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kelli_with_an_i's review against another edition
5.0
I grew up in Bloomington, MN and had so many memories of things past brought to mind by reading Steve Rushin’s memoir. I went to John F Kennedy High School with his younger brother, John, so it’s also fun to hear these family stories in both this book and “Sting-Ray Afternoons”.
guybrariandorf's review against another edition
5.0
This book fills me with whimsy and nostalgia and just all around feels. Rushin truly has an amazing way with words. The uncertainty of the teens and twenties....
gregzimmerman's review against another edition
5.0
First appeared at https://www.thenewdorkreviewofbooks.com/2019/09/nights-in-white-castle-rushin-through.html
If you enjoy Steve Rushin's particular brand of humor and wit in his articles in Sports Illustrated, there is a 100 percent chance you're going to love his new memoir, Nights In White Castle. I, for one, enjoyed it immensely! But in the interest of full disclosure, beyond the fact that I already love Rushin's stuff, this book held particular allure for me because Rushin is a Marquette alum (I am too!), and part of this memoir is devoted to his four years in college in Milwaukee.
But I loved the rest, too. This memoir is about 10 years of Rushin's teenage and young adult years. We start when he's 13 years old (this is a sequel of sorts to another memoir, Sting-Ray Afternoons, but you don't have to have read the first one), growing up in a rowdy house in suburban Minnesota with two older brothers, one younger one, and a younger sister. He's a bit of a nerd, despite starting for his high school's elite basketball team. He and his buddies always wrap up their weekend nights at White Castle, which Rushin loves, both for the terribly great food, but also for the cross-section of people he sees there. He and his buddies start a basketball tournament in Flip Saunders' back yard called the Saunders Hoops Invitational Tournament (SHIT, for short), and writing about this tournament is his first submission to Sports Illustrated, his dream job.
He matriculates to Marquette in the fall of 1984 and participates in such Marquette rituals as living in the hallowed freshman dorm McCormick Hall nicknamed "The Beer Can," watching (but not participating, at least that he would admit) in the Naked Beer Slide at the bar The Avalanche, and eating late-night Real Chili. Obviously, I loved these parts. The Avalanche closed during my first year at Marquette and I never had a chance to set foot inside (no fake ID for me). Side note: The Avalanche was also one of Chris Farley's favorites during his time at Marquette. It was sure fun to read about its golden age!
After college in Milwaukee, Rushin lands a job as a fact-checker at Sports Illustrated, and is quickly indoctrinated into the fast-paced world of New York City, consumer magazines, and sports scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s. It's quite the whirlwind!
But so, this is book entertaining as hell, whether or not you're particularly interested in basketball, or Milwaukee, or the suburbs of Minnesota, or the 1980s, or magazine writing. Luckily for me, I'm interested in most of these things. And so I loved it.
If you enjoy Steve Rushin's particular brand of humor and wit in his articles in Sports Illustrated, there is a 100 percent chance you're going to love his new memoir, Nights In White Castle. I, for one, enjoyed it immensely! But in the interest of full disclosure, beyond the fact that I already love Rushin's stuff, this book held particular allure for me because Rushin is a Marquette alum (I am too!), and part of this memoir is devoted to his four years in college in Milwaukee.
But I loved the rest, too. This memoir is about 10 years of Rushin's teenage and young adult years. We start when he's 13 years old (this is a sequel of sorts to another memoir, Sting-Ray Afternoons, but you don't have to have read the first one), growing up in a rowdy house in suburban Minnesota with two older brothers, one younger one, and a younger sister. He's a bit of a nerd, despite starting for his high school's elite basketball team. He and his buddies always wrap up their weekend nights at White Castle, which Rushin loves, both for the terribly great food, but also for the cross-section of people he sees there. He and his buddies start a basketball tournament in Flip Saunders' back yard called the Saunders Hoops Invitational Tournament (SHIT, for short), and writing about this tournament is his first submission to Sports Illustrated, his dream job.
