Reviews

Born into It: A Fan's Life by Jay Baruchel

thoive's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective fast-paced

3.5

diannel_04's review against another edition

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4.0

To paraphrase Jay Baruchel's words "The Habs, I fucking hate those guys". Okay, he said it about my team, the Boston Bruins but from our side of the ice the feeling is mutual.

That said, I did enjoy this book. It is not only a love story to the Habs but it is also the story of Jay's life and an interesting one it is for someone so young.

You don't need to be a fan of the bleu, blanc, rouge but if you are a hockey fan you should read it as you will be able to relate to much of it. Leafs fans especially will be able to relate to the frustration of seeing your team start the season so well only to choke when it comes time to make the playoff run.

readbytay's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.5

shano25's review against another edition

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3.0

Jay Baruchel came to do a reading at a work thing I was at recently and as he read the story of his father swearing at the tv in the other room on Christmas Eve and went on to read about being a fan of Montreal hockey passed down by his father I was like, "yeah, I get this." It's not Montreal hockey for me, but Montreal baseball that I was born into. In my house, we were Expos fans and after the team left us, we turned to our hometown team, the Toronto Blue Jays. I understood exactly what Jay was writing about, the life-long relationship you have with your team. So of course I had to read this book.

Except it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. The first and third parts of the book were what I thought the book to be - about what it means to be a fan. But the whole middle part of the book was about hockey (and really mostly about the Habs) and though I have a red maple leaf tattooed on my back the one thing about being Canadian that I absolutely cannot get behind is hockey. So really, this book is less about being a sports fan, and more about being a Habs fan. Which is fine....for Habs fans.
I was expecting a book that any sports fan would love and identify with but this is a book for people who love hockey. I could however greatly appreciate what an incredibly talented writer Baruchel is. Even if I wasn't into the topic of the book, I don't think I've read a more beautifully written love letter.

read247's review

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funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

caseygracee's review against another edition

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4.0

I'm a leafs fan but this book made me sympathize with Habs fans.
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