I Fought the Ball, and the Ball Won

At the heart of Jon Hart's new book Man versus Ball is a pretty basic but revelatory notion: you don’t have to be an elite athlete to live the sporting life. In fact, if you're willing to brave repeated embarrassment and crappy pay, you can participate in all levels of sports. At the pro level, Hart has to resort to a sideline gigs like hawking pretzels and managing equipment, but the farther down the line he gets, the more action he sees; by the end of the book, I genuinely worry about the future health of Hart's head, neck, back, and groin.