An engrossing set of works of athletic beauty.
Linebarger presents an eclectic collection of artworks that highlights the power and grace of tennis.
Over a seven-year period, the author compiled a remarkable assemblage of creative pieces by a wide range of artists—paintings, photographs, and images of sculptures that represented the athletic dynamism of tennis as a sport. Many are representations of famed tennis players doing what they do best, showcasing a blend of power and choreographic precision. As Linebarger writes of Roger Federer: “Tennis not how it’s played, but how we imagine the gods might play it. The serve, the forehand, the one-handed back-hand drive. Grace, beauty, fluidity, perfection.” Each of the dozens of pieces here are accompanied by the author's commentary, and just as often composed in a soaring, lyrical manner. The artistic styles cover a broad spectrum that includes meticulously realistic studies and more impressionistic renditions, such as Scott Kish’s interpretation of Andre Agassi. Cat Lee’s vision of Elena Rybakina is playfully cartoonish, and Mark Shorter’s version of Margaret Court is almost abstract, departing the realm of the obviously figurative. In one of the more humorous paintings, Nial Smith places Andy Murray at the center of a commercial poster for the movie Gladiator (2000).The book also effectively highlights the experiences of such players as Arthur Ashe, who faced racial prejudice, and Billie Jean King, who battled misogyny. One can’t help but wish Linebarger began the collection with a prefatory note of some kind, explaining the nature of the project more thoroughly; instead, readers are left to piece that together on their own. However, this is a minor quibble, as the art itself is vivid and diverse, and the commentaries on each piece are consistently illuminating. Overall, it’s a captivating gathering.
An engrossing set of works of athletic beauty.Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9798891324831
Page Count: 284
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Basketball fans will enjoy Pippen’s bird’s-eye view of some of the sport’s greatest contests.
The Chicago Bulls stalwart tells all—and then some.
Hall of Famer Pippen opens with a long complaint: Yes, he’s a legend, but he got short shrift in the ESPN documentary about Michael Jordan and the Bulls, The Last Dance. Given that Jordan emerges as someone not quite friend enough to qualify as a frenemy, even though teammates for many years, the maltreatment is understandable. This book, Pippen allows, is his retort to a man who “was determined to prove to the current generation of fans that he was larger-than-life during his day—and still larger than LeBron James, the player many consider his equal, if not superior.” Coming from a hardscrabble little town in Arkansas and playing for a small college, Pippen enjoyed an unlikely rise to NBA stardom. He played alongside and against some of the greats, of whom he writes appreciatively (even Jordan). Readers will gain insight into the lives of characters such as Dennis Rodman, who “possessed an unbelievable basketball IQ,” and into the behind-the-scenes work that led to the Bulls dynasty, which ended only because, Pippen charges, the team’s management was so inept. Looking back on his early years, Pippen advocates paying college athletes. “Don’t give me any of that holier-than-thou student-athlete nonsense,” he writes. “These young men—and women—are athletes first, not students, and make up the labor that generates fortunes for their schools. They are, for lack of a better term, slaves.” The author also writes evenhandedly of the world outside basketball: “No matter how many championships I have won, and millions I have earned, I never forget the color of my skin and that some people in this world hate me just because of that.” Overall, the memoir is closely observed and uncommonly modest, given Pippen’s many successes, and it moves as swiftly as a playoff game.
Basketball fans will enjoy Pippen’s bird’s-eye view of some of the sport’s greatest contests.Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-982165-19-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
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