Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.3230973
EAN num: 9780609801918
ISBN number: 0609801910
Label: Three Rivers Press
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
Page Count: 327
Printing Date: May 19, 1998
Publishing house: Three Rivers Press
Release Date: May 19, 1998
Sale Popularity Level: 1239596
Studio: Three Rivers Press
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Best Seat in the House, Spike Lee's evocative and compelling basketball memoir, interweaves several journeys over a course of thirty years. The very first is professional basketball's metamorphosis from a fringe sport to the big-money spectacle it is today, filled with outrageously inflated salaries and egos. The other journey is that of Shelton Jackson Lee himself, who has gone from a skinny kid playing ball on the streets of Brooklyn, sneaking into Madison Square Garden to watch his beloved Knicks, to a student at Morehouse College and NYU film school, to a world-renowned film director and hoops fan.
Along the way Spike takes readers on entertaining and provocative detours, including a one-on-one with that other Brooklyn-born, film-directing, Garden-inhabiting hoops fan, Woody Allen; reviews of sports movies (Spike has seen them all, and the results aren't pretty); an unusually candid interview with Michael Jordan; and a stark assessment of the role of African-American athletes--both in the big business of sports and in the broader culture.
But overall, Best Seat in the House is a love letter, from a passionate and unswervingly devoted fan, to the game and the team that took possession of Spike's adolescent heart--the New York Knickerbockers--and held it without a turnover through thirty years. of bang-ups and fouls, bad calls and air balls.
Best Seat in the House is a slam dunk.
Amazon.com Review:
This is filmmaker Spike Lee's reminiscences of his love affair with basketball (make that the New York Knicks), from the time he was a child growing up in Brooklyn, New York, to the present. While it's a kind of history of the game, from its long-ago status as a not-quite professional sport (which seems unbelievable in this day of multi-million-dollar salaries and prime time television exposure), it's also a very personal journey. Lee paints an evocative portrait of growing up in Brooklyn in the 1960s with his four brothers and sisters, remembers his high school years and time at Morehouse College in Atlanta, and his start as a filmmaker. Film fans will find a special treat in this book--Lee's account of the creation of the character Mars Blackmon, who appeared in She's Gotta Have It, and several commercials for Nike.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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Give you an example: It seems Spike had issue with Scottie Pippen. He mentioned Scottie privately said Pennny was a better player than MJ once a while.
Obviously it's a personal experience, which makes this book unique.
Rated by buyers -
By and far the best book I have ever read. The content was not the most challenging but Spike Lee managed to tell his life story and intertwine it with the glory of the 70's New York Knicks teams and even inform the reader of his early cinematic musings. A great book for any Knick fan, Spike Lee fan, or general avid reader. I absolutely loved reading this memoir because it gave in depth information on so many facets of life important to Spike Lee: family, basketball, cinema. A definite must read, if only for the reason to see why Spike Lee is so emphatic about his Knicks.
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Even though I'm not a New York Knicks fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Spike Lee, for all the movies he made, I enjoyed his foray into the world of being an author. This book mixes his life from the time he was a child to the time he was an adult with memories of his beloved Knicks, past and present. It was cool to hear about Monroe,Barnett,DeBusschere,Reed,Frazier,Russell (Cazzie, not Bill, but he mentions Bill too I think) and others as well. He also talks about stars of previous eras and comparing them to ones in more current eras. It's really two books in one, combining his life (an autobiography) with his love of the Knicks. We get to learn about both subjects.
Rated by buyers 
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Spike Lee is usually brought up when people are talking about arrogant behavior. But in this book, he shows how basketball has changed over the years. I play and follow basketball and I thought this book was great. If you like basketball, professional sports, or Spike Lee, this is a book for you.
Rated by buyers -
There's always been room for a book for Knick fans (who are abreed apart) by an informed Knick fan. Spike Lee, one of the mostprominent among millions who've put this team at the center of their emotional lives, has come up with an informative and gutsy memoir that interweaves his personal growth with a lifelong, overly intense passion for this usually-disappointing NBA franchise. His wonderful asides include reviews of his and Michael Jordan's favorite basketball movies and a raw, unflattering look at Coney Island's Marbury (as in Stephon) family. He also had the guts to say that Riley blew it by leaving Starks in.
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