{"id":1251,"date":"2017-09-21T21:02:51","date_gmt":"2017-09-21T21:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/?p=1251"},"modified":"2017-09-21T21:02:51","modified_gmt":"2017-09-21T21:02:51","slug":"audiobook-review-more-than-rivals-by-ken-abraham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/?p=1251","title":{"rendered":"AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: “More Than Rivals” by Ken Abraham"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p> $\"9781633899551\"$ How is this book not a movie yet?\u00a0 This is the question I asked myself over and over again as I read More Than Rivals<\/em> by Ken Abraham.\u00a0 This is the story of two star high school basketball players, one white and one black, living in Gallatin, Tennessee.\u00a0 Gallatin was one of the last towns to desegregate their schools, and this process was fraught with tension.\u00a0 The rivalry that develops between two schools that are set to merge, Gallatin High and Union High School, centers around the two star players.\u00a0 These players, who were childhood friends, are suddenly shouldered with \u201crepresenting\u201d the dignity of their respective races, and a championship basketball game suddenly becomes much more than just a game.\n

The beauty of this book is in its characterization.\u00a0 There are elements of a coming-of-age tale, and the importance of the faith of both boys is emphasized.\u00a0 It is obvious that Abraham did his research into the town of Gallatin, which really becomes a character in the story more than a setting.\u00a0 The underlying racism of the townsfolk is contrasted with their Southern geniality\u2014these are people who would rather things stay as idyllic as they believe them to be.\u00a0 There are hints of ugliness that Abraham prefers to let emerge through conversation and implication.\u00a0 Beneath the surface isn\u2019t just racism, but classism, trauma from the Vietnam War, sexual tension, dark ambition, poverty, divorce, anger, abuse, and violence.<\/p>\n

Every once in a while, Abraham zooms out to give us the big picture, commenting on the civil rights movement or the efforts of desegregation\u2014even giving us a glimpse of chilling school board meeting.\u00a0 But these glimpses only serve to show the reader how cloistered Gallatin has remained, by the choice of its townsfolk.\u00a0 The coming collision is inevitable, the loss of innocence both necessary and painful.<\/p>\n

This is an inspiring story because it demonstrates to the reader how confused we humans can be and how important character has been and will be in addressing our darkest problems.\u00a0 For the most part, Abraham doesn\u2019t vilify the racists of Gallatin, because the racists are us.\u00a0 We would love to escape to a small town and pretend that the greater problems of the world don\u2019t exist\u2014but the problems of the world exist in us.<\/p>\n

I highly recommend this book.\u00a0 However, there are two things that bothered me about it.\u00a0 First of all, the n-word is used multiple times, and the audiobook version has these bleeped out.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure why this was done, since Abraham obviously wanted this in the book to reflection of the underlying racism of the community.\u00a0 Also, the final chapter has a maudlin feel that left me feeling let down after the powerful conclusion that precedes it.<\/p>\n

Roscoe Orman (Gordon from Sesame Street!) does an outstanding job on the narration of the audiobook version.\u00a0 He affects different voices for the different characters, and an effect is used on his voice whenever he is mimicking a radio broadcast.\u00a0 This was a very fun book to listen to.\u00a0 Here\u2019s hoping a movie is coming soon.<\/p>\n

Please Note: This audiobook was gifted as a part of the Christianaudio Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. This has in no way influenced my opinion or review of this work.\u00a0 More information can be found about this and other Christian audiobooks at\u00a0christianaudio.com.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"