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Paper Lion

Paper Lion

Confessions of a last-string quarterback

Summary

In the mid-1960s, George Plimpton talked his way into the Detroit Lions’ pre-season training camp and in doing so set the bar for participatory sports journalism. With his characteristic wit, Plimpton recounts his experience of a month practising and living with the team – getting to know the pressures and tensions rookies confront, the hijinks, taking behind the scenes snaps and capturing a host of American football rites and rituals.

Plimpton might not have made it as a quarterback, but fifty years after its first publication, Paper Lion remains one of the most insightful and entertaining classics of sports literature.

Reviews

  • A continuous feast... The best book ever about football - or anything!
    Wall Street Journal

About the author

George Plimpton

George Plimpton (1927-2003) was the bestselling author and editor of nearly thirty books, as well as the cofounder, publisher, and editor of the Paris Review. He wrote regularly for such magazines as Sports Illustrated and Esquire, and he appeared numerous times in films and on television.
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