This colorful book celebrating fifty years of America's most prominent sports magazine is certainly more practical than hoarding 2,500 issues. The six-part book plays to the strength of the magazine: "The Stories" and "The Photographs" sections are the largest. The 35 articles are truncated, often just whetting your appetite for more. The companion book Fifty Years of Great Writing offers many of these in their full glory. On the other hand, the pictures are often bigger than they were in the magazine (or could ever have been with the smaller size). Lose minutes staring at Michael Jordan or Walter Payton frozen in midair. Examine the juxtaposition of a close play at the plate with the bizarre styles of a 60s women's track team. Try not to be swept away at a shot of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain defining basketball. If you have picked up the special issues released during SI's anniversary year, you already seen a decent portion of this book. The notable new writing is Richard Hoffer's essay about the world (both sports and at large) when the magazine began in 1954 and senior editor Frank Deford's pitch-perfect introduction about why the magazine is special and how it grew up in the age of television. The section most folks will spend their coffee table moments is "The Covers," a listing of the entire magazine's cover images, both in chronological order and grouped in similar topics (Scandals, Presidents, Deja Vu). Punctuated by the best sport quotes, SI's "Signs of the Apocalypse," fascinating lists of athletes and teams that were on the cover the most times, and other sport tidbits through the ages, this area is sure to launch a thousand sport memories. Yes, all the swimsuit covers are in one place, too. One quibble: why is their "Sports Person of the Year" in the book not the same as their well-known "Sportsman of the Year?" --Doug Thomas

From Publishers Weekly
When Sports Illustrated first arrived in August 1954, its focus was fringe pursuits like yachting, bowling and dogs—yet it struck a nerve. America was in a postwar economic boom and at the dawn of the TV age. "Sports was suddenly so much more visible, so much more important," says veteran sportswriter Frank Deford in his introduction. This book shows how SI has continued to foster sports' visibility, offering an engaging celebration of the last 50 years of American sports (and of SI's own history), flush with fabulous photos: a toothless Jack Lambert; Muhammad Ali's wrinkled masseur, Luis Sarria; the Pittsburgh Pirates' Dave Parker enjoying a smoke after winning the 1979 World Series. What puts this book a notch above the average coffee-table book are the thoughtful sportswriting excerpts pulled from the magazine's archives. In one piece, up-and-comer Howard Cosell chastises the wimps and pretty boys who populate his profession. Another profiles former Chicago White Sox president and huckster Bill Veeck, who once sent a midget up to the plate to pinch-hit as a publicity stunt. Further chapters feature SI paintings—many of them caricatures, like the one of disenchanted fans pelting a bug-eyed Bud Selig with baseballs—and thumbnails of all 2,585 SI covers. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Book Description
For 50 years, Sports Illustrated has set the standard for sports writing and action photography. Now, for the culmination of the magazine's 50th Anniversary celebration, some of the finest writing and most memorable pictures from Sports Illustrated's archives have been collected in a lavish coffee-table book that will be treasured by the magazine's devoted readers for years to come. Along with the stunning photography, which includes every one of the magazine's covers since its launch in 1954, and the great writing that has appeared in Sports Illustrated's pages, this 288-page book will also be chock full of all-new facts and figures that will give readers an entertaining view of 50 years of American sports.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Since its first issue in 1954, Sports Illustrated has revolutionized sports journalism and sports photography. Sports Illustrated 50th Anniversary Book: 1954-2004 features 288 pages of the stunning photos and great writing that have made SI the world's premier sports magazine. A keepsake volume that's a keeper.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

For 50 years, Sports Illustrated has set the standard for sports writing and action photography. Now, for the culmination of the magazine's 50th Anniversary celebration, some of the finest writing and most memorable pictures from Sports Illustrated's archives have been collected in a lavish coffeetable book that will be treasured by the magazine's devoted readers for years to come. Along with the stunning photography, which includes every one of the magazine's covers since its launch in 1954, and the great writing that has appeared in Sports Illustrated's pages, this 288page book will also be chock full of allnew facts and figures that will give readers an entertaining view of 50 years of American sports.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly