Thursday, March 28, 2024 Mar 28, 2024
73° F Dallas, TX
Advertisement
Publications

THE MAN WHO RUINED FICTION

By Chris Tucker |

BOOKS Imagine a middleaged insurance agent who just wakes up one day and starts kicking 95-yard field goals for the 1982 Dallas Cowboys. That’s the idea behind The Man Who Ruined Football (Athen-eum, $14.95), a slack, lazily imagined novel by ELSTON BROOKS, a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Brooks-buddy DAN JENKINS {Dead Solid Perfect, Baja Oklahoma) plays two parts in this flaccid tale. The real-life Jenkins contributes a gooey puff on the book’s front cover. And in the novel, the “fictional” Jenkins arranges for the infallible kicker, Vic Waller, to try out for TOM LANDRY. Perhaps ol’ pal “Jenkie” also has connections at Atheneum?

Reviewers’ ethics forbid revealing the “climax” of The Man… But think about the title and imagine how an unstoppable field goal kicker would change football. Having done that, you’ll have put in as much work as Brooks did.

A total loss? No. The Man Who Ruined Football will make a nice Christmas gift for all the friends and idols whose names Brooks drops along the way: Landry, BLACKIE SHERROD, GIL BRANDT, VERN LUNDQUIST, and of course Jenkie, who blurbs out: “I wish I’d written it.”

Well, that might have made this a better book. But even friendship has its limits.

Related Articles

Image
Arts & Entertainment

Arlington Museum of Art Debuts Two Must-see Nature-Inspired Additions

The chill of the Arctic Circle and a futuristic digital archive mark the grand opening of the Arlington Museum of Art’s new location.
By Brett Grega
Image
Arts & Entertainment

An Award-Winning SXSW Short Gave a Dallas Filmmaker an Outlet for Her Grief

Sara Nimeh balances humor and poignancy in a coming-of-age drama inspired by her childhood memories.
By Todd Jorgenson
Image
Football

Joel Klatt Is Pumped for the UFL

The league's first-ever game goes down Saturday at Choctaw Stadium.
Advertisement