Chuck Klosterman on the Cinema Revival, Sports Tsars, Owners and Commissioners, Analytics, U.S. Soccer Groundhog Day, and State of Reading

'Butcher's Crossing' follows Will Andrews, a Harvard dropout who travels to the frontier town of Butcher's Crossing, Kansas, in the 1870s to find adventure and meaning. He joins a buffalo hunting expedition that descends into obsession and brutality. Williams's stark prose captures the harsh realities of the American West and the destructive nature of human ambition. The novel explores themes of man's relationship with nature, the loss of innocence, and the dark side of the frontier spirit.

The novel follows William Stoner, born on a small farm in Missouri in 1891, who is sent to the University of Missouri to study agriculture. However, he discovers a passion for literature and decides to pursue a career in English. The book delves into Stoner's undistinguished career, his marriage to Edith, his affair with Katherine Driscoll, and his complex relationships with his daughter Grace and his colleagues. It explores themes of work, passion, love, and the social and sexual reawakening of the protagonist, all set against the backdrop of his quiet yet rich and vibrant life as an academic.

In 'Among the Thugs', Bill Buford delves into the culture of soccer hooliganism in England. The book follows Buford's journey as he embeds himself with a group of hooligans, known as 'the lads', to understand the motivations and behaviors behind their violent and often chaotic actions. The narrative takes readers from the pubs of London to the stadiums of northern England and the streets of Europe, offering a deep and sometimes disturbing look into this subculture.

Tall Tales chronicles the early history of the National Basketball Association (from its inception through Bill Russell's retirement in 1970) using a lively oral history format. Rather than traditional narrative prose, Terry Pluto mixes short quotes and stories from dozens of players, coaches, referees, journalists, and owners, with each person contributing one paragraph to reveal the full story. The book serves as a companion to Pluto's famous work 'Loose Balls' (about the ABA) and offers essential reading for fans who understand that NBA history does not begin and end with Michael Jordan, featuring bizarre anecdotes and the stories of notable figures like Warren Jabali, John Brisker, and Wendell Ladner.