The aim of the book is to prove Walter Payton, one of footballs most valued players, lived a full meaningful life. The book is basically a story of Walter’s life, and those who closely influenced him. It carries through his life beginning with his childhood and stories of his family, leads through his college days and finally ends with the day he passed away with cancer. No detail is missed which makes the book truly interesting. The author’s thesis is to prove Walter Payton lived a full life, influenced everyone around him positively, and left a permanent mark on footballs history. As a sports journalist, the author is already fond of Walter because of his influence on the NFL and his accomplishments, so if there is any bias, one would think it would be in favor of Walter. The strange thing is the author incorporates Walter’s flaws into the book, even though he bends them to be positive. This still shows an honest argument which gives the book much more deepness. Pearlman continues to support his thesis with stories from teammates, family, or other people associated with Walter about how he was an exceptional athlete and person. Old coaches were quoted saying he was unlike any other player. Friends would say he was always a good time. The words give the reader a comfortable feeling, as if Walter Payton was the person to look up to, but at the same time he would never look down to you. The book definitely has a lot of strengths, such as word-for-word quotations and a lot of well backed up information. Pearlman uses quotations from firsthand interviews with friends and family. Another excellent thing about the book is the core value of it. Any individual who is passionate about a sport, especially football can find motivation in this book because of its positive light, even in some of the darker parts of the text like desegregation. Personally reading the book I started getting butterflies at certain parts because I grew up playing football and lived the exact same life, football wise, as Payton. It’s a certain magic of the game. Another great technique Pearlman uses is in some parts of the book he denies what previous Walter Payton books have said, if there was false statements. If Pearlman’s writing about Payton’s choice between Jackson College and Kansas City State and he says Walter was unable to decide, he brings up the fact that the other book stated he “instantaneously wanted to attend Jackson.” These little things help make the book more interesting. To be honest I can’t find any weaknesses with the book other than when Pearlman rarely uses more “slang” like words. Of course a football player would be able to make the connections immediately, so personally I can’t see it as an issue. I don’t read a lot of books. I have tried and always end up getting bored or uninterested so to find a book that I can’t stop reading is amazing. This means this book must be one of the best on Walter Payton and football or sports alike. It definitely deserves some recognition as an amazing piece of literature and footballs history.
The aim of the book is to prove Walter Payton, one of footballs most valued players, lived a full meaningful life. The book is basically a story of Walter’s life, and those who closely influenced him. It carries through his life beginning with his childhood and stories of his family, leads through his college days and finally ends with the day he passed away with cancer. No detail is missed which makes the book truly interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe author’s thesis is to prove Walter Payton lived a full life, influenced everyone around him positively, and left a permanent mark on footballs history. As a sports journalist, the author is already fond of Walter because of his influence on the NFL and his accomplishments, so if there is any bias, one would think it would be in favor of Walter. The strange thing is the author incorporates Walter’s flaws into the book, even though he bends them to be positive. This still shows an honest argument which gives the book much more deepness. Pearlman continues to support his thesis with stories from teammates, family, or other people associated with Walter about how he was an exceptional athlete and person. Old coaches were quoted saying he was unlike any other player. Friends would say he was always a good time. The words give the reader a comfortable feeling, as if Walter Payton was the person to look up to, but at the same time he would never look down to you.
The book definitely has a lot of strengths, such as word-for-word quotations and a lot of well backed up information. Pearlman uses quotations from firsthand interviews with friends and family. Another excellent thing about the book is the core value of it. Any individual who is passionate about a sport, especially football can find motivation in this book because of its positive light, even in some of the darker parts of the text like desegregation. Personally reading the book I started getting butterflies at certain parts because I grew up playing football and lived the exact same life, football wise, as Payton. It’s a certain magic of the game. Another great technique Pearlman uses is in some parts of the book he denies what previous Walter Payton books have said, if there was false statements. If Pearlman’s writing about Payton’s choice between Jackson College and Kansas City State and he says Walter was unable to decide, he brings up the fact that the other book stated he “instantaneously wanted to attend Jackson.” These little things help make the book more interesting.
To be honest I can’t find any weaknesses with the book other than when Pearlman rarely uses more “slang” like words. Of course a football player would be able to make the connections immediately, so personally I can’t see it as an issue.
I don’t read a lot of books. I have tried and always end up getting bored or uninterested so to find a book that I can’t stop reading is amazing. This means this book must be one of the best on Walter Payton and football or sports alike. It definitely deserves some recognition as an amazing piece of literature and footballs history.