The Bottom Line
Good exploration of the history of hockey violence. But the book bogs down in random musings, failing to make a coherent case for how much violence is acceptable and what to do about the rest.
Pros
- Good survey of violence in hockey history.
- Refuses to wallow in nostalgia for hockey's past.
Cons
- Scattershot approach results in unfocused book.
- Cluttered with cerebral hogwash.
- Too solemn. Does this guy even like the game?
Description
- Explores our passion for hockey and how violence became an essential tactic of the game.
- Includes the usual list of ideas to fix hockey: More penalties for stick work, eject fighters, etc.
- A first-person book, focusing on the author's experience of hockey as a player, parent and fan.
Guide Review - "Grace Under Fire" by Lawrence Scanlan
The precious title is a bad sign. But Scanlan emerges as a hockey addict, diligent researcher and sharp observer. He is refreshingly free of romantic notions about hockey's past and his survey of violence in hockey history is fascinating.Scanlan loses focus when he abandons this track and goes for the deep thinker's approach, probing the "yin and yang" of hockey. The book dissolves into a jumble of anecdotes and disjointed musings, with bursts of turgid profundity on the perfect breakaway or the metaphysics of the puck. Its earnest, almost humourless tone becomes wearying.
Ultimately, Scanlan fails to make a coherent contribution to one of hockey's eternal arguments: How much violence is acceptable, and how can we eliminate the rest?
