Jim Brown

A unique biography of Jim Brown—football legend, Hollywood star, and controversial activist—written by acclaimed sports journalist Dave Zirin. Jim Brown is recognized as perhaps the greatest football player to ever live. But his phenomenal nine-year career with the Cleveland Browns is only part of his remarkable story, the opening salvo to a much more sprawling epic. Brown parlayed his athletic fame into stardom in Hollywood, where it was thought that he could become “the black John Wayne.” He was an outspoken Black Power icon in the 1960s, and he formed Black Economic Unions to challenge racism in the business world. For this and for his decades of work as a truce negotiator with street gangs, Brown—along with such figures as Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, and Billie Jean King—is revered as a socially conscious athlete. On the most hypermasculine cultural canvases of the United States—NFL football, the Black Power movement, Hollywood's blaxploitation films, gang intervention both inside and outside prison walls—Jim Brown has made his mark. Yet in the landscape of the most toxic expression of “what makes a man”—numerous accusations of violence against women—he has left a jagged mark as well. Dave Zirin's book redefines an American icon, and not always in a flattering light. At eighty-one years old, Brown continues to speak out and look for fights. His recent public support of Donald Trump and criticism of Colin Kaepernick are just the latest examples of someone who seems restless if he is not in conflict. Jim Brown is a raw and thrilling account of Brown's remarkable life and a must-read for sports fans and students of the black freedom struggle.

A HARD-HITTING MEMOIR FROM A LIVING LEGEND In this outspoken and fearless autobiography, Jim Brown, arguably the greatest football player who ever lived, shares his story in the same way he played the game: full throttle, pull no punches, and don't spare a drop. His nine bone-jarring Hall of Fame years in the National Football League, and the multitude of records he set, are football legend. His second life as a film star who became the first black man to do a love scene with a white woman on an American screen is part of Hollywood lore. Incapable of anything less than total candor, Brown's uncensored words in these pages, like his electric breakaway runs on the gridiron, wield the power to astonish and amaze. Here, Brown names names, tells the truth behind the headlines, and reveals who the toughest, grittiest football warriors really were. His reflections on sex, fame, and his highly publicized encounters with the law are both frank and hilarious. His stories about cocaine and women are ugly and disturbing, as are his observations about the pervasive role of racism in the NFL. Insightful, impressive, and revelatory, Out of Bounds delivers the captivating play-by-play of an outstanding life.

The first, definitive biography of one of the most important, controversial, and outspoken athletes of the 20th century. He intimidated people on and off the football field. He was brutal yet brilliant, narcissistic yet magnanimous, relentless yet unyielding. Most of all, he was the greatest football player of all time. He was Jim Brown. A legend in his own time, Jim Brown was revered as an athlete, actor, and unflinching symbol of black pride and self-reliance. In this moving book, Mike Freeman offers the first definitive portrait of the sports star. Based on interviews with Brown, his family, friends, and colleagues, Jim Brown is an honest, complete picture of the man and his turbulent times. Part biography, part cultural history, it is a quintessential American tale—a story of adversity, adulation, tenacity, inspiration, and pride.

What is this madness all about? Being a Browns fan is just different. Why are we the only fans in the nation who ever demanded their team back -- and got it? Why have we endured years of heartache (The Fumble, The Drive, "Red Right 88"...) yet grown ever more attached to the experience? To answer that question, these 33 essays seek out the essential elements of being a Browns fan. It's about pride. It's about desire, tempered by crushing disappointment. It's about tradition, rivalry, and electrifying victory. It's about longing -- for a return to past championships, for future glory. It's about heart. If you're Brown, you'll enjoy the ride.

Nancy Freyburger's first novella and collection of short stories is a gathering of the quirky, the romantic, the dark, and the whimsical. The odd sights, sounds and colorful cast of characters create a carnival of the surreal, yet oddly familiar. It all begins with Gogh is Gone, a 100-page novella that captures the exploits of Violet, who's kidnapped her cousin Zoreen to help her find her beloved, one-eared pooch Gogh. Gogh sports a diamond collar and painted red nails, and has been spotted in a sweat lodge with Indian Joe, eating opossum stew at a local diner, sipping martini, and courting a psychic dog named Tabu. The search for Gogh, though harrowing at times, leads to some exceptional discoveries about life, love, and starting over. The other short stories capture vignettes of life in America that are anything but apple pie and Doris Day. There's Three Blind Mice, where the girls next door are tragically blinded, but whose optimism serves as a beacon of hope. In Why I Hate Broccoli, two twins strive to overcome living in the shadow of their deceased twin brothers. There's a page after page of engaging original characters whose stories, though anything but sugarcoated, are indeed sweet. So sit back, buckle up, and savor the read.

From Jim Brown, author of the celebrated 24/7, comes a spine-tingling tale of the small town of Black Valley, Oregon, that is haunted by the dark secrets of a revenge plan gone fatally wrong.

Future of Sports Talent.

An anthology of all of the Brown Dog novellas includes a previously unpublished story and follows the down-on-his-luck Michigan Native American's misadventures with an overindulgent lifestyle, his two adopted children and an ersatz activist who steals his bearskin. 35,000 first printing.

This title introduces Jim Brown who has had a great influence on his sport and in his society. Career highlights, battles along the way, and humanitarian contributions are discussed. Brown's legacy is told through informative sidebars, captivating photos, and engaging text. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. SportsZone is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

Plagued by the suicides of both his siblings, and heir to alcohol and drug abuse, divorce, and economic ruin, James Brown lived a life clouded by addiction, broken promises, and despair. In The Los Angeles Diaries, he reveals his struggle for survival, mining his past to present the inspiring story of his redemption. Beautifully written and limned with dark humor, these twelve deeply confessional, interconnected chapters address personal failure, heartbreak, the trials of writing for Hollywood, and the life–shattering events that finally convinced Brown that he must "change or die." In "Snapshot," Brown is five years old and recalls the night his mother "sets fire to an apartment building down the street." In "Daisy," Brown purchases a Vietnamese potbellied pig for his wife to atone for his sins, only to find the pig's bulk growing in direct proportion to the tensions in his marriage. Harrowing and brutally honest, The Los Angeles Diaries is the chronicle of a man on a collision course with life, who ultimately finds the strength and courage to conquer his demons and believe once more.