Hate Mail from Cheerleaders: And Other Adventures from the Life of Reilly

It takes great skill to do justice to another author's first-person essays, but Lloyd James pulls it off with believability and flair. Reilly's sardonic wit is showcased in this collection of 100 of his most memorable Sports Illustrated columns. James musters up the appropriate righteous indignation when describing, say, the bad-boy tactics of Barry Bonds or the murder accusations leveled against Baltimore Ravens star Ray Lewis, as well as the pathos required for stirring columns on 9/11 heroes and individuals who have overcome tremendous physical obstacles to compete in sports. He also nails Reilly's biting humor. Each essay comes with a postscript, describing readers' response to the column and giving updates on the piece. A table of contents could have helped listeners find especially funny pieces from the master of the pithy back-page essay. Simultaneous release with the Sports Illustrated hardcover (reviewed online).