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商品の説明
内容説明
Endgame is acclaimed biographer Frank Brady’s decades-in-the-making tracing of the meteoric ascent—and confounding descent—of enigmatic genius Bobby Fischer. Only Brady, who met Fischer when the prodigy was only 10 and shared with him some of his most dramatic triumphs, could have written this book, which has much to say about the nature of American celebrity and the distorting effects of fame. Drawing from Fischer family archives, recently released FBI files, and Bobby’s own emails, this account is unique in that it limns Fischer’s entire life—an odyssey that took the Brooklyn-raised chess champion from an impoverished childhood to the covers of Time, Life and Newsweek to recognition as “the most famous man in the world” to notorious recluse.
At first all one noticed was how gifted Fischer was. Possessing a 181 I.Q. and remarkable powers of concentration, Bobby memorized hundreds of chess books in several languages, and he was only 13 when he became the youngest chess master in U.S. history. But his strange behavior started early. In 1972, at the historic Cold War showdown in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he faced Soviet champion Boris Spassky, Fischer made headlines with hundreds of petty demands that nearly ended the competition.
It was merely a prelude to what was to come.
Arriving back in the United States to a hero’s welcome, Bobby was mobbed wherever he went—a figure as exotic and improbable as any American pop culture had yet produced. No player of a mere “board game” had ever ascended to such heights. Commercial sponsorship offers poured in, ultimately topping $10 million—but Bobby demurred. Instead, he began tithing his limited money to an apocalyptic religion and devouring anti-Semitic literature.
After years of poverty and a stint living on Los Angeles’ Skid Row, Bobby remerged in 1992 to play Spassky in a multi-million dollar rematch—but the experience only deepened a paranoia that had formed years earlier when he came to believe that the Soviets wanted him dead for taking away “their” title. When the dust settled, Bobby was a wanted man—transformed into an international fugitive because of his decision to play in Montenegro despite U.S. sanctions. Fearing for his life, traveling with bodyguards, and wearing a long leather coat to ward off knife attacks, Bobby lived the life of a celebrity fugitive – one drawn increasingly to the bizarre. Mafiosi, Nazis, odd attempts to breed an heir who could perpetuate his chess-genius DNA—all are woven into his late-life tapestry.
And yet, as Brady shows, the most notable irony of Bobby Fischer’s strange descent – which had reached full plummet by 2005 when he turned down yet another multi-million dollar payday—is that despite his incomprehensible behavior, there were many who remained fiercely loyal to him. Why that was so is at least partly the subject of this book—one that at last answers the question: “Who was Bobby Fischer?”
At first all one noticed was how gifted Fischer was. Possessing a 181 I.Q. and remarkable powers of concentration, Bobby memorized hundreds of chess books in several languages, and he was only 13 when he became the youngest chess master in U.S. history. But his strange behavior started early. In 1972, at the historic Cold War showdown in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he faced Soviet champion Boris Spassky, Fischer made headlines with hundreds of petty demands that nearly ended the competition.
It was merely a prelude to what was to come.
Arriving back in the United States to a hero’s welcome, Bobby was mobbed wherever he went—a figure as exotic and improbable as any American pop culture had yet produced. No player of a mere “board game” had ever ascended to such heights. Commercial sponsorship offers poured in, ultimately topping $10 million—but Bobby demurred. Instead, he began tithing his limited money to an apocalyptic religion and devouring anti-Semitic literature.
After years of poverty and a stint living on Los Angeles’ Skid Row, Bobby remerged in 1992 to play Spassky in a multi-million dollar rematch—but the experience only deepened a paranoia that had formed years earlier when he came to believe that the Soviets wanted him dead for taking away “their” title. When the dust settled, Bobby was a wanted man—transformed into an international fugitive because of his decision to play in Montenegro despite U.S. sanctions. Fearing for his life, traveling with bodyguards, and wearing a long leather coat to ward off knife attacks, Bobby lived the life of a celebrity fugitive – one drawn increasingly to the bizarre. Mafiosi, Nazis, odd attempts to breed an heir who could perpetuate his chess-genius DNA—all are woven into his late-life tapestry.
And yet, as Brady shows, the most notable irony of Bobby Fischer’s strange descent – which had reached full plummet by 2005 when he turned down yet another multi-million dollar payday—is that despite his incomprehensible behavior, there were many who remained fiercely loyal to him. Why that was so is at least partly the subject of this book—one that at last answers the question: “Who was Bobby Fischer?”
