Manute: The Center of Two Worlds - Hardcover

When asked why he was writing a book about Manute Bol, a basketball player who plays sparingly, Montville replied that Bol is "the native from The Gods Must Be Crazy , except he is holding a basketball instead of a coke bottle." Bol is no star, but his story is fascinating. A 7 7 Dinka tribesman, Bol never heard of America or basketball until 1979. Montville follows Bol from his early years in Africa to his life in the United States, which included stops in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he attended college; Washington, D.C.; Oakland; and Philadelphia, where he played professional basketball. This book is not concerned with exciting games or record-shattering heroics; it concerns the striking differences in the life of this unusual athlete. For all serious sports collections.
- Jeffrey Gay, Bridgewater P.L., Mass.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The two worlds of Manute Bol are thoroughly disparate. A Dinka tribesman from the southern Sudan, he was signed to play basketball by the Philadelphia 76ers purportedly only because he is 77 tall. The culture he left behind is primitive and patriarchal, with members' wealth based largely on ownership of cows and without a written language, a society that the Muslim-controlled Sudanese government is bent on destroying. His new world is one of huge salaries, jet travel and luxurious hotels. Montville, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated , shows how Bol is able to fit into both worlds simply by being himself, although he argues that Bol has not had the success he might have because no coach has made the effort to improve his play. This is a most unusual sports biography. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.