ACROSS THE RIVER Life, Death, and Football in an American City

The author spends time with a high school football coach and his team in New Orleans, and the result is more of a socioeconomic portrait than a book on football. It's an excellent immersive piece of reporting whose seriousness comes across in every one of narrator Ryan Vincent Anderson's words. The plights of players with often-challenging home lives demand a calm and serious tone, and Anderson delivers. Coach Brown's words to his team--raw, disciplinary, harsh at times--come across with the commanding authority he carries, thanks to Anderson's narration. Note: The N-word is used often, and bleeped, which doesn't work because it forces brief interruptions, and you can still hear the word. But it doesn't mar the narration or the importance of this comprehensive, and enlightening, story. M.B. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2021]