John Feinstein takes the reader behind the curtain into the guarded world of the minor leagues, like no other writer can. Where Nobody Knows Your Name explores the trials and travails of the inhabitants of Triple-A, focusing on nine men, including players, managers and umpires, among many colorful characters, living on the cusp of the dream. The book tells the stories of former World Series hero Scott Podsednik, giving it one more shot; Durham Bulls manager Charlie Montoya, shepherding generations across the line; and designated hitter Jon Lindsey, a lifelong minor leaguer, waiting for his day to come. From Raleigh to Pawtucket, from Lehigh Valley to Indianapolis and beyond, this is an intimate and exciting look at life in the minor leagues, where you’re either waiting for the call or just passing through.

Feinstein follows the Army and Navy football teams through the 1994 season, culminating with an account of the dramatic December face-off, and brings to life one of the oldest and most heated rivalries in American sport.

From the author of Raise a First, Take a Knee: John Feinstein''s bestselling classic is "the best-ever account of life on the PGA tour" (Golf Magazine) and a must-read for anyone who loves the game of golf. Traveling with the golfers on the PGA Tour, Feinstein gets inside the heads of the game''s greatest players as well as its struggling wannabes. Meet superstars like Nick Price, who nailed a fifty-foot putt at the seventeenth to win the British Open, and Paul Azinger, who marked his return from a bout with cancer with an emotional appearance at the Buick Open. Go behind the scenes for Davis Love III''s unforgettable come-from-behind victory in the Ryder Cup. In golf, Feinstein eloquently relates, the line that separates triumph from disappointment is incredibly fine. "One week you''ve discovered the secret to the game; the next week you never want to play it again."

After winning six of the 12 Majors from 2000 to 2002, Tiger Woods struggled in 2003. Four unknown players would become champions in his wake. Feinstein chronicles these champions'' ups and downs, giving readers an insider''s look into how victory can change players'' lives.

Bestselling sportswriter John Feinstein exposes the big money and back-room deals that pervade college-basketball recruiting in this fast-break young adult novel. Terrell Jamerson is the #1 high school basketball player in the country. His team is poised to win State, top colleges are lining up to give him scholarships, and everyone says he could play in the NBA tomorrow. But it only takes one false step to lose everything. Danny Wilcox is Terrell’s best friend and teammate, and a top prospect himself, but these days it seems like everyone wants to get close to Terrell: the sneaker guys, the money managers, the college boosters. They show up offering fast cars, hot girls, and cold, hard cash. They say they just want to help, but their kind of help could get Terrell disqualified. Danny and Terrell better keep their eyes on the ball if they hope to last the season. John Feinstein has been praised as “the best writer of sports books in America today” (The Boston Globe), and he proves it again in this fast-paced novel. “Thorough and suspenseful; a must-read for those interested in basketball and the dealings surrounding the sport.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred

Decades after it spent weeks at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, A Season on the Brink remains the most celebrated basketball book ever written—an unforgettable chronicle of his year spent following the Indiana Hoosiers and their fiery coach Bob Knight. Granted unprecedented access to legendary coach Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers during the 1985–86 season, John Feinstein saw and heard it all—practices, team meetings, strategy sessions, and midgame huddles—as the team worked to return to championship form. The result is an unforgettable chronicle that not only captures the drama and pressure of big-time college basketball but also paints a vivid portrait of a complex, brilliant coach as he walks the fine line between genius and madness. This anniversary edition features an updated Introduction by Feinstein.

New York Times bestselling sportswriter John Feinstein dives headfirst into a scandal of Olympic proportions in this exciting sports mystery. Teen sports reporter Susan Carol is competing as a swimmer at her first-ever Olympic games. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, and her best friend Stevie is both amazed and envious. Usually they cover sporting events together, now he’s covering her. But Stevie can’t shake the feeling that something’s not right. Everyone wants a piece of Susan Carol’s success—agents, sponsors, the media. Just how far will they go to ensure that America’s newest Olympic darling wins gold? John Feinstein has been praised as “the best writer of sports books in America today” (The Boston Globe), and he proves it again in this fast-paced novel.

