Beartown: The Story of A Town And The Downside Of A Winning Culture
Beartown Is About Much More Than Hockey
I can remember the smell of the ice. The rink. The combination of sweat and tape. When I read Beartown by Fredrick Backman, it brings me back to when I played hockey in Mexico with my cousins. It brings back the smell and fills me with the regret of not pursuing the only sport I liked.
I had heard that Beartown was one of the best books of 2016—it was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for 2016 . It definitely did not disappoint. Beartown is about a hockey town that is facing a number of challenges that can come from sport culture. It is a book that bleeds the love of hockey and explains why that love can be so dangerous. We raise our youth to be invincible on the sports field but don’t teach them about life off of the field. We let their confidence and culture effect everything else around them. Most times in good ways, and sometimes in bad. My favorite quote from this book is “culture is as much about what we encourage as what we actually permit.”
This book is about a run-down town who sets its heart on the back of a winning junior Hockey team. And how with all the pressure. Something has to break.
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