O’Neil, Sean. Spirit and Sport: Religion and the Fragile Athletic Body in Popular Culture. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2022. Pp. 210. $50.00 paperback and e-book. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Sean O’Neil introduces himself in the Preface to his book as “an ordained Christian minister and a bishop” (p. xi). And both occupations set the tone for…
Sharon Mazer. Professional Wrestling: Sport and Spectacle. Second Edition. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2020. Pp. 198. $30 paperback. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski From the beginning of her book, Professional Wrestling: Sport and Spectacle, which was originally published in 1998, Sharon Mazer makes it clear that she is just a tourist in the world of…
Peterson, Todd, ed. The Negro Leagues were Major Leagues: Historians Reappraise Black Baseball. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Publishing Company, 2020. Reviewed by Leslie Heaphy Todd Peterson has brought together an impressive array of authors to try to answer a long-debated question regarding the Negro Leagues. Historians, researchers, and the general fans have differing views of the…
Krell, David, editor. The New York Yankees in Popular Culture: Critical Essays. Jefferson, North Carolina. McFarland & Company, 2019. Pp. 239. Index, introduction, notes. $29.95 paperback. Reviewed by Bob D’Angelo. Comedian Joe E. Lewis is generally credited with the quip that “Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for U.S. Steel.” Gay Talese, writing in…
Sport in American History 