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Better to Reign in Hell: Inside the Raiders Fan Empire |  | Authors: Jim Miller, Kelly Mayhew
Publisher: New Press
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy New: $22.94
as of 7/31/2010 17:24 PDT details
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Seller: pbshopus
Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 837731
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 6.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 156584890X
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.332640979466
EAN: 9781565848900
ASIN: 156584890X
Publication Date: September 15, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A season with the infamous fans of the football team everyone loves to hate.
"[B]eyond doubt the sleaziest and rudest and most sinister mob of thugs and whackos ever assembled in such numbers under a single "roof," so to speak, anywhere in the English-speaking world."—Hunter S. Thompson on Raiders fans
The silver-and-black-clad Oakland Raiders fans are the most notorious in American professional sports, with a mythic reputation for cursing, drinking, brawling, and generally wreaking mayhem. The devotion of the team's multiracial, largely blue-collar supporters runs deep, creating a profound sense of community. As Jim Miller and Kelly Mayhew reveal in this hair-raising and entertaining new book, the self-described Raider Nation, smitten with its outlaw mystique, provides a gritty alternative to California's sunshine-and-granola image.
Over the course of the harrowing 2003 season, Miller and Mayhew explored the reality behind the myth and interviewed legions of rabid Raiders fans—from suburban families to bikers—while attending games in the "Black Hole" (the rowdiest section in Oakland's stadium), frequenting sports bars, and crashing tailgate parties. Featuring the extraordinary photography of Joseph A. Blum, Better to Reign in Hell is both a rollicking tale of obsessive fandom and a fascinating study of the intersection of class, race, gender, and community in professional sports.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
Super Book!!! July 20, 2010
raidermickey
If you're a Raider fan, you're sure to enjoy this very well-written book (even an objective Raider-hater, with a passion for football history/culture should be able to enjoy it). Jim Miller relates his following of the 2003 Raiders' season in an entertaining fashion and intersperses the book with interesting interviews of numerous Raider fans. The book serves to remind me of what a diverse bunch us Raiders fans are and additionally how committed and loyal we are to our team. Just a few of many reasons why I'm proud to bleed the Silver and Black! Thanks Jim.
Great gift for your favorite Raider fan! March 2, 2007
Art Vandelay
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I purchased this book as a Christmas gift for my father, a die-hard Raider fan. He really enjoyed the stories and pictures in the book--it brought some levity to a disaster of a season. As one currently studying English literature, I enjoyed the references to Milton and also the philosophical discussions of the Raider fans.
From Outside the Fan Empire October 20, 2005
Spencer
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Although I did attend a Raider-Chargers game 7 years ago,
I'm not a football fan. In fact I think the best time to go the hardware store is during the Super Bowl. That said, I love good books and great writing. Miller and Mayhew deliver that. From first page to last, this is a great read and cultural commentary.
Spencer in San Diego
Better Read Better Reign October 1, 2005
B. M. HICKS (Chula Vista, CA United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Whether you loathe or love the Raiders, you'll enjoy and learn from Miller and Mayhew's insightful book about the Raiders fan empire. Although the writers are decidedly and unabashedly Raiders fans themselves, they paint an incredibly well-rounded picture of Raiders fans. They interviewed hundreds of people from all walks of life and all socioeconomic strata, in all kinds of places -- training camps, pubs, sports bars, tailgate parties, the games themselves in Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Diego -- to garner the diverse opinions of the Raiders. We learn that the fan base is amazingly ubiquitous, with fans from the U.S. to Poland, Costa Rica, and South Africa. I especially admire the way the writers juxtapose diametrically opposing views of the Raiders. For instance, in the "Raiders Rage" chapter, Michele Clark, director of a nonprofit organization in Oakland, describes how she hates the Raiders and what they represent to the youth she tries to help. However, on the next page we read how one of her coworkers, Mark Henderson, a family man, loves the Raiders. Ultimtely, though, this book is not about sports; it's about people. Miller and Mayhew's deep concern for the working-class people comes out in the chapter that describes the city of Oakland and its changing demographics over the decades. There is a wonderful chapter about the women fans: "Real Women Wear Black." There are many interesting tidbits. (Did you know that the rugged eye-patched man in the Raiders logo was modeled after Western actor Randolph Scott?) Miller's "ten ways to avoid being pummeled by an angry Raiders fan" in the "Just Lose, Baby" chapter is hilarious. The most important thing that I gained from the book, even though I am not much of a sports fan, is a tremendous respect for fans of any team that form an "imagined community" that somehow brings meaning -- and even love -- into sometimes otherwise bleak lives. I have added this book to my short sports bookshelf, which includes Will's "Men at Work," Halberstam's "The Breaks of the Game," and Cosell's "I Never Played the Game." Just read, baby!
Fan or not, read this book! September 27, 2005
Bert Ellison
For a fascinating look at Raiders fans, Oakland, imagined community, women in black, read this book. It's all here: history, sociology, heartbreak, and hedonism. An immediately engaging book, full of hope, humor, community, and gritty sports stories. I couldn't put it down.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 6
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