Rating: 
Summary: Repetitive and Disappointing
Review: "The Punch" left me disappointed. John Fenistein is a fine writer, but this book struck me as very repetitive in places....he's trying to give us the story of "the punch" from the angles of several of the participants, but the effect just doesn't come off. Give him credit for winning the confidence of Kermit Washington, Rudy T. and all the lesser players in this infamous incident, and all more points for trying to put the incident in a larger perspective, but what could have been a very fine book comes off as mediocre instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Recommended
Review: A great book for the sports fan and non sports fan alike. Feinsten has a clear and concise writing style that spells out the facts of the incident in question, but more importantly lets the reader in on the people behind the story. In dealing with human nature and personal memories, morphing the past into the present can be tricky but Feinstein pulls it off well. He definitely invokes the mood of the NBA's dark era in precise fashion and makes the reader feel like it is the late 70s all over again. If I had a small gripe with the book, it would be with the books slightly over dramatic subtitle : 'the fight that changed basketball forever'...I found only one tangible change in the game noted in the book ( going from two officials to three to help curb violence) , and while I am sure the fight did change the game in other ways - maybe some not so obvious - Feinstein never really explores his own thesis. This minor criticism noted, I whole heartily recommend this fine book.
Rating:
Summary: Reduntant and Disappointing
Review: A very good subject for a book, however Feinstein leaves the reader wanting and exhausted in many aspects. Firstly, he is overly reduntant in many areas, in fact, reading the book I thought somehow I had a brainfart and skipped back a few pages. Secondly, for a book published by a big time house the grammatical error of putting an apostrophe on the end of words ending in an 'S' is unforgivable and happens at least 5-10 times. Lastly, I think a part of the book never explored, expcept in recollections by Kevin Kunnert is the fact that Kermit Washington, even after all these years is utterly an un-sympathetic figure. John Lucas said it best when Kermit should sayin "i'm sorry without all the buts". It is obvious fromt he way he was coddled in colelge that as a 50 year old man he is unable to accept responsiblity and quickly resumes to playing the race card when complaining about is "lack of oppportunities" after is NBA career. Feinstein shoudld've taken him to task for this, but alas I think he wuld've felt it was race bating. In addition, Kermit comes off kind of stupid,which is especially sad for someone with a degree from American University. Oh yes, one more point there should've been picutres of 'the punch' and I felt the lack of pictures sorely wanting.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't pack the punch of earlier works
Review: Although "The Punch" is an entertaining and interesting read, it doesn't measure up against some of Feinstein's earlier works such as the outstanding "A Season on the Brink". "Brink's" power was derived from the incredible, behind-the-scenes reporting of one man over the course of only six months. As a reader, you were given full access to Bob Knight's daily life, and lived the ups and downs of the 86 basketball season along with the players. On the other hand, "The Punch" is essentially a biography of Rudy T and Kermit drawn from interviews. The drawback in covering two entire lives from the perspective of an event that happened 25 years ago is that it lacks the quirky, precise detail that defines his earlier books. Where Feinstein dedicates entire chapters to brief events (like the day of the punch), the story is mesmerizing. Also interesting is when he draws parallels between the upbringing of Kermit and Rudy. But certain chapters (especially the ones detailing the last 10-15 years) don't really make a convincing case (to me, anyway) that this was more than a noteworthy event in the NBA (as opposed to groundbreaking). This book is recommended for NBA enthusiasts and is a quick read.
Rating:
Summary: Lacks the punch of earlier works
Review: Although "The Punch" is an entertaining and interesting read, it doesn't measure up against some of Feinstein's earlier works such as the outstanding "A Season on the Brink". "Brink's" power was derived from the incredible, behind-the-scenes reporting of one man over the course of only six months. As a reader, you were given full access to Bob Knight's daily life, and lived the ups and downs of the 86 basketball season along with the players. On the other hand, "The Punch" is essentially a biography of Rudy T and Kermit drawn from interviews. The drawback in covering two entire lives from the perspective of an event that happened 25 years ago, is that it lacks the quirky, precise detail that defines his earlier books. Where Feinstein dedicates entire chapters to brief events (like the day of the punch), the story is mesmerizing. Also interesting is when he draws parallels between the upbringing of Kermit and Rudy. But certain chapters (especially the ones detailing the last 10-15 years) don't really make a convincing case (to me, anyway) that this was more than a noteworthy event in the NBA (as opposed to groundbreaking). This book is recommended for NBA enthusiasts and is a quick read.
Rating:
Summary: Pedestrian Summation
Review: As other online reviewers have noted, "The Punch" is comprehensive, but suffers from a serious lack of editing. The same phrases and even sentences are repeated in the book 4 or 5 times. It's as if Feinstein believes that his readers are so stupid that they need to be told the same thing over and over again -- or that his publisher asked him to pad this book to its 350-page length.
Also curious is Feinstein's repeated referrals to basketball as it was in the late 1970s vs. 2001-2002 when he wrote the book. I assume that the primary audience for the book are people like me -- sports fans of 40-plus who remember the Punch when it happened. We also know what the NBA was like pre-Magic, pre-Bird, pre-Jordan. So don't belabor the point.
