I cannot do justice to the well-thought out and executed effort that this book represents. This is professional journalism pretty close to being at its best. The writing, although never literary stylistically-speaking, demonstrates a great respect for the readers' needs for story-telling. The only lacuna I find is that Bryant was unable to devote a chapter to the fans' contribution to celebrity worship that this form of entertainment represents. You know that Americans are constantly being told that corporations provide a product based upon consumer demand. Of course, as I seek to exist outside the pale of mass marketing I tend to think I am inoculated from such nonsense. However, as I recognize from Jacques Ellul's PROPAGANDA, my individuality is nothing to corporations. In JUICING THE GAME, Howard Bryant often acknowledges the fans sensibilities, but he fails to address the reality behind the attendance figures as in fact an alembical element that 'stirs the drink.' This book belongs however in any class that seeks to understand baseball's madness post-1994 strike and further sharpens the question: are steroids cheating?