He matriculates to Marquette in the fall of 1984 and participates in such Marquette rituals as living in the hallowed freshman dorm McCormick Hall nicknamed "The Beer Can," watching (but not participating, at least that he would admit) in the Naked Beer Slide at the bar The Avalanche, and eating late-night Real Chili. Obviously, I loved these parts. The Avalanche closed during my first year at Marquette and I never had a chance to set foot inside (no fake ID for me). Side note: The Avalanche was also one of Chris Farley's favorites during his time at Marquette. It was sure fun to read about its golden age!
After college in Milwaukee, Rushin lands a job as a fact-checker at Sports Illustrated, and is quickly indoctrinated into the fast-paced world of New York City, consumer magazines, and sports scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s. It's quite the whirlwind!
But so, this is book entertaining as hell, whether or not you're particularly interested in basketball, or Milwaukee, or the suburbs of Minnesota, or the 1980s, or magazine writing. Luckily for me, I'm interested in most of these things. And so I loved it.
clevine's review against another edition
4.0
Equally poignant as first book. Relatable in a different way as a Minneapolis kid who went to NYC after college...
tammyaz's review against another edition
4.0
A perfect book for us Gen-Xers. I felt like I was reading stories my husband and his friends tell except they were about different people and in a different location. I even took a photo of one paragraph and messaged it to my husband who was traveling because it was so laugh out loud funny. Just goes to show we’re more alike than different.
liebo84's review against another edition
4.0
Really great read and possibly my favorite Rushin book. Very similar to Sting Ray but less of a focus on history and just more about telling stories from his teenaged years. His prose is as strong as ever.
mnyberg's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent follow up to Stingray Afternoons. Part memoir and 80's pop culture revisited. Having grown up in Bloomington, MN during the same time frame, it especially hit home for me.
sandin954's review
3.0
Genial followup to the author's first memoir [b:Sting-Ray Afternoons|32940868|Sting-Ray Afternoons|Steve Rushin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1499677909l/32940868._SY75_.jpg|53562392] that takes the reader back to the high school and college days in the eighties. Listened to the audio version which was read by Greg Baglia whose vanilla tone matched the subject matter.
sashacarpenter's review against another edition
4.0
Nights in White Castle, do do do do do do do...
Nights in White Castle is an entertaining, funny memoir by Steve Rushin, a writer for Sports Illustrated, that covers his escapades and successes through high school, college, and beyond.
The stories in this novel are entertaining in their own right, but to me this book was so much more. As a girl who was raised in Des Plaines (a suburb of Chicago) who read SI religiously, often traveled past the Bong Recreation Area (I finally know where the name came from!!!), wore Rebecca Lobo shoes while playing high school basketball, and who went to Billy Goats (no fries!), this novel not only told me stories of Steve Rushin’s life, they reminded me of all kinds of stories from my own. I really enjoyed this book, and often found myself laughing aloud.
If you like funny memoirs, check out Steve Rushin’s Nights in White Castle!
Thank you Little, Brown for an ARC of Nights in White Castle, given in exchange for an honest review.
Nights in White Castle is an entertaining, funny memoir by Steve Rushin, a writer for Sports Illustrated, that covers his escapades and successes through high school, college, and beyond.
The stories in this novel are entertaining in their own right, but to me this book was so much more. As a girl who was raised in Des Plaines (a suburb of Chicago) who read SI religiously, often traveled past the Bong Recreation Area (I finally know where the name came from!!!), wore Rebecca Lobo shoes while playing high school basketball, and who went to Billy Goats (no fries!), this novel not only told me stories of Steve Rushin’s life, they reminded me of all kinds of stories from my own. I really enjoyed this book, and often found myself laughing aloud.
If you like funny memoirs, check out Steve Rushin’s Nights in White Castle!
Thank you Little, Brown for an ARC of Nights in White Castle, given in exchange for an honest review.