Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Fantasy Man, Nate Jackson's 2nd Book - The Man Can Write

Back in December of 2013, I wrote a review of Nate Jackson's 1st book, Slow Getting Up (12/17/13),  and showed pictures of Nate's appearance at the RBC (12/25/13).  Besides all of us liking his 1st book, he was great in person.

And now he's ready to release #2.  I got the ARC of Fantasy Man through the publisher, and it comes out in September.  Never mind the back flap.  Here's a quick summary in my very own words (surprised? - you should be):

Nate has been out of the NFL for 6 years.  Over the last 4 of those, he has been in a fantasy football league with his buddies.  And he starts the 2015 football season as the 2-time defending champion.  This book is about that season and that fantasy football league. BUT WAIT!  It's about a whole lot more than that.  To wit (does anybody use that expression anymore?):

1.  Nate talks about both high school and college football playing days.
2.  He discusses his connection with the Will Smith movie, Concussion, and the whole topic of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy).
3.  Nate gives us some eye-opening statistics.  I'll tell you one, even though I hate giving away spoilers.  Because of PTSD, "Twenty-two U.S. veterans commit suicide every day in this country."  Every Day!  Isn't that crazy?
4.  We get to learn about big-time fantasy football superpowers FanDuel and DraftKings - and how they are financially connected to the NFL and ESPN.  You don't want to miss that.
5.  And the one topic that Nate talks about the most is (drumroll, please) medical marijuana. Nate feels VERY strongly about using marijuana instead of all of those medicines that the players get now.    And he backs up his opinion many times throughout the book.  This, alone, is reason enough to read Fantasy Man.

There are 5 good reasons to read Nate's book listed above.  HOWEVER, THERE'S MORE. Nate's writing is terrific.  He's funny.  He elicits emotions.  And he even makes up words. How about "mandolescent" and "ear candy?"  But besides that, he is one clever writer.  Let me give you some  examples:

"Everything is right around the corner when you're going in circles."
"I have strayed from my formula.  But what is formula but lack of breast milk?"
"Personal truth becomes universal truth if you speak it."
"Seventy percent of life is knowing when to leave."

He's got a million of them.  And, don't worry.  You don't have to be a (fantasy) football fan to enjoy Fantasy Man.  This was true of Slow Getting Up too.  When we had him for book club back in December, 2013, many of our members, who are not football fans, still enjoyed the book.  I predict that this will be the case here too.  Give it a shot.






3 comments:

  1. I loved Slow Getting Up and didn't realize he has a new book out! I'll have to look for it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just emailed the publisher so that I can get an exact date for its release.

      Delete
    2. I jumped the gun. The publisher just got back to me. The pub date is 9/20.

      Delete