First anthology of women’s writings about sport’s personal meanings published

For 150 years women’s presence on playing fields and in the gym has sparked public debate . . . but received little serious attention. In Whatever It Takes -- the first anthology of women’s personal essays on their experiences in competitive sport -- 53 female writers break the news about what women seek and find in athletic competition.

Contributors to Whatever It Takes include three Pulitzer Prize winners, an Olympian, a recipient of the Before Columbus American Book Award, two former pro basketball players, several unrepentant tomboys, a winner of the Lavan Poetry Prize, a national track champion, novice competitors, and coaches, parents, and fans.

Among historical pieces sprinkled through the book are an 1895 essay by a Women’s Christian Temperance Union president who called her bicycle Gladys, because riding it made her glad, and a 1925 newspaper column by an early woman sports journalist noting the formation of a collegiate football team by female athletes who decided that basketball just wasn’t strenuous enough to be enjoyable.

Whatever It Takes: Women on Women’s Sport is scheduled for publication in August, 1999 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux; editors Joli Sandoz and Joby Winans; ISBN 0-374-52597-8). This book is a companion volume to A Whole Other Ball Game, the first historical collection of women’s fiction and poetry about women’s competitive athletics, edited by Joli Sandoz and published by The Noonday Press at FSG in 1997 (ISBN 0-374-52521-8).

Pre-Publication Response to Whatever It Takes: Women on Women’s Sport

This book is great for anyone who has dreams and aspirations . . .
Kristine Lilly, member of World Cup Champion, U.S. Women's World National Soccer Team

Thoughtful and thought-provoking, this collection celebrates the power of sport in the lives of women. The voices you hear are, at turns, fresh, funny, feisty, pensive, resolute and triumphant.
Lauren Kessler, author of Full Court Press: A Season in the Life of a Winning Basketball Team and Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Literary Nonfiction, University of Oregon

Finally! A book dedicated to women by women sharing their personal experiences of self-discovery through sports! From boxing to rowing, baseball to swimming, each story is told with passion and flare. . . . It’s about being who you are without anyone holding you back. . . . I applaud this book!
Annie Nelson, Little League coach and winner of five world sailing titles

IF YOU REVIEW BOOKS OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO DOES:
Review copies of Whatever It Takes and of A Whole Other Ball Game are available from Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Fax 212-206-5340, or call 212-206-5322, to reach Cary Goldstein in the FSG publicity department.

Contacts: Joli Sandoz and Joby Winans 360-866-4031, jobyw@olywa.net
Cary Goldstein Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 212-206-5322 or FAX 212-206-5340