Memoirs/Personal Narratives: Athletes

Recounts the events that took place on K2, the world's second highest peak, in early August 2008, when eleven climbers were killed in the worst disaster in the mountain's history.

The author relates his experience of climbing Mount Everest during its deadliest season and examines what it is about the mountain that makes people willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense.

Former NFL general manager and three-time Super Bowl winner Michael Lombardi reveals what makes football organizations tick at the championship level. From personnel to practice to game-day decisions that win titles, Lombardi shares what he learned working with coaching legends Bill Walsh of the 49ers, Al Davis of the Raiders, and Bill Belichick of the Patriots, among others, during his three decades in football. Why do some NFL franchises dominate year after year while others can never crack the code of success?

Olympic and World Cup soccer champion Mia Hamm discusses her life, tracing her path to success on the field, and offers advice and tips to other girls who would like to follow in her footsteps.

1968 Olympic gold medalist Tommie Smith recounts the events that shaped his life and shares the beliefs that led him to raise a black-gloved fist with his teammate while accepting their medals, creating an iconic representation of the conflicts between race, politics, and sports in the mid-twentieth century.

Tennis champion, Arthur Ashe, tells of his life, career, and battles with heart disease and AIDS.

Simone takes you through the events, challenges, and trials that carried her from an early childhood in foster care to a coveted spot on the 2016 Olympic team

Mountaineer and filmmaker David Breashears shares the story of his life, discussing his adventures climbing some of the world's greatest peaks, and explaining the factors that drive him to pursue such a dangerous profession.

Author Bill Bryson provides an account of his experiences hiking the Appalachian Trail with a childhood friend, telling of how they survived a blizzard, got lost, and had encounters with eccentric characters, and rude yuppies along the way.

Henry Cejudo, the youngest American gold medalist in the freestyle wrestling event, shares the story of his life, from his birth to illegal Mexican immigrants in South Central Los Angeles, to his victory in Beijing.

The inventor of shock rock discusses his life, career, and shift from drinking to the game of golf, and covers his struggles with addiction, how he fell in love with the sport, and a wide array of anecdotes about his friends over the years, including George Burns, Groucho Marx, Elvis, Tiger Woods, and members of Led Zeppelin and The Doors.

Misty Copeland describes her life, ballet training, and becoming the only African American soloist at the American Ballet Theatre.

Professional baseball pitcher R.A. Dickey details his life and unlikely journey to the big leagues--all sustained by his Christian faith, the love of his family, and his quest for authenticitity.

Wrestler and wrestling coach Dan Gable tells ... stories of his childhood in Waterloo, Iowa; overcoming the murder of his sister as a teenager; his sports career from swimming as a young boy, to his earliest wrestling matches, through the 1972 Olympics; coaching at the University of Iowa from the Banachs to the Brands; life-changing friendships he made along the way; and tales of his family life off the mat

Wayne Gretzky discusses his life and record breaking hockey career.

Presents Hank Haney's account of his tumultuous six-year journey with Tiger Woods, during which the golfer collected six major championships and rewrote golf history.

The memoir of Melvin Juette, who was paralyzed in a gang-related shooting, attended college, and became a wheelchair basketball athlete, playing for the U.S. National Wheelchair Basketball team.

Chronicles the experiences of a team of mountain climbers who were trapped on Mount McKinley in Alaska during one of the worst storms to hit the mountain in the twentieth century.

The author reflects on how running has influenced his life and writing, discussing the places he has trained, the people he has met, and the races he has run.

Tennis player Rafael Nadal chronicles his life, discussing his childhood in Mallorca, his tight-knit family, his intense training, his personal relationships, his career accomplishments, and other related topics.

A memoir of University of Nebraska football star and NFL first-round draft pick Jason Peter, who became addicted to painkillers, and eventually heroin, while battling injuries that ended his career.

The author recounts his harrowing experiences of being trapped for six days in Blue John Canyon in Utah and having to amputate his own right arm in order to save his life.

Look at the life of American figure skater, Adam Rippon.

African-American baseball hero Jackie Robinson tells his life story, covering such aspects as his childhood in California; his experiences at UCLA, in World War II, and in the Negro Leagues; and the impact that breaking the color barrier had on his later years, on sports, and on American society.

Wrestler Anthony Robles reflects on his life , discussing his success in wrestling despite being born without his right leg, family life, challenges, and more.

Russian-American tennis player Maria Sharapova reflects on her rise from nowhere to tennis stardom, and her unending fight to stay on top.

Hope Solo, the headline-making goalkeeper for the U.S. women's national soccer team, describes family, loss, and reconciliation in this memoir.

Cheryl Strayed recounts the impact of her mother's death on her life at age twenty-two and chronicles her experiences after she made the impulsive decision to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert all the way into Washington State.

One of the best quarterbacks in the history of college football traces his path to success, discussing his childhood as the son of Christian missionaries and how his faith combined with his drive to succeed have made him the person he is today.

In the tradition of Barbarian Days, THE MOST FUN THING is a memoir in essays of Kyle Beachy's decade-long quest to uncover the hidden meaning of skateboarding-a search that unearthed fresh insights on marriage, love, loss, and American invention. In January 2012, creative writing professor and novelist Kyle Beachy published one of his first essays on skate culture, an exploration of how Nike's corporate strategy successfully gutted the once-mighty independent skate shoe market. For a decade and counting, Beachy has been skate culture's freshest, most illuminating, at times most controversial voice, writing candidly about the increasingly popular and fast-changing pastime Beachy first picked up as a young boy and has continued to practice well into adulthood. What is skateboarding? What does it mean to continue skateboarding after forty, four decades after the kickflip was invented? How does one live authentically as an adult while staying true to a passion cemented in childhood? How does skateboarding shape one's understanding of contemporary American life? Of growing old and getting married? Answering these questions and more, Beachy offers a deep exploration of a pastime, often overlooked, regularly maligned, whose seeming simplicity conceals universal truths. THE MOST FUN THING is both a rich account of a hobby and a life and collection of the varied lessons skateboarding has taught Beachy-what it continues to teach him as he struggles to find space for it as an adult, a professor, and a husband.

A memoir of Karina Manta, the first female member of USA Figure Skating to come out as queer.

A star athlete shares her account of triumph in the face of sexism, self-doubt, and injury, gives a global tour of the women's soccer world, and presents a call-to-action to secure equal pay and conditions.