It’s another book I just finished by Jeff Pearlman.
This one is all about the Dallas Cowboy dynasty of the early 90’s,
There’s a lot of the Jerry Jones vs Jimmy Johnson conflict stuff in this book. A lot of the Michael Irvin legal trouble stuff as well.
It’s all very very interesting, don’t get me wrong, but often times while reading it I felt like I was just digesting the book version of modern day TMZ reporting.
I can say in no uncertain terms that Pearlman has a structure he sticks to when writing these books. I have now read two, and am halfway through a third, of his publishings and they have all followed a certain format.
They’ll start with a story that highlights the tension between teammates. Something that establishes a tempo, dictates the theme, and foreshadows most of what is forthcoming in the book.
In Three Ring Circus it was Kobe Bryant getting in a fight with Samaki Walker on the team bus. In Boys Will Be Boys it was Michael Irvin stabbing a teammate with a pair of scissors at a barbershop and almost killing him.
Then Pearlman spends the rest of his time going chapter by chapter doing individual player breakdowns and bringing it all together at the end.
In Three Ring Circus the exclusive content he used to execute this method walked the TMZ vs Journalism line perfectly. I never felt cheapened while reading all the content that was maybe too descriptive at times. At the end of the day it was all integral to the plot of the book.
Boys Will Be Boys felt like I was just getting all sorts of shocking content for the sake of Shocking content.
Like I was watching the Jerry Springer Show.
Maybe most readers would disagree, but after awhile, I get it…Most of the guys on the team were assholes that did drugs and cheated on their wives. I don’t need every single player’s individual circumstance broken down chapter by chapter to keep reinforcing that point. I understand.
Parts of the book were amazing. The Charles Haley and Barry Switzer content is must read.
But overall, if you have any basic knowledge of the reputation for what went on within the Cowboys organization in the early 90’s, only about 20% of this book is educationally interesting in a non-degrading way.
