Game Ball
and Other Essays
By: Peter Alson
As both observer and participant in these essays and stories, Peter Alson takes on fathers and sons, Wiffleball, bounty hunting, ice golf in Alaska, the World Series of Poker, and the Great American Novel. He goes road tripping down the bluest of highways, crashes a regular guy's wedding, and meditates, more darkly, on the kind of desperation that would drive someone to kill their spouse. Whether he's writing about hustlers, strivers, killers, conmen, storytellers, or simply the challenges of taking the road less traveled, Alson is always engaging, his prose sharp, clean, and self-assured.
Praise
“In Game Ball and Other Essays, Peter Alson writes not only with skill and heart but also with startling insight and a profound degree of honest self-reflection that lets the reader into his expansive and intriguing mind.”
- Mark Olshaker, documentary filmmaker, novelist and co-author of Mindhunter and The Killer’s Shadow
“A funny, bravely candid, soulful collection of essays about fathers, sons, and failure.”
- Susan Shapiro, New York Times bestselling author of Unhooked and The Forgiveness Tour
“Alson writes clean, witty, utterly terrific prose, no matter the subject. Game Ball and Other Essays is a cornucopia of streetwise delicacies—if such things exist. And they do. Read ‘em and see for yourself.”
- James McManus, author of Positively Fifth Street
“A rollicking carnival ride through the American landscape.”
- Michael Kaplan, author of Cigar Aficionado