A portrait of legendary golfer Arnold Palmer from a New York Times–bestselling sportswriter, with numerous photos included. Over a career spanning more than half a century, Arnold Palmer amassed an astounding record of ninety-two worldwide titles, four Masters championships, a US Open crown, and back-to-back British Open victories, truly earning his nickname "the King"—as well as a legion of loyal fans who came to be known as "Arnie''s Army." He exuded a charisma that America loved—and even had a drink named after him. In this chronicle of one of the greatest players ever to swing a club, renowned sportswriter John Feinstein provides a vivid biographical portrait of golf''s most beloved icon. Accompanied by Walter Iooss''s superb photographs, The Classic Palmer lets golf lovers travel with Palmer on his journey from amateur to pro, from pro to master, and from master to legend.

John Feinstein''s illuminating recollections from two decades of interviews with sports legends. John Feinstein''s career is a sports fan''s dream-a lifetime of encounters with the great figures in sports, not just on the field, but in the locker room and behind the scenes with legends like Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and John McEnroe. Since his days as a young Washington Post journalist, Feinstein has written twenty-eight books and countless magazine articles and newspaper columns, covering college basketball, golf, tennis, baseball, and very nearly every sport in between. He has told us of victory and defeat, of athletes and coaches we love -- and love to hate. But some of his best stories have been left untold, until now. One on One is an incredible portal into the sports we love-from the box scores and the pageantry of game night and into the hard work and intensity that turn players and coaches into legends.

An intimate insider’s look at one season of college basketball, following teams from late-night strategy sessions and grueling practices to electrifying victories and more, by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Season on the Brink “A buoyant and entertaining tribute to college basketball.”—The New York Times Get a close-up look at recruiting, referees, injuries, winning, losing, and the private lives of college basketball’s biggest stars. In A Season Inside, John Feinstein presents a no-holds-barred account of everything that goes on in a season, from the demanding (and often gruesome) practice sessions that go on behind closed doors to the personal lives of some of the game’s most notable members; from the tough life of teams and players going nowhere to an astonishingly close-up view of the winners who go all the way to ultimate victory. If you want to know what it’s like to recruit—to travel, cajole, promise, seduce, play with the rules, succeed and fail—it’s here. Feinstein takes you traveling with Lefty Driesell. He introduces you to such players as Danny Manning (Kansas), Billy King (Duke), Steve Kerr (Arizona), and David Robinson (Navy, awaiting the start of a multi-million dollar contract), and such coaches as Rollie Massimino (Villanova), Dean Smith (North Carolina), Don Devoe (Tennessee), and Gary Williams (Ohio State). There is great joy; there is horrible tragedy. There are successes and failures. There is life and even, in this season, death. Going from coast to coast, from top to bottom, from glory to defeat, A Season Inside takes you as close to the court as possible without actually playing the game.

As the Super Bowl draws nearer, teens Steve Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson learn that the entire offensive line of the California Dreams have failed their doping tests and that the Dreams'' owner is trying to cover up the test results. Reprint.

Exploring what it means to be a school, a coach, and a player in college basketball''s Final Four, Feinstein exposes the driving forces behind one of the most revered events in American sports. Readers will also find dramatic stories from the officials and referees to the scouts and ticket-scalpers.

America''s favorite sportswriter takes readers on a thrilling and unforgettable journey into the world of college basketball in this national bestseller. Like millions who love college basketball, John Feinstein was first drawn to the game because of its intensity, speed and intelligence. Like many others, he felt that the vast sums of money involved in NCAA basketball had turned the sport into a division of the NBA, rather than the beloved amateur sport it once was. He went in search of college basketball played with the passion and integrity it once inspired, and found the Patriot League. As one of the NCAA''s smallest leagues, none of these teams leaves college early to join the NBA and none of these coaches gets national recognition or endorsement contracts. The young men on these teams are playing for the love of the sport, of competition and of their schools. John Feinstein spent a season with these players, uncovering the drama of their daily lives and the passions that drive them to commit hundreds of hours to basketball even when there is no chance of a professional future. He offers a look at American sport at its purest.

Pitchers are the heart of baseball, and John Feinstein tells the story of the game today through one season and two great pitchers working in the crucible of the New York media market. Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina have seen it all in the Major Leagues and both entered 2007 in search of individual milestones and one more shot at The World Series-Glavine with the Mets, Mussina five miles away with the Yankees. The two veterans experience very different seasons -- one on a team dealing with the pressure to get to a World Series for the first time in seven years, the other with a team expected to be there every year. Taking the reader through contract negotiations, spring training, the ups of wins and losses, and the people in their lives-family, managers, pitching coaches, agents, catchers, other pitchers -- John Feinstein provides a true insider''s look at the pressure cooker of sports at the highest level.

