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kinda_like_shaft's review
4.0
Just like it says, it's about basketball and ascension, focusing on LeBron James and his importance to his home state. But it's about more than that too. Like all of HA's books, it's about life and vulnerability and trying to get through to something bigger... or at least just getting through it all without getting smaller.
eternan's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.75
joshdeena's review
5.0
First, I would like to the thank NetGalley and Random House for providing me an eARC of 'There's Always This Year' for an honest review. And that honest review is that I give this book five stars. This is one of the most interesting memoirs I've read, not only because of the fact that it takes an angle on basketball that is less talked about in depth, but also because the structure of the book makes the take on basketball all the more enjoyable to read. Hanif Abdurraqib's writing is beautiful, and he is able to create a dreamlike narrative while also keeping it incredibly grounded at the same time. It is very clear that he is a poet, because the dreamlike quality comes from the beauty he is able to create with language, even when describing things that can be hard to see the beauty in. His writing also brings his own experiences and recollections into a place that makes it feel as though you are wading through his own mind with him.
Beyond just his writing, Abdurraqib's utilization of basketball to both structure the book into quarters and provide a strong throughline is fantastic. His ability to emphasize his own relationship to basketball, his community's relationship to basketball, and his city's relationship to basketball while using these relationships to discuss more specific emotions and topics fully brings you into his world. Overall, I have loved every page of this book and found so much care, love, and beauty put into it that I can wholeheartedly recommend it to basically anybody.
Beyond just his writing, Abdurraqib's utilization of basketball to both structure the book into quarters and provide a strong throughline is fantastic. His ability to emphasize his own relationship to basketball, his community's relationship to basketball, and his city's relationship to basketball while using these relationships to discuss more specific emotions and topics fully brings you into his world. Overall, I have loved every page of this book and found so much care, love, and beauty put into it that I can wholeheartedly recommend it to basically anybody.
bookalorian's review
4.0
This was a super interesting book. The way Hanif always pieces his books together is not only beautiful but entertaining in a way that will captivate you. This book is about so much more than basketball. It's perfection int he way the whole book feels like you are having a conversation with a close friend.
If you enjoy non-fiction, you must give this book a go!
This book is gifted and my views are my own
If you enjoy non-fiction, you must give this book a go!
This book is gifted and my views are my own
colleenbyrne7's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
very grateful to be alive at the same time as hanif
petenewlove's review
5.0
Abdurraqib is a philosopher for how he is able to find the beauty and dignity in everything (literally everything - big, small, joyous, grievous), and a poet for how he is able to weave it all together
amiewhittemore's review
4.0
This is a real trip of a book. Formally, it's fascinating, as Abdurraqib riffs on the structure of a basketball game to format his exploration of ascendancy. But it's so much more than that. It's interesting being outside what I imagine the target audience might be for this book--I had to google some LeBron James/Cavaliers facts to double-check my vague memory of the happenings around which this book turns. If you're not a basketball fan, don't worry there's lots here for you (clearly I am not a fan and I loved the book). Abdurraqib walks a fine line in this book which is a. memoir? I guess? but one that guards the writer and his family/friends/lovers privacy very deeply. Like this is not a confessional memoir. It's more philosophical than that, though grounded in the body, in human connection and daring and desire, in the experience of Blackness in the United States. Sometimes I tried to get myself to come up with a thesis for the book and fell short. It's more complex than a thesis can express.
meresheep's review
5.0
This is more than a book of crafted essays about Lebron, or Ohio basketball. It’s about place, community, grief and heartbreak.
If Lebron is the best player of his generation, Hanif might be the best American nonfiction writer.
If Lebron is the best player of his generation, Hanif might be the best American nonfiction writer.