The Awesome Game

Overview

One man's search to answer the ultimate question in sports: Why is hockey so incredibly awesome?

Dave Hill—author, actor, rock musician and stand-up comedian—is a truly outstanding American. For one thing, he's part Canadian (an advantage he explored in his previous book Parking the Moose). For another, and maybe this has something to do with his Canadian heritage, he's a totally obsessive fan of hockey. That makes him a minority within a minority: apparently only five percent of the US population admit to liking hockey more than any other sport.

In his latest opus, Dave—who's from Cleveland, which hasn't had an NHL team since 1978—tackles this hockey conundrum with full force, drilling down into what makes hockey so damn important in so many parts of the world, despite the average American not recognizing the sport's preeminent greatness. His search for the very soul of hockey has taken him across the globe, from Poland to LA to Kenya, and brought him into contact with many of the sport's great and good. Humorous but heartfelt, Bill Bryson-like but hipper, this is arguably the greatest book ever written about hockey and definitely the one to be asking for at Christmas.

Told with charm and verve, this is an essential portrait of a uniquely brutal and harrowing chapter in hockey history.

Reviews

“While the name, Five For Fighting, was a kind nod to hockey, Dave Hill’s new book is a 5 minute major for cross checking from behind. Part diary, part love letter and philosophical forecheck about a life revolving around hockey! Dave crosses the world to learn more about fandom for his beloved sport and I am all about it. Also, you gotta be pretty strong to make horns with a hockey glove…that shouldn’t be overlooked.”- Danny Tamberelli, actor, The Mighty Ducks