In his study of the soaring myths and ugly realities surrounding the world of high school basketball, May (Talking at Trena’s
) does the math: of the 530,000-odd high school basketball players this nation fielded in 2001, a mere 405 ever played professionally. This works out to a “measly” .001 probability—a fact that doesn’t keep the kids he helps coach in a mostly black, poverty-stricken Georgia neighborhood from dreaming of the big time. More sociology paper than general interest book, May’s work has the kind of on-the-ground raw material that most chroniclers of charged subjects (race, poverty, crime and social advancement) would dream of, yet he seems strangely unable to make much of it. After dividing his book into chapters on race, masculinity, sportsmanship and the like, May marches dutifully through each of them, reporting his findings with the utmost of care, never overstating something he doesn’t have hard data for. Given literally a front-row seat to the arena where several of society’s most potent stereotypes are played out, May retreats from the fray with his stiff, term-paper prose and cautious mien. However, May’s commitment to these boys is clear, as he becomes convinced that even though their fantasies of living the American dream are for the most part a “dirty trick,” it still remains about the best thing going in their sadly limited lives. (Jan.)
