You know that this is not your usual sports article when you see a passage like this:

“Near the lower lefthand corner of the (periodic table of elements) chart is an element named cesium. Among its own – the metals surrounding it in the chart, such as sodium and potassium – cesium is a quiet, unassuming element. But because it has just one electron on its outer shell, one electron aching to leap to any atom that is lacking a full outer shell of electrons, cesium is a bomb in a suitcase when it leaves its neighborhood.”

In this riveting collection of twenty selected articles that Smith wrote for Sports Illustrated, the gamut is broad as well as eclectic. There is the story about Parker and one about the effervescent Jim Valvano in the throes of terminal cancer, as well as stories about Tiger Woods and Mia Hamm. Smith is interested in why athletes do what they do - in short, in what makes them tick. His portraits are penetrating and funny, yet appear quite capable of seeing multiple sides of the same issue.

Using superb pacing, uncommon metaphors and a delight in the mundane, Smith’s pieces are a rare treat to the sports fan. When he writes about John Malangone, the Yankees farmhand who was Yogi Berra’s anointed understudy as the team’s catcher but fell apart when a terrible tragedy involving him at a very young age continued to haunt him, the tension is palpable as the reader is kept guessing about the denouement. Such is Smith’s writing prowess that the narrative is gripping even if one knows the ending. Even among the pantheon of illustrious writers of SI, Gary Smith stands out as a seminal talent. This collection emphatically tells us why.