Matt McAvoy Book Review

The second I’ve read from Heath Hamrick now, and I can see without question that he writes from the heart like few other authors I’ve encountered.  As I may have mentioned in my previous review of his work, he’ll take a simple subject, an anecdotal episode from his life, and turn it into a poignant piece of literature.  This offering is even more so, profound and deeply personal.  Sure, he openly admits at the start of Play Like He Would that it is a composed narrative based on a real event from his childhood, but it is the sentiment that is important; the simple fact that Heath felt a compulsion to document it is the whole point.  He crafts 300 heartfelt and heartbreaking pages from a single tragedy to which he bore witness as a child – one which brought a whole small Nevada town together in grief.  He explores the death of his football teammate from all angles and viewpoints, yet never places blame, never shows bitterness or dwells on the terrifying implications the event might have on the psyche of a teenager, but rather celebrates his friend’s life as an adult Jason would never become.

Heath is a fantastic writer, not just eloquent but deeply sentimental.  Even when the narrative is particularly effusive, which is often, you don’t hold it against the author, nor any of the friends or family members at the time; all had to deal with the tragedy in their own way.  Perhaps now a father, the sheer magnitude of the event hits him a little harder; of course, his close friendship with Jason at the time can’t be diluted.

The fact that Heath sticks to the point, as he did in his previous book, when running frivolously for Congress, is perhaps what makes his writing so good.  He doesn’t digress; he is there to present a narrative and make a point.  He doesn’t need to dress it up in any way, other than perhaps to feel the dramatic gaps; the event is of its own value to Heath and to the reader.  The quality of his writing is top drawer, and importantly, the subject matter is interesting.  I have to admit, I’m not the biggest fan of sports memoirs, which is the format this takes for a large proportion, yet I found myself intrigued with the Tigers’ progress, and particularly fascinated by the impact of it on the whole community.  It is easy to see how a mid-game tragedy, and such a particularly sad one, can have such a profound effect on a town like this.  And it is hard to imagine many other authors could have pulled this book off like Heath has.  Another good book by a great author.