メディア掲載レビュー
“One the year’s best biographies.” —Washington Post
"Mr. Brady's biography is well-written, studiously researched and filled with fascinating details. It imparts the love of chess and affection for 'Bobby' that the author clearly feels...Boris Spassky, after the losing the world championship title to Fischer, said: 'I think I understand him.' Perhaps one day the rest of us will too. Until then, we have Endgame to fill the void." —Wall Street Journal
“The freakishly talented, freakishly flawed Fischer played the game as if it were a blood sport…In ENDGAME Frank Brady tells the story of Fischer’s life with a dramatic flair and a sense of judiciousness.”
—The Boston Globe
"Brady's book is an impressive balancing act and a great accomplishment...What results is a chance for the reader to weigh up the evidence and come to his own conclusions -- or skip judgments completely and simply enjoy reading a rise-and-fall story that has more than a few affinities with Greek tragedy." —The New York Review of Books
“Presents Fischer’s story with an almost Olympian evenhandedness that ends up making it far more absorbing than any sensationalized account.”
—Laura Miller, Salon.com
"Brady is in a unique position to write about Fischer...he had access to new materials, including files from the FBI and the K.G.B. (which identified Fischer as a threat to Soviet chess hegemony in the mid-1980s); the personal archives of Fischer's mother, Regina, and his mentor and coach Jack Collins; and even an autobiographical essay written by the teenage Fischer. The wealth of material allows Brady to describe many rich moments and details."
—New York Times Book Review
"Brady seems unusually well qualified to capture Fischer’s many facets and contradictions…ENDGAME is a rapt, intimate book, greatly helped by Brady’s acquaintance with Fischer…he sees the person behind the bluster…he also makes use of unusually good source material…fascinating."
—New York Times
“Even if you don’t give a damn about chess, or Bobby Fischer, you’ll find yourself engrossed …has the arc of a Greek tragedy --with a grim touch of mad King Lear at the end…ENDGAME is one of those books that makes you want your dinner guests to go the hell home so you can get back to it.”
—Dick Cavett
"Recommended not just for chess enthusiasts but for anyone interested in the compelling compelling life of a complex, enigmatic, American icon." —Library Journal
"Brady masters Endgame." —Vanity Fair
"Insightful…Brady is uniquely qualified to write this…The book should appeal to a broad audience, from hard-core chess fans to casual players to those who are simply interested in what is a compelling personal story."
—Booklist
“Engrossing…The Mozart of the chessboard is inseparable from the monster of paranoid egotism in this fascinating biography…Brady gives us a tragic narrative of a life that became a chess game.”
—Publishers Weekly (Pick of the Week/Starred Review)
“The teenage prodigy, the eccentric champion, the irascible anti-Semite, the genius, the pathetic paranoid—these and other Bobby Fischers strut and fret their hour upon celebrity’s stage….Informed, thorough, sympathetic and surpassingly sad.”
—Kirkus Reviews
"ENDGAME is rich in detail and insight. It is sympathetic and human, but not at all naive. I admire Brady's resolve, and I consider this book essential reading in the effort to understand Bobby Fischer and his place in our world."
—David Shenk, author of THE GENIUS IN ALL OF US and THE IMMORTAL GAME
"The definitive portrait of the greatest—and most disturbed—chess genius of all time.”
—Paul Hoffman, author of THE MAN WHO LOVED ONLY NUMBERS and KING’S GAMBIT
“Bobby Fischer began life as a lonely prodigy and ended it as a hate-spewing enigma, and in between became America's greatest chess player, a man renowned both for his unmatched brilliance and social clumsiness. In ENDGAME, Frank Brady masterfully chronicles the full breadth of Fischer's life, producing a narrative driven by staggering detail and profound insight into the psyche of a troubled genius.”
—Wayne Coffey, New York Times bestselling author of THE BOYS OF WINTER
“You don’t have to know the game of chess to be mesmerized by the dizzying and ultimately dark journey of the world’s most heralded player. Frank Brady has researched and detailed Bobby Fischer’s every move—on and off the chessboard—for an incisive and objective account of a man whose genius was matched by his eccentricities. This is a riveting look at a tarnished American icon.”
—Pat H. Broeske, New York Times bestselling co-author of HOWARD HUGHES: THE UNTOLD STORY
"I've wondered about the weird and fascinating life of Bobby Fischer since I was a teen-aged New York Times copyboy sent out to the lobby to keep Fischer’s mother from pestering editors and reporters. Finally, after 50 years, I've finally gotten the weird and fascinating biography I've been waiting for. Bravo, Brady."
