The X Factor: A Quest for Excellence

Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Saturday Afternoon Read
Review: Something about Plimpton's writing, his lack of adjectives I think, makes for quick reading. I read this in one sitting and laughed through a lot of it. This little book is Plimpton wandering around the country asking famous athletes and CEOs for advice on his upcoming horseshoes rematch against then-president George H W Bush. He asks each of these people, including Bush, what it is that makes them succeed in what they do. It's not hard work, practice, or innate abilities but rather some "ingredient... a potion that people in all walks of life would go to extravagant lengths to obtain if it came in a small earthenware jug corked at its mouth." In the process of interviewing people around the country he loses badly to Billie Jean King at tennis, discovers that his athletic stature most resembles a bull, and kicks it around Camp David. Classic Plimpton, and a unique look at Bush the husband and father. Read it on a rainy day.