Audiobooks by S. L. Price

The American Game: History and Hope in the Country of Lacrosse

From "the master of new journalism [who always] hits it over the fence" (The New York Times) and "one of the finest writers on sports anywhere" (USA TODAY), the scintillating story of lacrosse—the game invented by the Haudenosaunee, played with more passion than any other, that stubbornly mirrors America's ongoing struggle with inclusivity. Nearly a millennium ago, Native Americans created lacrosse as a means of training warriors and settling disputes. Co-opted by whites in the late 1800s, played for a century largely at elite east coast colleges, over the past thirty years lacrosse has exploded around the world, becoming the fastest growing sport in the US while exposing the fault lines of prejudice and privilege that continue to dog its image. At the same time, the spiritual nature and dazzling style of the Native game has been elevated to center stage as the brilliant Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) play as a nation unto themselves, maintaining their deep traditions and hoping for inclusion in the 2028 Olympics. Based on seven years of research and observation and crafted with consummate skill, The American Game takes listeners inside a unique cultural landscape that nonetheless reflects the wider world. Fluidly weaving in compelling action on the field from World Championships to tense NCAA tournaments, Price also chronicles the controversies and anomalies that have in many ways defined lacrosse. Racism stubbornly persists—and the Haudenosaunee have endured plenty in their rise—yet few mainstream entities have done more than lacrosse to champion the Native American experience. The Duke rape case and the murder of Yeardley Love still resonate, reinforcing the sport's elite "laxbro" image, yet women remain the core force powering its astonishing boom. Lacrosse's longtime link with Wall Street endures, but its bond with elite military service is just as remarkable. Price introduces legendary individuals from Jim Brown (some say he was even better at lacrosse than football), Black superstar Kyle Harrison and the brilliant Iroquois stickman Lyle Thompson, to famed coaches Lars Tiffany and Kelly Amonte Hiller and Onondaga faithkeeper Oren Lyons. All of them, and all who play the game, pay homage to the mystical qualities of the lacrosse stick, which American coaching icon Bill Tierney calls "the thing that makes you special." A masterpiece of narration and investigation, The American Game is the powerful story of a sport that, perhaps more than any other, captures the complexity of America in its ongoing effort to achieve a more perfect union.

S. L. Price (Author), Shaun Taylor-Corbett, tbd (Narrator)

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Playing through the Whistle: Steel, Football, and an American Town

From a Sports Illustrated senior writer, a moving epic of football and industrial America, telling the story of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, its now-shuttered steel mill, and its legendary high school football team Aliquippa, Pennsylvania is famous for two things: the Jones and Laughlin Steel mill, an industrial behemoth that helped win World War II; and football, with a high school team that has produced numerous NFL stars including Mike Ditka and Darrelle Revis. But the mill, once the fourth largest producer in America, closed for good in 2000. What happens to a town when a dream dies? Does it just disappear? In Playing through the Whistle, celebrated sports writer S. L. Price tells the story of this remarkable place, its people, its players, and through it, a wider story of American history from the turn of the twentieth century. Aliquippa has been many things-a rigidly controlled company town, a booming racial and ethnic melting pot, and for a brief time, a workers' paradise. Price expertly traces this history, while also recounting the birth and development of high school sports, from a minor pastime to a source of civic pride to today, when it sometimes seems like the only way out of a life of poverty, drug abuse, and crime. Playing through the Whistle is a masterpiece of narrative journalism that will make you cry and cheer in equal measure. "A gut-wrenching portrait of a high school football team that has to embody the American dream for one small town, in large part because everything else that was supposed to do it has fallen apart. I would say this is some of the best sports writing I read this year, except that it's some of the best writing I've read this year."-David Epstein, author of The Sports Gene

S. L. Price (Author), Joe Barrett (Narrator)

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