Best Seat in the House

by Spike Lee

Best Seat in the House , Spike Lee's evocative and compelling basketball memoir, interweaves several journeys over a course of thirty years. The first is professional basketball's metamorphosis from a fringe sport to the big-money spectacle it is today, filled with outrageously inflated salaries and egos. The other journey is that of Shelton Jackson Lee himself, who has gone from a skinny kid playing ball on the streets of Brooklyn, sneaking into Madison Square Garden to watch his beloved Knicks, to a student at Morehouse College and NYU film school, to a world-renowned film director and hoops fan.

Along the way Spike takes readers on entertaining and provocative detours, including a one-on-one with that other Brooklyn-born, film-directing, Garden-inhabiting hoops fan, Woody Allen; reviews of sports movies (Spike has seen them all, and the results aren't pretty); an unusually candid interview with Michael Jordan; and a stark assessment of the role of African-American athletes--both in the big business of sports and in the broader culture.

But overall, Best Seat in the House is a love letter, from a passionate and unswervingly devoted fan, to the game and the team that took possession of Spike's adolescent heart--the New York Knickerbockers--and held it without a turnover through thirty years. of bang-ups and fouls, bad calls and air balls.
Best Seat in the House is a slam dunk.

Genres: Basketball, Sports, Nonfiction, Biography

327 pages, Paperback

Published May 19, 1998

About the author

Shelton Jackson Lee, better known as Spike Lee, is an Emmy Award - winning, and Academy Award - nominated American film director, producer, writer, and actor noted for his films dealing with controversial social and political issues. He also teaches film at New York University and Columbia University. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983.

Reviews

[Len or Len · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spike Lee was able to communicate his love of basketball and New York Knicks history in this fun book for any NBA fan. I might have enjoyed it a little more because it came out in 1997 when Michael Jordan and the Bulls were still kings of the league.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bought this one with a $25 Borders card my Grandma bought me. Best money she ever spent. This one was a disappointment.

[Ron Maskell · Rating 3 out of 5]

It takes a while to get into the way Spike weaves a story on paper but once you get in to it then it is alright.

[Douglas Graney · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you followed the Knicks of the early 70's or are a NBA fan in general you will enjoy this book. It's a bio of Lee growing up in NY taking you through his development as a filmmaker all while living and dying with the Knicks. It has interesting sociological and race observations and there's a lot of laughs too.

[Logan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad if you're a Knicks fan, or a Spike Lee fan, or a fan basketball. It's tough to get past the stream-of-consciousness style of writing (even though it's ghost-written by Ralph Wiley, a personal favorite). But Spike's passion for his Knicks comes through.

[Guy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun for a basketball junkie.

[Leo Jacobowitz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was in utter ecstasy reading this book. If there's a better book about basketball and especially the Knicks out there - lemme know because this was the sht.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story, fast read, with some really funny stories.

[John Boyack · Rating 5 out of 5]

yupp.

[Sue Kozlowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non-fiction. His real name is Shelton Lee. So much about basketball! He is so angry I learned a lot about the Knicks.

[RK Byers · Rating 4 out of 5]

good, funny read.

[Riddie23]

Good book

[Jalen Coles · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the book "Best seat in the house" by :Spike Lee. This is a great biography and goes really in debt about all his connections with fans coaches players and even legends. This biography is good for people who like to read about others who are well known in the world and is also a well written and organized biography. This book also helps you see the perspective of an succesful living man . This really wasn't a book you could dislike except for if you don't like to read a lot.