History of American Sports in 100 Objects

Cait Murphy is an editor at McKinsey & Company. She previously worked for Fortune, the Economist, and the Asian Wall Street Journal. A mediocre athlete, she is the author of Crazy '08, about the 1908 baseball season. She lives in New York City.

"Among the best vignettes in A History of American Sports in 100 Objects is one devoted to debunking some of the myths surrounding Jesse Owens' four-gold-medal performance in the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany, and another affirming Jackie Robinson's place in baseball and American history." -Washington Independent Review of Books "Cait Murphy's A History of American Sports in 100 Objects has the balls to map our love of the game, one photograph at a time." -Vanity Fair, Hot Type "Murphy is an insightful artist who has opened the doors to new understanding about the importance and the impact of sports on the playing field and in the community in general. To be more specific, she has brought to the reader of sports literature an understanding that is the soul of boarding schools and summer camps - places where everyone plays games - and the appreciation of the game itself becomes as important as winning. We call that good sportsmanship." -Roanoke Times "Immensely entertaining and beautifully written... [Murphy's] selections resonate socially, politically, and technologically across American sports history, with each item containing a perceptive explanation of its significance. This is a great concept for a sports book, and it's expertly executed." -Booklist, starred review "Entertaining... Murphy writes in a conversational, witty fashion, making wry observations without losing touch with the larger historical, social, and political significance of the events and athletes that give the objects their significance... An enjoyable romp through the things that helped make the sports we love." -Kirkus Reviews "It's almost unfair that someone could have as much fun putting together a book as Cait Murphy clearly did while working on this one. Her buoyant trip through the history of American sports is filled with surprise and delight." -Daniel Okrent, author of Nine Innings "I couldn't put this book down. Endlessly fascinating and expertly curated, A History of American Sports in 100 Objects not only brings to life what matters most about the games we play and the athletes who play them, it also tells a compelling story about the place of sports in American culture and society. By turns fresh and funny, poignant and insightful, Cait Murphy is the ideal guide for this absorbing journey." -William A. Gleason, Professor of English, Princeton University "How do we love sports? Cait Murphy counts the ways in this gem of a book. It ought to come with a warning label: these pages may be addictive." -Jonathan Eig, author of Luckiest Man and Opening Day "The items found within these pages are less objects than memorial markers, jumping-off points for a satisfying exploration of our nation's sporting history. Cait Murphy's descriptions are easy and informative, opening 100 windows though which to leap feet first-and, thanks to some adroit writing, the landing is always certain. Whether you're being reminded about things you already knew, or informed about vital history that may have eluded you, the ride is always a fun one." -Jason Turbow, author of The Baseball Codes "With the deft eye for telling detail that has become her hallmark, Cait Murphy offers a delightful journey into the history of American sports through 100 fascinating objects. Most of them are anything but obvious: Along with Curt Schilling's fabled bloody sock, Murphy digs into soil from the Elysian Fields of Hoboken, New Jersey; the yellow blazer worn on Monday Night Football; a stuffed animal left behind after the Boston Marathon bombing; Jesse Owens's baton from the 1936 Olympics. You'll relish these riveting, charming and engaging side trips into iconic objects of American sports, each of which tells us much about what it means to be an American." -Edward Achorn, author of The Summer of Beer and Whiskey and Fifty-Nine in '84 "There's nothing sports fans like more than best-of lists. Objects is a strange choice for a catalog-and, in the hands of Cait Murphy-a brilliant one. Whether it's Secretariat's shoe nail, Billy Jean King's sequined dress, or, my favorite, the brace that let Bobby Orr skate with deeply scarred knees-Murphy finds just the telling details to conjure up sweet sports memories and stoke our imaginations." -Larry Tye, author of Bobby Kennedy and Satchel