Make It, Take It

* "Ex-coach Rus Bradburd crafts a spare and intriguing story that illuminates the complex machinations required to stay afloat in the unforgiving world of this high-stakes 'amateur' sport. Ironic, acerbic and often distressing,Make It, Take Itis fiction, but it feels more authentic than any ESPN documentary . . . With an ear for the music of leather on hardwood, Bradburd is a fan, no question--butMake It, Take Itis both a crisply sardonic tale of frustration and a blistering indictment of the sickness inherent in the business of college basketball."--Cherie Ann Parker

"[A]n appealing novel . . . it's engaging and imaginative, and includes one of the most unforgettable characters in (the admittedly lean genre of) basketball literature."

"Make It, Take Itis a novel . . . blissfully light on the dramatic-finish game details that so often derail sports novels. Set against a backdrop of college basketball, it is a compelling story of people and the ways in which they can rise and sink to various levels."

"[A] cool new piece of fiction . . . fun."--Seth Davis

"If compelling fiction is about finding ordinary characters in extraordinary situations, then Bradburd has given us just that. The stakes are high from page one, and the change in pace throughout this novel-in-stories makes each extraordinary situation an easy one to digest."

"One of our favorite writers."

"Here's a superbly accurate 'fiction' novel that details the lengths to which coaches, student-athletes and those around them will go to advance, survive and/or bury themselves."--Nick Infante

"The themes here are compelling."--Bill Littlefield

"An intriguing novel. It's not a true story, but there's so much that is real aboutMake It Take It."

"The literary equivalent of a basket at the buzzer--a real nail-biter . . . Bradburd's vision is. . .refreshing. [His] confident, savvy debut is more in the vein of North Dallas Forty, a letter from the locker room with no contrived winners or losers. The clear victor here is the reader.With March madness upon us, Rus Bradburd's unsettling debut novel, 'Make It Take It,' is the literary equivalent of a basket at the buzzer -- a real nail-biter. Bradburd, a coach at the University of Texas at El Paso and New Mexico State University for 14 seasons before turning to writing with a master's of fine arts degree, seats readers on the bench next to the hundreds of assistant college coaches who labor in the shadow of the head coach. Steve Pytel is an aging, passed-over assistant whose marriage is falling apart because he's never home, whose recruits need a baby sitter more than a teacher, whose job constantly teeters on the cliff's edge at the whim of the aptly named Jack Hood, a portrait of coaching corruption and unethical--heck, illegal--behavior that college ball fans must hope is the exception and far from the rule. Bradburd's vision -- through Pytel--of big-time sports is cynical and rather bleak, which, in its own way, is refreshing. Where most sports books are triumphant and heroic, not to mention sentimental and sappy, Bradburd's confident, savvy debut is more in the vein of 'North Dallas Forty,' a letter from the locker room with no contrived winners or losers. The clear victor here is the reader."

"A strong pick for literary fiction collections with a focus on the world of sports.... The road to the big leagues is littered with many others on the same road and failing. Make It, Take It is a novel set amongst the world of college basketball and the corruption and greed that lies underneath it. Rus Bradburd, a college basketball coach of fourteen seasons, uses his extensive experience to dramatically analyze what a player faces in their efforts to get to the top, an effort that often takes more than hard work alone. Make It, Take It is a strong pick for literary fiction collections with a focus on the world of sports."