Still, the book has done us all a nice service by summing up the events leading up to and post-dating the Punch. And it does a very nice job of giving a more rounded perspective than Kermit Washington has portrayed for the past 20 years. Kevin Kunnert in particular must be pleased.
Rating:
Summary: It had to be written
Review: Even though I was only seven years old when this incident happened, I can recall people's reactions to it vividly, and I always associated both Washington and Tomjanovich with it. Previous reviewers were on the mark in their assessment of this book not being Feinstein's best, and that it repeats itself in spots, but it was a very interesting read, and I'm glad he wrote it. Without judging either man, Feinstein lays out both of their backgrounds in great detail, and also charts the course of their lives in the years since the punch. Both men are interesting sociological studies in their own right, and this book was definitely worth the time, both in writing and reading it, and for those of us who unavoidably associate them with the punch, the pages tend to turn themselves. It could have been written a little more elegantly, but if you're accustomed to Feinstein, this was a workmanlike effort that's worth a read.
Rating: 
Summary: Blow by blow?
Review: Feinstein has done an admirable job of research -- but the book CRIES OUT for a series of stills showing the infamous Rudy/Kermit fight. All we get is a blow up on the cover of the book... A frame by frame dissection would have been good here.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling reading, with just a few flaws
Review: First I'll begin with the book's flaws. For one thing, Feinstein was frequently redundant in mentioning the details of the incident over more than one chapter. More editing in that area would have made the book stronger. Also, I would have liked Feinstein to have done a more in-depth exploration on the way race played into this incident instead of merely mentioning that Washington received racist death threats in the aftermath of the incident and the fact that the NBA at that time was regarded as being "too black." By whom? The media or the fans? (Personally I believe it was both but I will save this for another discussion.) Now on to the book's strengths: for one thing, Feinstein described Tomjanovich's injuries and the scene at the Forum and the hospital with vivid detail. When I first read what he meant by "dislocated skull" (after having heard Feinstein discuss the book on the Jim Rome Show), I gasped rather loudly at the bookstore and I actually felt a bit nauseated. Feinstein also did a good job describing the remainder of that evening for the two principals, showing how Washington already felt horrible about what he had done and how Tomjanovich, long portrayed as the harmless, gentle victim, actually asked the doctor working on him to allow him to go back to the Forum to get back at Washington, after they had nearly gone at it near the Laker locker room. I also had never known that Tomjanovich HAD been in a fistfight in an NBA game, in the 1971-72 season (his second season) against an Atlanta Hawk player, nor had I known about his post-incident anxiety attacks and drinking problem for which he finally got help a few years ago. Meanwhile, it was compelling to see how Washington had to deal with being viewed as sinister (and this is where, in my opinion, we could have used some insight from Feinstein on how race entered into public perceptions of the two men) and had trouble keeping a long-term job of any kind because, inevitably, his employers did not want to have to deal with the trouble of associationg with such a controversial figure. Despite its flaws, this is a compelling read and is evocative of the darkest moment in NBA history, how it affected two men and their families, friends, teammates, coaches, and their sport, and how time has eventually helped to heal the wounds suffered by both Kermit Washington and Rudy Tomjanovich and also helped them to have a better relationship with each other. Ultimately uplifting.
Rating:
Summary: Punchless Redundancy
Review: Having read and admired several of Feinstein's earlier works (notably A Good Walk Spoiled, A Season on the Brink, and The Majors), I was eager to read this account of an event which occurred on December 9, 1977, when Kermit Washington threw a punch at Rudy Tomjanovich during an otherwise forgettable NBA game. I seriously doubt if that incident "changed basketball forever" but it certainly had a great impact (no pun intended) on Washington and Tomjanovich. In my opinion, Feinstein's greatest challenge was to provide an analysis of that incident within the historical context of the almost 25 years since "the punch" was thrown. He had several options. Here are three: Focus primarily on the two principals; or focus primarily on what he views as the larger significance of violence in competitive sports; or focus on the society within which such violence is tolerated, if not admired. For whatever reasons, he seems to have elected all three and the results are disappointing. The narrative is excessively redundant, the coverage is generally superficial, and worst of all, Feinstein (if only by implication) suggests to this reader a number of questions which are worthy of thoughtful responses. Why, for example, are the NFL and NHL now imposing more serious penalties (fines and/or suspensions without pay) on athletes for what are viewed as acts of violence? How does the behavior of certain athletes reflect their socio-economic background? And what about the violent behavior of fans (even those attending their children's games) who attack officials as well as each other? During a recent college football game, an assistant coach was arrested on the field after allegedly injuring a fan. What's going on? What does it all mean? Given the opinions I have just shared, my rating is explained by the fact that I think Feinstein has at least refocused attention on a distant event which invites thoughtful analysis in books yet to be written. That alone is worth an additional Star. My hope is that someone else (John Updike? George Will?) will come forth with a book which Feinstein could have and should have written.
| 
