Book Shelf: Kent Babb Offers "Compelling, Balanced Profile" On Allen Iverson

KENT BABB's new book about ALLEN IVERSON , entitled "NOT A GAME: THE INCREDIBLE RISE AND UNTHINKABLE FALL OF ALLEN IVERSON," delves into the "dark, disturbing and tragic sides" of the former NBAer, according to David Teel of the Hampton Roads DAILY PRESS. Babb "probes those depths" with a keen eye in a "compelling, balanced profile." The book "veers repeatedly from uplifting to depressing." His narrative is "based on dozens of interviews -- Iverson declined to cooperate without compensation -- and testimony from Iverson’s divorce proceedings." Babb "first delved into Iverson shortly after going" to the Washington Post in '12, "writing a long-form piece on his post-NBA tribulations." Inspired by that story, the book "breaks little ground regarding Iverson’s history in Hampton Roads, but offers the most complete account of Iverson’s booze-infused decline and bizarre relationship" with HOF coach LARRY BROWN (Hampton Roads DAILY PRESS, 6/11).

DAMN YANKEE: USA TODAY's Matt Damsker wrote few "came rougher" than late MLB manager BILLY MARTIN, as "chronicled in BILL PENNINGTON's new biography, 'BILLY MARTIN: BASEBALL'S FLAWED GENIUS." Martin's many times being hired and fired as a member of the Yankees "amounts to a big, sprawling story of a big, brawling life." Inevitably, Pennington's "admiration for his subject" makes the book "somewhat hagiographic." But his "thorough reportage doesn't shrink from Martin's flaws, insecurities and downright bad behavior" (USA TODAY, 6/11). In N.Y., Maxwell Carter wrote the book "gives long-overdue flesh to the caricature" that was Martin. Pennington "savors the dirt-kicking spectacles without losing sight of the man" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/7).

INTO THE WOODS: CBSSPORTS.com's Kyle Porter wrote while SHANE RYAN's book on TIGER WOODS took over a year to write, it took him only "about two days to read its 400 pages." In "SLAYING THE TIGER: A YEAR INSIDE THE ROPES ON THE NEW PGA TOUR," Ryan's writing "flows and his reporting turns pages for you." From "debunking the VICTOR DUBUISSON myth to blowing up the social construction of PATRICK REED, the entire thing is tremendous." Ryan "writes about the shadow" of Woods, which many young stars are "all currently swinging in" (CBSSPORTS.com, 6/9).

PATRIOT GAMES: The yet untitled upcoming book about the NFL by MARK LEIBOVICH will focus on the Patriots, which publisher Blue Rider Press calls the "most polarizing dynasty in professional sports." The yet untitled book, scheduled for publication in '17, will also touch on the team's "enigmatic (and equally polarizing) star" QB TOM BRADY, as well as the "broader business and cultural colossus that America's most successful sports league has become." Blue Rider intends for Leibovich's book to "explore how Brady's ruthless approach to football and celebrity life intersect with conflicted morality of the NFL" (THE DAILY).