Paper Lion - INSCRIBED -
George Plimpton
1966 - Harper &, New York - First Edition
A bright first edition of one of the all time great sporting books, inscribed by George Plimpton ‘To BS – The Wooden Indian from the Paper Lion – GP’
‘The agility and imaginativeness of his prose transforms his account of this daydream into a classic of sports reporting.’ – The New Yorker
George Plimpton’s experiences of talking his way into training camp with the Detroit Lions, practising with the team, and taking snaps behind centre. Plimpton’s breezy style and characteristic wit captures the pressures and tensions the rookies confront, the hijinks that pervade when sixty high-strung players live together in close quarters, and a host of American football rites and rituals, his account setting the bar for participatory sports journalism. ‘George Plimpton (1927–2003) was the editor of The Paris Review from its founding in 1953 until his death in 2003. A graduate of Harvard University and Kings College, Cambridge, Plimpton was recruited to Paris by Peter Matthiessen in 1952 and signed onto the project shortly thereafter. “I’ve decided to stay over here in Paris and run this magazine,” he wrote to his parents. “I think I’d be a fool not to.”
Aside from his lifelong commitment to The Paris Review, Plimpton is best known for his forays into the world of professional athletics: he earned a bloody nose while sparring with Archie Moore in 1959; he exhausted himself during an outing as a pitcher against a series of MLB All Stars in 1960; he lost thirty yards during a stint as quarterback for the Detroit Lions in 1963; and he was trounced in golf by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus in 1967 ... despite a personal handicap of 18. His knack for participatory journalism also led him to test his acrobatics as an aerialist for the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus—he failed miserably—and to try his hand as a percussionist with the New York Philharmonic (where a miss-hit on the gong earned him the immediate applause of conductor Leonard Bernstein).
All told, Plimpton authored more than fifteen books, including Paper Lion, Out of My League, and The Bogey Man. He also appeared in more than thirty films, including Lawrence of Arabia, Rio Robo, and Good Will Hunting. Plimpton was made an officier of the L’Ordre des Artes et des Lettres and a chevalier of the Legion d’honneur, and was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.’ - Obituary from the Paris Review.
References: Hachette, web. Penguin, web.
Thick octavo (book size 22x15.5cm), pp. [16] 362 [3 (Detroit Lions roster)] [1]. In publisher’s light blue cloth, spine lettered in silver, front panel with vignette of helmet in silver, top edge tinted red. Dust jacket priced ‘$5.95’ to upper corner of front flap. Condition: Near fine, some uneven fading to top edge of block, and light rubbing to spine and upper edge of boards, in near fine dust jacket, with rubbing to tail of spine, and crease to rear flap. Ref: 111484 Price: HK$ 3,500
‘The agility and imaginativeness of his prose transforms his account of this daydream into a classic of sports reporting.’ – The New Yorker
George Plimpton’s experiences of talking his way into training camp with the Detroit Lions, practising with the team, and taking snaps behind centre. Plimpton’s breezy style and characteristic wit captures the pressures and tensions the rookies confront, the hijinks that pervade when sixty high-strung players live together in close quarters, and a host of American football rites and rituals, his account setting the bar for participatory sports journalism. ‘George Plimpton (1927–2003) was the editor of The Paris Review from its founding in 1953 until his death in 2003. A graduate of Harvard University and Kings College, Cambridge, Plimpton was recruited to Paris by Peter Matthiessen in 1952 and signed onto the project shortly thereafter. “I’ve decided to stay over here in Paris and run this magazine,” he wrote to his parents. “I think I’d be a fool not to.”
Aside from his lifelong commitment to The Paris Review, Plimpton is best known for his forays into the world of professional athletics: he earned a bloody nose while sparring with Archie Moore in 1959; he exhausted himself during an outing as a pitcher against a series of MLB All Stars in 1960; he lost thirty yards during a stint as quarterback for the Detroit Lions in 1963; and he was trounced in golf by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus in 1967 ... despite a personal handicap of 18. His knack for participatory journalism also led him to test his acrobatics as an aerialist for the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus—he failed miserably—and to try his hand as a percussionist with the New York Philharmonic (where a miss-hit on the gong earned him the immediate applause of conductor Leonard Bernstein).
All told, Plimpton authored more than fifteen books, including Paper Lion, Out of My League, and The Bogey Man. He also appeared in more than thirty films, including Lawrence of Arabia, Rio Robo, and Good Will Hunting. Plimpton was made an officier of the L’Ordre des Artes et des Lettres and a chevalier of the Legion d’honneur, and was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.’ - Obituary from the Paris Review.
References: Hachette, web. Penguin, web.
Thick octavo (book size 22x15.5cm), pp. [16] 362 [3 (Detroit Lions roster)] [1]. In publisher’s light blue cloth, spine lettered in silver, front panel with vignette of helmet in silver, top edge tinted red. Dust jacket priced ‘$5.95’ to upper corner of front flap. Condition: Near fine, some uneven fading to top edge of block, and light rubbing to spine and upper edge of boards, in near fine dust jacket, with rubbing to tail of spine, and crease to rear flap. Ref: 111484 Price: HK$ 3,500