Boom Town
Summary:
Oklahoma City was born from chaos. It was founded in a bizarre but momentous "Land Run" in 1889, when thousands of people lined up along the borders of Oklahoma Territory and rushed in at noon to stake their claims. Since then, it has been a city torn between the wild energy that drives its outsized ambitions, and the forces of order that seek sustainable progress. Nowhere was this dynamic better realized than in the drama of the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team's 2012-13 season, when the Thunder's brilliant general manager, Sam Presti, ignited a firestorm by trading future superstar James Harden just days before the first game. Presti's all-in gamble on "the Process"—the patient, methodical management style that dictated the trade as the team’s best hope for long-term greatness—kicked off a pivotal year in the city's history, one that would include pitched battles over urban planning, a series of cataclysmic tornadoes, and the frenzied hope that an NBA championship might finally deliver the glory of which the city had always dreamed.
Boom Town announces the arrival of an exciting literary voice. Sam Anderson, former book critic for New York magazine and now a staff writer at the New York Times magazine, unfolds an idiosyncratic mix of American history, sports reporting, urban studies, gonzo memoir, and much more to tell the strange but compelling story of an American city whose unique mix of geography and history make it a fascinating microcosm of the democratic experiment. Filled with characters ranging from NBA superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook; to Flaming Lips oddball frontman Wayne Coyne; to legendary Great Plains meteorologist Gary England; to Stanley Draper, Oklahoma City's would-be Robert Moses; to civil rights activist Clara Luper; to the citizens and public servants who survived the notorious 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building, Boom Town offers a remarkable look at the urban tapestry woven from control and chaos, sports and civics. (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)
Review:
Boom Town roughly alternates chapters between the history of the city and tracking the modern city, mostly focusing on the Oklahoma City Thunder. I finally picked up this book because, after working in OKC for the better part of three years, I wanted to get to know the city deeper because I still have a lingering fondness for the strange place that is Oklahoma. I listened to the audiobook and I’d highly recommend it, Anderson was a fantastic narrator and brought things to life.
The main reason this book is not ranked higher is because I found the history and the modern story sometimes disjointed. I am sure that is partly intentional to juxtapose the past and present, but it meant I almost felt like I was reading two different books. The book was also quite long – after a little while my enthusiasm waned a bit. All that being said, I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about OKC’s history as a city and also within the greater US context. I am not even a basketball fan, but I really enjoyed the player profiles and the crazy story that brought the Thunder down south. Definitely recommended for anyone willing to give something different a try!
Rating: 3 stars!
Who should read it? Folks interested in history and the USA / Oklahoma as a concept.