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The Life and Death of Derek Boogaard
W.W. Norton
October 2014
On Sale: September 29, 2014
384 pages
ISBN: 039323939X
EAN: 9780393239393
Kindle: B00J8R3NNM
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction Biography
The much-anticipated debut from the Pulitzer Prize–winning
New York Times reporter, Boy on Ice is a
moving human story and behind-the-scenes account of a life
lived in the glare of sporting fame. The tragic death of hockey star Derek Boogaard at
twenty-eight was front-page news across the country in 2011
and helped shatter the silence about violence and
concussions in professional sports. Now, in a gripping work
of narrative nonfiction, acclaimed reporter John Branch
tells the shocking story of Boogaard's life and
heartbreaking death. Boy on Ice is the richly told story of a mountain
of a man who made it to the absolute pinnacle of his sport.
Widely regarded as the toughest man in the NHL, Boogaard was
a gentle man off the ice but a merciless fighter on it. With
great narrative drive, Branch recounts Boogaard's unlikely
journey from lumbering kid playing pond-hockey on the
prairies of Saskatchewan, so big his skates would routinely
break beneath his feet; to his teenaged junior hockey days,
when one brutal outburst of violence brought Boogaard to the
attention of professional scouts; to his days and nights as
a star enforcer with the Minnesota Wild and the storied New
York Rangers, capable of delivering career-ending punches
and intimidating entire teams. But, as Branch reveals,
behind the scenes Boogaard's injuries and concussions were
mounting and his mental state was deteriorating, culminating
in his early death from an overdose of alcohol and painkillers. Based on months of investigation and hundreds of interviews
with Boogaard's family, friends, teammates, and coaches,
Boy on Ice is a brilliant work for fans of Michael
Lewis's The Blind Side or Buzz Bissinger's
Friday Night Lights. This is a book that raises
deep and disturbing questions about the systemic brutality
of contact sports—from peewees to professionals—and the
damage that reaches far beyond the game.
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