—Robert Lipsyte, author of AN ACCIDENTAL SPORTSWRITER
“A definitive and finely detailed chronicle of one of the most fascinating and eccentric Americans of the 20th century, written by one of the few men with the expertise, knowledge and writing ability to pull it off in a manner deserving of the subject.”
—Michael Weinreb, author of THE KINGS OF NEW YORK
“Fischer is America’s greatest antihero. This fascinating biography is filled with hope, Cold War intrigue, the fulfillment of genius, and an explosive fall from grace that is both deeply moving and, ultimately, profoundly sad.”
—Jeremy Silman, author of THE AMATEUR’S MIND
"I have been following Bobby Fischer my whole life, but I learned something new on nearly every page of this wonderful book. Frank Brady is the perfect biographer for Bobby Fischer, and ENDGAME tells the full and fair story of Fischer's astonishing rise and heartbreaking fall."
—Christopher Chabris, author of THE INVISIBLE GORILLA
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132個のレビュー
152 人中、142人の方が、｢このレビューが参考になった｣と投票しています。
Chess Genius Consumed by His Own Demons
2011/1/4
形式:ハードカバー|Amazon Vine™ レビュー
(詳しくはこちら)
This well detailed biography begins with Fischer near his final years, a fugitive from the law, wanted in America for sanction violations (playing chess in the former Yugoslav republic in 1992) and a marked man for his hate-filled rant on the radio after September 11. The Japanese authorities have captured Fischer at the airport and have put a sack over his head while he throws a tantrum.
From this disturbing scene, we shoot back to Fischer's childhood during the Mcarthy Era in which his mother, who lived in Russia and was involved in Leftist political activities, is investigated by the FBI. Fischer as a child with a genius IQ of 180 becomes obsessed with chess and is soon hailed as a prodigy beating adults around the world, including US's rival, Russia.
As Fischer becomes more and more prominent, Brady captures the demons that begin to consume Fischer: He becomes more and more anti-Semitic though he himself is a Jew, he becomes a hypochondriac, a paranoid malcontent, and a grouch who cannot elicit the reader's sympathy, at least for me.
Brady takes us to Fischer's final years in Iceland (the only country that would host him after he renounced his US citizenship and became a wanted man by Interpol all over the world), referred to as a "devil's island," a place where Fischer must spend the rest of his life.
We get the picture of a broken man with no will to live, mildly consoled by eating at restaurants 3 times a day and refusing medical treatment for his urinary tract and weakened kidneys.
Growing up in the 1970s and taking pride in Fischer's domination over the Soviets, I found this a bracing read, a portrait of a man too smart for his own good and too delusional. Highly recommended for those who want a biography that neither praises nor condemns Fischer as much as it gives us a lucid portrait of him.
From this disturbing scene, we shoot back to Fischer's childhood during the Mcarthy Era in which his mother, who lived in Russia and was involved in Leftist political activities, is investigated by the FBI. Fischer as a child with a genius IQ of 180 becomes obsessed with chess and is soon hailed as a prodigy beating adults around the world, including US's rival, Russia.
As Fischer becomes more and more prominent, Brady captures the demons that begin to consume Fischer: He becomes more and more anti-Semitic though he himself is a Jew, he becomes a hypochondriac, a paranoid malcontent, and a grouch who cannot elicit the reader's sympathy, at least for me.
Brady takes us to Fischer's final years in Iceland (the only country that would host him after he renounced his US citizenship and became a wanted man by Interpol all over the world), referred to as a "devil's island," a place where Fischer must spend the rest of his life.
We get the picture of a broken man with no will to live, mildly consoled by eating at restaurants 3 times a day and refusing medical treatment for his urinary tract and weakened kidneys.
Growing up in the 1970s and taking pride in Fischer's domination over the Soviets, I found this a bracing read, a portrait of a man too smart for his own good and too delusional. Highly recommended for those who want a biography that neither praises nor condemns Fischer as much as it gives us a lucid portrait of him.
75 人中、70人の方が、｢このレビューが参考になった｣と投票しています。
Hard to put down
2011/1/6
形式:ハードカバー|Amazon Vine™ レビュー
(詳しくはこちら)
Bobby Fischer was someone who used to turn up in the news every now and then in some remarkable way, and then disappear for years; this book fills in the gaps. I played a lot of chess in college, in the late fifties, and remember reading about Bobby Fischer then and thinking that he would revolutionize the game. Then in 1972, he really did, with the Fischer-Spassky match triggering the chess mania that swept the country and got me to dust off my old set. Then... silence, except for occasional weird news: he's on skid row; he's been arrested; he's spewing anti-Semitism.
