Water Basketball Books

From 1912 and All American Lewis Castle to Carmelo this book gives the reader a great review of basketball as played by the Syracuse Orange. The inclusion of the National Championship team and the Coach behind the rise of Syracuse basketball (Jim Boeheim) brings an appropriate conclusion to the the review of the legends.
Whether you are a Syracuse fan or a fan of college basketball, this book is a must for your library and reading pleasure.

A wonderful book about Fall River as well as Durfee basketball. Wonderful and bittersweet. It made me want to know what happened to all the people in it afterwards.

As a Fall Riverite, I am ashamed to have taken so long to read this book. This book is so accurate that it is scary. While the actual writing does lack some luster, it is certainly accurate weaving the city's history with key people, with the history of Durfee High School, and the politics that are still as evident in 2007 as they were in 1993. Chris Herren's basketball career at Durfee is chronicled with foresight as to what eventually did happen, evident to me that the author really did get to know the characters he wrote about because we all know what eventually happened to Chris, the dream that never really came to fruition, almost as if Fall River is cursed and has cursed its residents. Jeff Caron, the kid who was overlooked, according to the author in the book, is currently the coach of Durfee and its AD, taking the place of the everfamous Skippy Karam. Again, after reading the book, Caron's role in Fall River now seems exactly scripted the way Reynolds depicted Fall Riverites, destined to never leave, yearning always for the past. It's a good sports book, it's a good history book, it's a good story. There are some editing issues--spelling errors and misnamed places, but it's mostly annoying if you know that Columbus Park is not "Columbia Park," etc. If you are from the area, you must read! But even if you are not, if you know anything about Chris Herren, you will forever feel for him and his plight. I wish Chris would actually do an autobiography, it could be a lesson for all kids that nothing is a given.

I'm clearly not alone in having read "Fall River Dreams" after reading "Friday Night Lights." Several other reviewers have mentioned as much in their own reviews. Clearly, I had some expectations that it would be a basketball version of FNL, which it was, but it just didn't have the bite that FNL was able to dish out. Not that this was a bad book at all, but I think I was doomed from the start to always have that hanging over my head.

From a book standpoint, it was an enjoyable read, with a good amount of real life ups and downs mixed into it. I hate reading fairy tale non-fiction books, and fortunately this doesn't turn into one. Having read this over a decade after its first printing, I wish there was a new version with author commentary as there was with FNL. My interest in the players, especially Chris Herren, took me to the internet where I found quite a large amount of depressing post Fall River information. In some ways, it made the book more vivid. Reynolds might do well by refocusing on a few players with a re-release.

Overall a 3/5, mainly the 3 coming from a lot of repetitive commentary throughout. This book could have used a better editor.

i thought this was a pretty good book. as a sports fan, i did get bored at times with all the descriptions of the city and it seemed repetitive after awhile. but overall, i did find myself not wanting to put the book down in order to find out what the outcome was going to be for durfee and chris herron.

This was one of the best sports books I've read in a while. I really enjoyed Friday Night Lights, and think that this book is it's equal. Thought I am slightly biased, growing up in the Fall River area, and personally watching several Durfee games. But no one can deny the honest and genuine nature of the emotionally charged characters in this story. The relationship between Skippy Karam and Chris Herren is one of a kind. Skip being the living legend trying to go out on top one last time, and Chris trying to live up to all the expectations put on him by the media, colleges, and his family, even though he cleary isn't ready to grow up. The interaction between these two is usually confrontational, but often hilarious as Chris continues to push Skippy to his limit.
Another great character that seems to almost get lost in the mix is Jeff Caron. Jeff is the second best player on the team, but would be a stand out at any other high school in the area. He seems a little jealous at times, but always remains a team player. He is a sort of an outsider among his teammates and the book does a fine job of telling his story.