Foul Lines: A Pro Basketball Novel

by L. Jon Wertheim, L. Wertheim, Jack McCallum

Book Overview

From two senior Sports Illustrated writers comes an explosive, fast-paced satire that will do for today's NBA what North Dallas Forty did for the NFL a generation ago.

Just months from his Yale graduation, street-smart whiz kid Jamal Kelly leaves school to take a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join the front office of the Los Angeles Lasers. Once on the West Coast, Jamal gets a quick introduction to a subculture awash...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743286502
• ISBN13: 9780743286503
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Touchstone Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Slam dunk!

Being an ex-sportswriter, I typically stay away from sports novels. But in this case, I'm glad I didn't. Wertheim and McCallum detail the NBA lifestyle with aplomb, a true insider's look. And everything from the plot to the character development keeps you entertained. Highly recommended.

A great book for anybody.

Foul Lines is not just a book for NBA fans. This book was smart and funny. The characters were entertaining. The book gives a cynical look into the guts of the NBA and the stroy is so strong you can't stop reading even if you know nothing about basketball. I'd reccomend Foul Lines to anybody who enjoys a clever and intellagent novel.

Witty & Bitter Truth about the N.B.A. (No Blemishes Allowed) league

As a former NBA agent, I know first-hand about the dark, sad, funny, and human--underbelly of professional sports and the NBA. "Foul Lines" made me laugh so hard, the flight attendant had to ask if I was o.k. In current events, James Fey is suffering the wrath of an angry flip-flopping Harpo and an army of literary purists for presenting fiction as fact while shattering the hopes of feel-good readers into a million little pieces. McCallum & Wertheim have accomplished the opposite; presenting this entertaining and hilarious book (Foul Lines) as a fictional glimpse into the NBA--when in truth, it's a transparent veil thinly disguising the truth and reality of today's NBA. Oprah should invite Jack McCallum and L. Jon Wertheim on her show to balance the universe, and to expose this wonderful book to an audience equal in size to its literary merit. Steve Woods

Well Written, Funny and (Ultimately) Far Too True

Jon Wertheim (SI's finest talent) and Jack McCallum really nail the drama that is modern day sports. This book is both laugh-out-loud funny, and thought provoking. I kept thinking of Robert Altman's "Nashville" while reading it, as it takes a large arena (professional sports), a varied cast, and a compelling story, and manages to weave something very special. Definitely a must read for any NBA fans, but also highly recomended to anyone who enjoys a good tale of well defined characters making their way through extreme (though all-too-true) situations.

just what the NBA needed!!!

this is a great BOOK! I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. I was a fan of Jacks "unfinished business" thus I bought this book and i was blown away. This book does for the basketball world what "get shorty" did for hollywood, a satire wth heart and soul.