A review by shano25
Born Into It by Jay Baruchel
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.
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.