Title: Best Seat in the HouseSpike Lee loves the New York Knicks and the game of basketball. That much is clear in this part-memoir, part-personalised history of the game, part-ramble that makes up Best Seat in the House.
Although published in 1997, this book still feels fresh, largely due to Lee’s conversational style. In fact an audiobook would in all likeliness be a more attractive proposition, the whole books feels like one chatty conversation with one of the sport’s biggest fan but also one of its fiercest critics.
Lee talks about his own basketball journey – from growing up in Brooklyn and playing all sports to being drawn in and captivated by basketball. Visits to the world famous Madison Square Garden to see college hoops with his brother and father when he was small. Lee, as soon as he graduated from New York University’s film school and started making money got himself a season ticket up in the gods of the Garden and slowly started to work his way down towards courtside where he now sits (hence the title of the book).
Due to the success of his films, Lee ended up directing adverts for Nike. This gave him access to the NBA’s biggest stars, often seeing them in a light rarely seen. This access obviously gives Lee an insight that millions would love to have and there is an element of name-dropping (playing cards with Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and Karl Malone during the Barcelona Olympics being a good example) but there is always a reason for doing so – but ultimately, he is still a fan who can’t quite believe his luck.
When Lee is involved in conversations with himself is when the book is at its most successful. When it segue elsewhere – focusing on the Marberry family (not successfully and without focus, it comes from nowhere) or in conversation with fellow Knicks-obsessive and filmmaker Woody Allen. As a fan of both these men who direct with passion, the interview is underwhelming and had the feeling of stiltedness and actually felt as the two men had conducted the interview via letter, fax or email.
There haven’t been many successful books about basketball aside from autobiographies and perhaps the reason behind that is because so much happens in a game, it actually means little. Therefore Lee’s effort is a welcome one and his foray into another medium is a welcome one.
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