Expatriate Games: My Season of Misadventures in Czech Semi-Pro Basketball

by Dave Fromm

Book Overview

When Dave Fromm graduated from college with good grades and high LSAT scores, he planned to apply to law school. But he actually wasn't that sure he wanted to go, at least not right away. A few years earlier, he'd been to Prague for a vacation and played a game of pickup basketball there. He was a decent basketball player, though not good enough to make the team at Boston College either time he'd tried out. So he did the kind of thing we'd all...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 160239296X
• ISBN13: 9781602392960
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

I loved this book!

It was a great read. I loved the author's descriptions of the people he met, and the experiences he had in Prague. It took one heck of a lot of courage travelling to a foreign country like he did in is quest to play basketball (and typical young kid - takes off not even knowing if they actually play basketball in Prague!) He has a great sense of humor, and I could actually "see" him on that basketball court running back and forth, trying his best to "get it right" while not understanding a word being spoken!! Great fun this book was - I look forward to his next one.

Much More than Basketball

Picture American Dave Fromm, a recent college graduate, with barely a place to stay and few concrete plans, wandering the mysterious nighttime streets of Prague, listening intently for the sound of a bouncing basketball. That's the central image of Expatriate Games, Fromm's terrific memoir about a year spent playing semi-professional basketball in the Czech Republic in the early 1990s. Fromm's basketball odyssey is a major part of the book, but he gives readers so much more. The fish-out-of-water explorations of a foreign country, the transition to delayed "real-life" adulthood, the awkward love stories, the half-hearted attempt at a questionable graduate degree--all of these are rendered in gifted prose and a vulnerable voice that earns readers' affection for his quirky choices. As good as anything from George Plimpton's classic sports fantasies, Fromm takes his place with Pat Conroy's My Losing Season, Jay Atkinson's Ice Time, Melissa King's She's Got Next, and Mark St.Amant's Just Kick It as the best of a recent crop of memoirs that are partly about sports, but mostly about life.

Laugh Out Loud

Not just a sports book, but a tale of the author's journey into "adulthood". What college graduate hasn't wondered what they are going to do when the "best four years of your life" come to a grinding halt? Fromm took a break from what was expected, put graduate school on hold, and played basketball in Prague for a year. His self-deprecating humor reminded me of David Sedaris, and his writing, too, had me laughing out loud. This book was a great, quick read - very funny and memorable. If you're a college grad, a basketball fan, or anyone who has always wanted to take a chance and try something new, this book is for you.

Fromm is in a Zone

Are you a former high school basketball player? Pretty solid game, but not good enough to actually play ball at the college level? Maybe spent your college years and/or grad school years as a gym rat? Probably realized when you were 24 or 25, playing pick-up games at the campus field house that you were actually a better player -- a smarter player and stronger player -- than you were at 17. Maybe that got you wondering whether you could try to make something of the 4 years of NCAA elibility you had left? If so, then this book is for you. Fromm is on fire in what appears to be his first book! There are a few places in the book when he's off his game, "losing the handle," "forcing up shots." But, for most of this book, he's in the zone! His witty, self-deprecating style makes for a gut-splitting romp through a season of semi-pro basketball in Eastern Europe -- this is before the explosion of basketball talent from that region. But, Fromm's tale is also about drinking in bars, hanging out at discos, and trying to find that unique form of casual romance that, by the time your 27, is forever out of your reach. And, Fromm's adeptness at weaving into his story memories of NBA and college basketball lore from his youth (and my youth and, likely, your youth) is icing on the cake. At the same time you're revisiting Fromm's overseas exploits, your revisiting some of your own memories of the game. This guy should be writing for Page 2 of [...]. He would be an instant hit. And, even if you're not that former high school basketball player -- or former gym rat -- if you're just a regular old sports guy who's wife or girlfriend keeps asking him to read "Eat, Pray, Love," this is the book for you, too. This is "Eat, Pray, Love" for guys!

loved by a non-sportslady!

I am not a sports person.... I loved this book-- hysterical and made me want to play basketball! This will be the "gift" for all the men (and women too!) on my holiday lists!