Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic

Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding... Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-class Metropolis

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2018

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR,Â CHICAGO TRIBUNE, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE,Â THE ECONOMIST AND DEADSPIN

Award-winning journalist Sam Andersonâ€™s long-awaited debut is a brilliant, kaleidoscopic narrative of Oklahoma Cityâ€”a great American story of civics, basketball, and destiny.

Oklahoma City was born from chaos. It was founded in a bizarre but momentous â€œLand Runâ€ in 1889, when thousands of people lined up along the borders of Oklahoma Territory and rushed in at noon to stake their claims. Since then, it has been a city torn between the wild energy that drives its outsized ambitions, and the forces of order that seek sustainable progress. Nowhere was this dynamic better realized than in the drama of the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball teamâ€™s 2012-13 season, when the Thunderâ€™s brilliant general manager, Sam Presti, ignited a firestorm by trading future superstar James Harden just days before the first game. Prestiâ€™s all-in gamble on â€œthe Processâ€â€”the patient, methodical management style that dictated the trade as the teamâ€™s best hope for long-term greatnessâ€”kicked off a pivotal year in the cityâ€™s history, one that would include pitched battles over urban planning, a series of cataclysmic tornadoes, and the frenzied hope that an NBA championship might finally deliver the glory of which the city had always dreamed.

Boom TownÂ announces the arrival of an exciting literary voice. Sam Anderson, former book critic forÂ New YorkÂ magazine and now a staffÂ writer at theÂ New York TimesÂ magazine, unfolds an idiosyncratic mix of American history, sports reporting, urban studies, gonzo memoir, and much more to tell the strange but compelling story of an American city whose unique mix of geography and history make it a fascinating microcosm of the democratic experiment. Filled with characters ranging from NBA superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook; to Flaming Lips oddball frontman Wayne Coyne; to legendary Great Plains meteorologist Gary England; to Stanley Draper, Oklahoma City's would-be Robert Moses; to civil rights activist Clara Luper; to the citizens and public servants who survived the notorious 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building,Â Boom TownÂ offers a remarkable look at the urban tapestry woven from control and chaos, sports and civics.
Country USA
Brand Broadway Books
Manufacturer Crown
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 9780804137331
Color White
ReleaseDate 2019-08-20
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780804137331

Country	USA
Brand	Broadway Books
Manufacturer	Crown
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	9780804137331
Color	White
ReleaseDate	2019-08-20
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780804137331

Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding... Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-class Metropolis

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