The Whore of Akron

http://www.amazon.com/Whore-Akron-Search-LeBron-James/dp/0062066366/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324910877&sr=8-1

anyone read it?
anyone ask BronBron what he thinks? (Trick question, BronBron is incapable of thought)


“As far as I know, a LeBron James is a hat worn by men in the 1920s.” (Philip Roth )

 

I'm halfway through it. Enjoying it very much. You have to realize, before you read it, that it's essentially a memoir, kind of like Exley's "A Fan's Notes."

 

Haven't read it yet but Raab'z bitterness toward Lebron is frequently referenced in Esquire. Funny stuff..

 

I'm buying it first chance I get, which is to say when I have disposable income again.

 

Maybe Raab pissed off James' mother

 

In Raab's monthly Q&A in Esquire, one of the staple questions is usually something like, "Shouldn't LeBron James be shot for leaving the Cavaliers?"

Considering the A-list people he's usually interviewing, it's pretty funny, or at least I find it funny.

 

Part of me wants to read it just for the voyeurism, the other part can't stand Raab's promotional tactics and doesn't want to support that kind of bullshit.

 

gothefucktothelibrary [/crossthread]

 

I thought it was a potato chip book. I read it, enjoyed it and realized at the end that it was pretty meaningless.

I bought it because I follow the Cavs and was hoping for a behind the scenes look at LeBron and the whole decision to leave- at least from the organization's perspective. I never really got that. There is not very much original reporting in this book so Raab pads the book with stories about himself. Raab is very engaging but do you really need to know so much about his wife giving him hand jobs and his weight problems?

And Raab spends all this time talking about LeBron leaving "noble" Cleveland behind. But Raab, who grew up in Cleveland, never says why he lives in New Jersey. Does his Esquire job require it? I doubt it.

 

I'm not really sure why people seem upset that "the book isn't what I thought it would be."

If you bought A Fan's Notes expecting an insider's look at Frank Gifford and the Giants, and instead were befuddled by stories of Exley falling down drunk and bouncing in and out of mental institutions, that's kind of on you.

I've never once seen the book marketed as anything other than what it is -- the sad, angry, but beautiful wail of one of Cleveland's great writers.

As for the "Why doesn't Raab live in Cleveland?" thing, he's addressed that numerous times. It's sort of ridiculous to imply the two are similar, frankly.

 

Lebron is the only player to ever leave a team for another.....

 

Raab's LeBron questions to Chris Rock for an Esquire interview (which he revisits) provide the perfect counter-point to all his LeBron tsuris. It's pretty brilliant, as usual, by Rock.

This is a very good book.

Here's the extended interview Raab puts in the book. A thinner version was in the mag.

http://www.esquire.com/the-side/lebron-james/chris-rock-lebron-james-0311