A Season on the Brink: A Year with Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers (A Gift for Basketball Fans)

Few books are able to stand the test of time, but 37 years since John Feinstein’s A Season on the Brink was published, it remains both a basketball and sports classic. A prescient introduction by the late and great Marquette coach Al McGuire was clearly a personally written tocsin for Coach Knight by his close and respected friend. The openness and clarity of Feinstein’s year with Coach Knight is a remarkable read. While there may be other books devoted to a season with a coach/manager and the players, none, with perhaps the exception of Lombardi’s Packers, can match the intensity and drama that occurred virtual every day. Coach Knight’s great success can never be denied and his supreme focus on each player’s innate abilities is paramount throughout the book. Whether you agree or not agree with Coach Knight’s approach is not the point with Feinstein’s writings. You will find all the emotions of an intensely driven individual whose loyalty to his players and friends made Coach Knight one of the most important leaders in both college basketball and sports.

Often referred to as the greatest sports book of all time and a New York Times number one bestseller that has sold millions of copies, "A Season on the Brink" might have been a sensational read in the mid-eighties when people actually knew and cared who Bobby Knight was, when the Indiana Hossiers were a great collegiate basketball team, and before David Halberstam started writing his sports books.While he had unfettered and unlimited access to Bobby Knight and to his players John Feinstein did not use the opportunity to understand Bob Knight the man and the coach -- where he came from, what motivates him, what qualities make him one of the best coaches who ever lived -- and to understand his players, and instead just watched the Indiana Hossiers practice and play games. The book is at its best in the rare moments when we are offered glimpses into how Knight interacts with people whom he loves and respects -- his protege the Duke coach Mike K, his former star Isiah Thomas, and his own son. It's these intimate interactions that tell us about the man, how he's rampaged and ravaged by demons, and how he can never come to terms with his conflicted emotions.Bobby Knight is a lot like Steve Jobs. Both men are extremely talented, brilliant, dedicated, and obsessed. But both men are also ultimately deep down inside very insecure and very angry who compensate for their emotional failings by demanding complete loyalty from those around them, by bullying and demeaning those that most care for them, and by focusing single-mindedly on success. As such, there's only so much one can take of either man, and it's certainly no fun reading about either.

A well written, interesting book about a complicated individual. I would recommend this book to any fan of sports writing. When the book came out in 1986, it created quite a bit of negative publicity around Coach Knight. I came away with a different impression than I think I would have if I had read it then. I came away thinking that while Knight obviously had a quick temper, he was also a great coach who was loyal to, and set and enforced strict academic standards for, his players. In this day of constant stories of academic cheating, philandering coaches and the big money that major universities make off the backs of their athletes, I found Feinstein's portrait of Knight to be that of a coach who probably had more to admire than seemed to be the case in 1986.

This is the 2nd Feinstein book that I have read and it was as good as the 1st one, Let Me Tell You A Story. His writing about Bob Knight didn't leave much out, besides some curse words. Its crazy to think about the access that he had to this team. He was able to paint a picture so real to the reader that it makes you relive, that college season as an Indiana Fan. Bob Knight truly is one of the best who ever coached the game. His mind games and temper tantrums are sometimes crazy but have proven to be effective and Feinstein was able to capture them in print. Amazing, if you are a sports fan you should get your hands on any Feinstein book. If you are a college basketball fan get your hands on A Season On The Brink

I have long been interested in Bob Knight and what he is really like. This book certainly explained that. While I learned things that made me like, or maybe understand, Knight better, there was much that made me think he is a tyrant and bully. Maybe you have to be to win national championships. I thought it was awful that Knight got away with temper tantrums in games because the refs didn't want to deal with his temper or have to eject him and have to deal with that. The parts about Knight and his psyche were interesting, but I felt too much of the book was a blow by blow account of games. I am a fan, but that really didn't interest me a whole lot, except for when it cast light on Knight or a player.

Absolutely amazing insight into a man and his program, and how Coach Knight was able to be who he is and be successful.

Feinstein does an incredible job of describing the atmosphere around a major college basketball program while revealing the intricacies of a complicated Bobby Knight.

I am not a huge basketball fan and I found this book to be a wonderful read. I've heard about this book for years and now I know why.You will be hard pressed to find a book that contains this amount of detail. The basketball scenes described are riveting. Knight though flawed comes across as a principled and loyal man who's inability to control his temper is baffling. I'd recommend this book to anyone who's interested about the inner workings of a team.

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After reading some other John Feinstein books that I really enjoyed, I had to go back to the book that started it all, and I was not disappointed. Great read, even for someone like me with zero college basketball knowledge.

ganz gut - Für B-Ball-Fans

good book....if your a sports fan who likes the behind the stories...good book.....

any sports fan should read this book, actually, this is a book for everyone. one of the most enjoyable books iv read.