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Liked It “On a journalism field trip in April of 2007, to San Francisco, I had the opportunity to sit and listen to Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams lecture to a group of high school journalists. The authors of the controversial book, The Game of Shadows spoke about investigative reporting and gave...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “SLOWWWWWW. I went into the book expecting to read about Bonds and the other steroid users but that was just a minor detail. It was more about BALCO. it was still very interesting though.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
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“SLOWWWWWW. I went into the book expecting to read about Bonds and the other steroid users but that was just a minor detail. It was more about BALCO. it was still very interesting though.”
Carter H wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“everything in this book slowly came true.”
Kenny wrote this review Saturday, February 28 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Great read at the time and something I will be sure to pass on to my kid. Just made you aware of how ugly the Bonds' situation really was”
Rory B wrote this review Tuesday, December 30 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“On a journalism field trip in April of 2007, to San Francisco, I had the opportunity to sit and listen to Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams lecture to a group of high school journalists. The authors of the controversial book, The Game of Shadows spoke about investigative reporting and gave interesting little anecdotes of how they gained the information needed for their book. After hearing their lecture, I was intrigued by what they had to say and needed to read the book for myself. So, I rushed over to the bookstand, bought a copy of the book, and then stood in line for ten minutes so they could each autograph it.
Todd K wrote this review Monday, November 3 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Six months after they signed my copy of the book, Fainaru-Wada and Williams stood in front of a grand jury in San Francisco and were each sentenced to up to 18 months in jail for refusing to reveal their sources from the book. Now, after reading their stories for myself, I can honestly see why this book has raised the eyebrows of the sports world.
The book gives us an inside look at the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Op, otherwise known to the public as BALCO, and its creator Victor Conte. This inside view of his life and what went on during his time at the lab is very interesting. Fainaru-Wada and Williams’ dove into Conte’s private life by interviewing people who were around him to get a full picture of who he was. Conte had made so many enemies throughout his time at BALCO that people came out of the woodwork to sell him and his laboratory out.
While reading the book, I came to realize that the athletes that I had previously admired may not be as great as I had thought they were. Barry Bonds, who is slowly closing in on Hank Aaron’s immortal home run record, is the prime target for the authors. It is the testimony given by someone close to Bonds that is causing the biggest part of the controversy. Fainaru-Wada and Williams received information from an unnamed source that described the relationship that Bonds had with both Conte and the steroids he supplied. During my read, I realize that the information they have gained on Bonds sounds very precise. Only someone who knew Bonds well could have given out that information. As a journalist, I praise Fainaru-Wada and Williams for their determination. I agree with their decision to keep unnamed sources unnamed. This is lesson they obviously learned from Woodward and Bernstein. To supply the names to a grand jury would defeat the purpose of what they set out to do and it would allow the government to use their case against any other journalist with unnamed sources.
This book, to me, is a real eye-opener. As someone who can be a little on the naive side, the thought and the idea of these wonderful, award-winning athletes cheating at all costs disappoints me. The sad thing about it all is that because of these acquisitions, there will always be that lingering question in the back of our minds of whether or not any athlete is clean. And to me, this will taint the games that we watch for a long time. ”“An extremely well put together piece of journalism on steroid use and it's infiltration into the Olympics and Baseball. The book loses points because as each second passes since this story was first exposed, the revelations in this book become exponentially less shocking. Also, due to its release at the height of the scandal, there is no happy ending, or really any ending at all. Currently Bonds awaits trial for perjury, and Baseball awaits a true acknowledgment and clean up of this shameful era. However, it will always present a very concise summary of how Baseball has been tarnished.”
Derek M wrote this review Friday, October 10 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“An interesting, well-researched book that makes a pretty compelling case. Reading this makes it hard to believe Bonds and others didn't take drugs and/or didn't know what they were doing. Ultimately a little disappointing if you're a sports fan - recognizing how many athletes in how many sports have been cheating. Suggests that many have, maybe most.”
Eddie F wrote this review Thursday, February 28 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I bought this book for my husband who is sports broadcaster and a avid fan of football and baseball for christmas and I'm the one who read it in three days. I never knew all the info about the track and field and how it tied into the BALCO case. This book is must read. It's very interesting all the infomation the fed's have on Bond's. I hope he gets what's coming to him.”
Julie B wrote this review Thursday, January 3 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Bonds, you bad bad boy! I can't recommend this book enough for sports lovers, or wifes of sports lovers who want to know what all the talk is about.”
Hollye K wrote this review Tuesday, December 18 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I've heard a lot about this book recently in light of Bonds's indictment for perjury (and just this week with the release of the Mitchell Report), and decided I should finally read it. What I thought was merely a critique of Bonds (and Giambi, according to the cover) turned out to be more of a doping-in-sports expose. While Bonds' and baseball were certainly at center stage, garnering much media coverage because of the leaked grand jury testimony that fueled the book, I was unaware of the depth of Victor Conte's BALCO company and it's influence in US track and field. This book is even better in light of Marion Jones potentially losing her medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics, as she is also highlighted in the book.”
Jonathon F wrote this review Sunday, December 16 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This book absolutely convinces the reader that what is stated, is in fact true. The amount of detail is too great to be ignored. It is amazing that the authors were able to gather so much in light of the on-going BALCO prosecution going on. The book focuses on several athletes as well as Bonds, Sheffield and Giambi. The footballer Romonowski (nicknamed Romo) and Marion Jones and her husband are the other main focus.
Katamaster wrote this review Thursday, September 20 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Victor Conte was a real con man that made people believe that he was smarter than a doctor and convinced so many people to not only take different types of steroids but on a specific schedule.
He mostly gave them the clear and the cream which apparently cannot be detected by current testing methods. It makes one wonder how anything will ever be detected and cheating will continue to be prevalent.
Bonds is the main focal point of the book and it focuses on his career from the mid-nineties to the current time. He is portrayed as someone who gets off by being worshipped and is extremely jealous of anyone who takes glory from him (Jeff Kent seemed to consume a great deal of his hate). It was disgusting that he almost came to blows with an elderly Bill Virdon when Bonds was with the Pirates.
I also found it surprising that Bonds seemed to befriend Sheffield and Giambi since he seems like the type to never have any real friends. What he probably needs is a good shrink and something to undo the damage to his brain that the drug did.
I would have rated this book higher but I was mostly interested in the Baseball aspects. Also, it seems like the authors wanted to put every single thread of information that they knew into the book and also each experience of each athlete seemed to be a repeat (well they took this then that and then they were on the regimen of the clear and the cream).
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