A Dozen Great Novels About Sports and Gamesmanship
(alphabetically by sport)
baseball: The Dixie Association by Donald Hays
battle simulation: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
cheerleading: Dare Me by Megan Abbott
chess: Chess Story by Stefan Zweig
fishing: How I Came to Know Fish by Ota Pavel
football: A Fan’s Notes by Frederick Exley
martial arts: Jujitsu for Christ by Jack Butler
poker: Bluff by Michael Kardos
pool: The Hustler by Walter Tevis (whose chess novel, The Queen’s Gambit, is also extraordinary)
sword fighting: The Ball and the Cross by G.K. Chesterton
track: Life at These Speeds by Jeremy Jackson
wrestling: The World According to Garp by John Irving
— November 4, 2020