This book is a fascinating account of what happened in between these flashes of news and succeeds in explaining what Fischer was all about. You don't have to be a chess fan to enjoy it (or even know the moves). It's easy, vivid reading, and kept me up beyond my bedtime. It's full of all sorts of interesting details: where his strange religious and political views came from; the files the FBI had on him and his mother; whether he was circumcised (!); the fact that he was Russell Targ's brother-in-law. The author certainly knows his subject.
Fischer was one of the most extreme "outliers" of his generation: totally brilliant, tragically self-destructive, utterly ungrateful, but thoroughly captivating. Whether you remember Fischer or not, you'll enjoy this book as a character study of an amazing figure.
This book is a fascinating account of what happened in between these flashes of news and succeeds in explaining what Fischer was all about. You don't have to be a chess fan to enjoy it (or even know the moves). It's easy, vivid reading, and kept me up beyond my bedtime. It's full of all sorts of interesting details: where his strange religious and political views came from; the files the FBI had on him and his mother; whether he was circumcised (!); the fact that he was Russell Targ's brother-in-law. The author certainly knows his subject.
Fischer was one of the most extreme "outliers" of his generation: totally brilliant, tragically self-destructive, utterly ungrateful, but thoroughly captivating. Whether you remember Fischer or not, you'll enjoy this book as a character study of an amazing figure.
50 人中、45人の方が、｢このレビューが参考になった｣と投票しています。
A compelling biography of a troubled man
2011/1/12
形式:ハードカバー|Amazon Vine™ レビュー
(詳しくはこちら)
Brady has written a compelling biography of Bobby Fischer, who disappeared from the public stage after winning the world championship in chess. You don't have to know anything about chess to appreciate the book, which is about the man and not the game.
Some features of Fischer's personality emerge from the book. First, he was apparently unable to understand that business agreements require that both sides get something from the deal. He believed that if other people profited at all from his activities, then they were taking advantage of him. As a result, he walked away from over ten million dollars in business opportunities after winning the world championship. It's tempting to say that this view reflects the zero-sum nature of chess, and his own playing style, which sought victories and not draws.
Second, there was a healthy dose of paranoia in Fischer's makeup. He was convinced that the Soviet Union, and later the United States government, were out to get him, as were the world's Jews. Of course, paranoids can have real enemies - - the Soviet chess establishment did collude to try to keep the title in their community, and the U.S. government did go after him for violating international sanctions against Yugoslavia. Fischer's anti-Semitic paranoia seems purely irrational.
Third, I was amazed at how much loyalty Fischer could command from his friends despite treating them poorly and discarding them all too easily. Brady does not convey exactly why people put up with this treatment, even though Brady was a sometimes friend of Fischer himself. I suspect that hero worship helps explain why people tolerated mistreatment in order to remain close to such a gifted chess player.
Brady himself remains surprisingly loyal despite having been estranged from Fischer for many years. He characterizes the man but does not judge him as a person. He does judge Fischer as a chess grandmaster, who was probably the greatest ever to play the game. This is not the book for studying his games, but it's an insightful and fast-paced biography of a difficult human being.
Some features of Fischer's personality emerge from the book. First, he was apparently unable to understand that business agreements require that both sides get something from the deal. He believed that if other people profited at all from his activities, then they were taking advantage of him. As a result, he walked away from over ten million dollars in business opportunities after winning the world championship. It's tempting to say that this view reflects the zero-sum nature of chess, and his own playing style, which sought victories and not draws.
Second, there was a healthy dose of paranoia in Fischer's makeup. He was convinced that the Soviet Union, and later the United States government, were out to get him, as were the world's Jews. Of course, paranoids can have real enemies - - the Soviet chess establishment did collude to try to keep the title in their community, and the U.S. government did go after him for violating international sanctions against Yugoslavia. Fischer's anti-Semitic paranoia seems purely irrational.
Third, I was amazed at how much loyalty Fischer could command from his friends despite treating them poorly and discarding them all too easily. Brady does not convey exactly why people put up with this treatment, even though Brady was a sometimes friend of Fischer himself. I suspect that hero worship helps explain why people tolerated mistreatment in order to remain close to such a gifted chess player.
Brady himself remains surprisingly loyal despite having been estranged from Fischer for many years. He characterizes the man but does not judge him as a person. He does judge Fischer as a chess grandmaster, who was probably the greatest ever to play the game. This is not the book for studying his games, but it's an insightful and fast-paced biography of a difficult human being.
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