"Engaging images accompany information about motocross racing. The combination of high-interest subject matter and light text is intended for students in grades 2 through 7"--

Michael Murphy, bestselling author of Golf in the Kingdom, explains the power of athletics to transform the body, mind, and spirit   Athletes and coaches often say they feel "in the zone" while participating in sports or other endeavors, and Esalen Institute cofounder Michael Murphy carefully documents this phenomenon in one of the most comprehensive works of its kind. Murphy and coauthor Rhea A. White categorize twenty types of extraordinary athletic...

Fat City is a vivid novel of allegiance and defeat, of the potent promise of the good life and the desperation and drink that waylay those whom it eludes. Stockton, California is the setting: the Lido Gym, the Hotel Coma, Main Street lunchrooms and dingy bars, days like long twilights in houses obscured by untrimmed shrubs and black walnut trees. When two men meet in the ring — the retired boxer Billy Tully and the newcomer Ernie Munger -...

Peter Sagal, the host of NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! and a popular columnist for Runner's World, shares lessons, stories, advice, and warnings gleaned from running the equivalent of once around the earth. At the verge of turning forty, Peter Sagal--brainiac Harvard grad, short bald Jew with a disposition towards heft, and a sedentary star of public radio--started running seriously. And much to his own surprise, he kept going, faster and further,...

In The Perfect Mile, Neal Bascomb, the New York Times bestselling author of Faster, presenst the riveting, true story of the three world-class athletes who individually became the first runners to break the four-minute mile. There was a time when running the mile in four minutes was believed to be beyond the limits of human foot speed, and in all of sport it was the elusive holy grail. In 1952, after suffering defeat at the Helsinki Olympics, three...

"From Pulitzer Prize finalist Mark Di Ionno comes the next Great American Novel about the Great American Pastime-- The Natural with echoes of Ford, Updike, DeLillo and Roth--two men from disparate worlds and their search for what constitutes a meaningful life in a searing portrait of honor and masculinity, sport and celebrity, marriage and parenthood. Joe Grudeck is a living legend--a first-ballot Hall of Famer beloved by Boston Red Sox fans who once...

"First Ladies of Running tells the inspiring stories of these and other fiercely independent runners who refused to give up despite the cultural and sports barriers they faced. Legends such as Doris Brown, Francie Larrieu, Mary Decker, Jackie Hansen, Miki Gorman, and Grete Waitz are chronicled by Runner's World editor Amby Burfoot. Burfoot even runs the 1994 Marine Corps Marathon with Oprah Winfrey, whose successful finish opened the floodgates for...

NASCAR sensation Ricky Bobby is a racing hero because of his "win at all costs" approach. He and his loyal racing partner, childhood friend Cal Naughton Jr., are a fearless duo. Dubbed "Shake" and "Bake" by their fans, the two have the ability to finish so many races in the #1 and #2 positions, with Cal always in second place. When flamboyant French Formula One driver Jean Girard challenges Ricky and Cal for the supremacy of NASCAR, Ricky must face...

"Beyond the Game brings together fifteen of Smith's greatest stories, from groundbreaking profiles of international stars like Mike Tyson and Magic Johnson, to intimate looks at lesserknown athletes whose lives are driven by the thrill of competition and the love of a game. There is "Damned Yankee," the heartbreaking story of John Malangone, who seemed destined to succeed Yogi Berra as the Yankees' starting catcher - until his career was destroyed...

"Life has become a balancing act for Adonis Creed. Between personal obligations and training for his next big fight, he is up against the challenge of his life. Facing an opponent with ties to his family's past only intensifies his impending battle in the ring. Rocky Balboa is there by his side through it all and, together, Rocky and Adonis will confront their shared legacy, question what's worth fighting for, and discover that nothing's more important...