College basketball may well be irretrievably corrupted by money, racial tension and academic fraud, but it's still a pretty, pretty thing to see a talented young player driving in for a lay-up. That contradiction between cynicism and a fan's appreciation provides the theme for Make It, Take It, a debut novel about the complex interactions between coaches and players at a fictional college in the southwest. 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 It is fiction, but it feels more authentic than any ESPN documentary.
Assistant coach Steve Pytel is awash in desperation but unable to leave the game he loves: His marriage is in trouble, his new head coach is an egotistical ass and wrangling his players requires inordinate amounts of patience and a flexible sense of ethics. Clearly drawing on his own experience, Bradburd is unafraid to describe uncomfortable issues of race and class, as well as controversial subjects like predatory recruitment and coach-player tensions. With an ear for the music of leather on hardwood, Bradburd is a fan, no question--but Make It, Take It is both a crisply sardonic tale of frustration and a blistering indictment of the sickness inherent in the business of college basketball. --Cherie Ann Parker, freelance journalist and book critic