BOOKS! JEWELRY! MUSIC! It's the Edge of Sports Holiday Picks

December 12, 2008
By: Dave Zirin

BOOKS! JEWELRY! MUSIC! Even in these tough economic times, there are independent and radical writers and artists that need our support. Here are some gift ideas that will impress, but will also support people doing important work to keep commodification at bay

Holiday Picks: Good people of Edge of Sports Nation: First, to dispel all rumors, I have no interest in becoming Senator of Illinois, and I never traded cash to Rod Blagievich in exchange for hair styling tips. But enough about governors who look like a cross between Ray Liotta and George Harrison.

The holidays are on the horizon and despite the economic garroting we’re living through, I assume some of us will be buying holiday presents. In the name of supporting independent, adventurous artists, here are some gift ideas:

BOOKS

1 – What could be better than a copy of A People’s History of Sports in the US? Great for the politically minded sports fan or the sports fan in your family that you want to give a political kick in the pants.

You can buy it at amazon.com:

Or if you find Amazon to be the antithesis to all that is good in the world, you can buy it from independent publisher Haymarket Books, which will give you free shipping.

2 – If you buy one book this holiday season, please buy mine. But if you buy two, check out Joe Allen’s Vietnam: The Lat War the U.S. Lost, a thrilling, and altogether original analysis of the Vietnam War and the movement against it here.

3 – I have to recommend another sports book: Stefan Fatsis' latest A Few Seconds of Panic is revelatory. Fatsis was permitted to join the Broncos training camp in 2006 as a kicker and observe the daily reality - and banality - of an NFL training camp. It will destroy any fantasies about the NFL as a non-stop party, or macho paradise. It's a grind. It's a job. But it's also a place where there is a constant effort to create human connections in a thoroughly dehumanizing environment. My lefty friends and my right-of-center father-in-law all loved it. Buy it here.

4 – Lastly, I love hoops. I love the balletic artistry, the personalities and the internal politics and drama of it all--both on the court and off. The blogging All-Star team at freedarko.org have given us The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac: Styles, Stats and Stars in Today's Game.

Accompanied by beautiful illustrations, and including categories of players like "Lost Souls," "Phenomenal Tumors" and "People's Champs," this book captures what the hoops junkie loves about the sport--the personalities that turn the game into great theater. And any hoops almanac that compares players to characters in essays by African writer Chinua Achebe is interesting enough to engage the non-basketball fan as well. Buy it here.

JEWELRY

People on Edge of Sports may remember last year at this time I directed people to my neighbor and friend Patricia Caron, an independent artist who makes jewelry both visually stunning and entirely unique. Support independent artists! Check it out here.

MUSIC

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. The hip hop artist of our era is SON of NUN. Rakim in his delivery and flow, Boots Riley in his politics, Chuck D in his heart.

Once again, we have an independent artist trying to make it without compromising their art. This about as easy as walking through hell in a gasoline suit and it’s why they need our support.

Buy his album here.