Ultimate Glory: Frisbee, Obsession, and My Wild Youth

A story of obsession, glory, and the wild early days of Ultimate Frisbee.

David Gessner devoted his twenties to a cultish sport called Ultimate Frisbee. Like his teammates and rivals, he trained for countless hours, sacrificing his body and potential career for a chance at fleeting glory without fortune or fame. His only goal: to win Nationals and go down in Ultimate history as one of the greatest athletes no one has ever heard of.

With humor and raw honesty, Gessner explores what it means to devote one's life to something that many consider ridiculous. Today, Ultimate is played by millions, but in the 1980s, it was an obscure sport with a (mostly) undeserved stoner reputation. Its early heroes were as scrappy as the sport they loved, driven by fierce competition, intense rivalries, epic parties, and the noble ideals of the Spirit of the Game.

Ultimate Glory is a portrait of the artist as a young ruffian. Gessner shares the field and his seemingly insane obsession with a cast of closely knit, larger-than-life characters. As his sport grows up, so does he, and eventually he gives up chasing flying discs to pursue a career as a writer. But he never forgets his love for this misunderstood sport and the rare sense of purpose he attained as a member of its priesthood.

Author: David Gessner
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 06/06/2017
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.50w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780735210561


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 05/01/2017
Library Journal 05/15/2017
Booklist 05/15/2017 pg. 6
Publishers Weekly 05/15/2017
Shelf Awareness 06/23/2017

About the Author
David Gessner is the author of ten books, including the New York Times bestseller All the Wild That Remains. He has taught environmental writing as a Briggs-Copeland Lecturer at Harvard and is currently chair of the creative writing department at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where he founded the award-winning literary journal Ecotone. He lives in Wilmington.