Bob Knight: His Own Man

by Joan Mellen

The "infamous" Indiana coach is revealed in a candid profile that goes beyond the public persona of a man dubbed mean-spirited, sexist, and profane to discover a smart, down-to-earth, and affectionate individual

Genres: Sports, Biography, Basketball

286 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Joan Mellen is the bestselling author of twenty books, including A Farewell to Justice, her biographical study of Jim Garrison s New Orleans investigation of the Kennedy assassination. She has written for a variety of publications, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Baltimore Sun. Mellen is a professor of English and creative writing at Temple University in Philadelphia.

(from http://www.booksandbooks.com/book/978...)

Reviews

[Jason Hojnacki]

This book was seen as a response to Season on The Brink which was released in 1986. Brink was portrayed as a negative look at Knight so this book was portrayed as a positive look at the Coach. Having read both books, Brink seemed like it was telling a story while this book goes into specifics about what happens at practice, right before a game, and during a game. The exact instructions that Knight gives his team are written about here allowing the reader to make up their own mind. Very interesting behind the scenes look at Indiana basketball in the 80s and also more about Coach Knights coaching and leadership style.

[Luke Watson]

DNF- no disrespect to Prof Mellen, I was not alive for the 1988 IU basketball season and I think I missed the window to enjoy the book in its entirety. I made it about 200 pages, and it was interesting to hear about Coach Knight, it just wasn’t what I was hoping it would be- she talked about his life in spurts, but focused so much on the 1988 season and that was not what I was hoping for out of this. I understand why she wrote this book how she wrote it, it just wasn’t for me.

[Tom Sparrenberger]

Having read several Coach Knight books, I found this one to be from a different angle/perspective. Some may argue the author was too kind/a shield to the coach but I found the book transparent/honest.

[Red Fox]

Interesting that Joan Mellen wrote the book only knowing a little about basketball.

She writes of Knight - "On such occasions it becomes apparent that a natural sense of continuity governs his life. Seamlessly he accommodates people out of his past. They are not to be cast out because he has moved on, or become successful. He lives strongly by values that have almost died out in our culture as he shares his success with the Orrville 8 here tonight, with the college classmates, as with the parents of former players, former players, former assistants.

Knight tells her, "Popular people don't make particularly good leaders. Decisive people with judgement, who aren't afraid to tell other people who don't have such good judgement that their judgement isn't very good, make good leaders."

[Ronald]

read some time in 1994