New York Times bestselling author John Feinstein goes behind closed doors at the US Open . . . When teen sportswriters Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson score press passes to the U.S. Open they expect drama. They expect blistering serves, smashed returns and fierce competition. What they don''t expect is kidnapping. Russian tennis phenom Nadia Symanova was supposed to win it all, but she never even made it onto the court. Now the whole stadium is in an uproar trying to find her. Can Stevie and Susan Carol get to Nadia before it''s too late? "Feinstein expertly combines tennis action, life in the Big Apple, media coverage, and a realistic plot to explore the fierce competition of tennis." —Chicago Sun-Times

New York Times bestselling sportswriter John Feinstein tackles doping in the NFL in this exciting football mystery. The Super Bowl. America’s biggest sports spectacle. Over 95 million fans will be watching, but teen sports reporters Stevie and Susan Carol know that what they’ll be watching is a lie. They know that the entire offensive line of the California Dreams have failed their doping tests. They know the owner is trying to cover up the results. The only thing they don’t know is how to prove it. John Feinstein has been praised as “the best writer of sports books in America today” (The Boston Globe), and he proves it again in this fast-paced novel.

In the NFL there is only one certainty: that every day, someone will have to be the Next Man Up. Football is an unrelentingly punishing sport, played and practiced at undiminished intensity, and it devours its players. Confronting injuries, trades, and the grim reality of competition, every NFL team prepares constantly for the likelihood -- the certainty -- that even franchise players can go down at any time. And someone new must be ready, trained, and primed to step in at the highest level. Bestselling sportswriter John Feinstein persuaded one NFL team to lift the extraordinary secrecy that shrouds the sport and let him see how a team operates at the closest level. One team let him join every practice, every coaches'' meeting, every players'' gathering, every strategy debate. From the give-and-take of draft day, into the grinder of summer training camps, and from 100-degree practice games to the last game in frigid conditions, Feinstein reveals how a football team works -- or fails to work -- as no writer has done before. Next Man Up unveils rituals (what a coach tells a player at the moment he cuts him); rules (the inanities of league-appointed "uniform Nazis"); conflicts (the scouts vs. the coaches, the general managers vs. the agents, the offense vs. the defense, the special teams coaches vs. everybody); money (how much a journeyman makes, and how his life differs from the multi-million-dollar-a-year star players)-every nuance of a team''s life, from the owner''s goals to the coach''s day-to-day travails to the feeling of the sleet-soaked ball in the hands of a receiver on artificial turf. The access John Feinstein enjoyed allows him to discuss with equal understanding the owner''s management strategy, the coaches'' and coordinators'' plans for each new game, and how it all affects the players themselves. Anyone who loves football -- any team, in any era -- will savor the thousands of details revealed here for the first time, and the extraordinary drama that goes into following week after week, the most sensational sport in America.

It is the tournament that separates champions from mortals. It is the starting point for the careers of future legends and can be the final stop on the down escalator for fading stars. The annual PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament is one of the most grueling competitions in any sport. Every fall, veterans and talented hopefuls sweat through six rounds of hell at Q school, as the tournament is universally known, to get a shot at the PGA Tour, vying for the 30 slots available. The grim reality: If you don''t make it through Q school, you''re not on the PGA tour. You''re out. And those who make it to the sixday finals are the lucky ones: hundreds more players fail to get through the equally grueling first two stages of the event. John Feinstein tells the story of the players who compete for these coveted positions in the 2005 Q school as only he can. With arresting accounts from the players, established winners, rising stars, the defeated, and the endlessly hopeful, America''s favorite sportswriter unearths the inside story behind the PGA Tour''s brutal all-ornothing competition.

America''s favorite sportswriter teams up with Red

In fascinating detail, Feinstein takes readers through every step, every thorny hole, every bitter rivalry of golf''s greatest tournament. The Bethpage course was so challenging that only one player finished under par; this was golf at its most intense. 16-pages of photos.

The author of the bestselling "A Good Walk Spoiled" presents the first volume in a groundbreaking new series that tackles today''s most provocative, fascinating, relevant issues. NPR sponsorship.