Gare Joyce, a sportswriter with the soul of poet and a penchant for trouble, has penned a tell-all memoir that is laugh-out-loud hilarious, savage-and tender at the quick. The media has their stock narratives, but Joyce tells the undiluted, unfiltered truth about the stars and also about his fellow messengers up in the press box.

Fans know Joyce as a feature writer with ESPN and a columnist at Globe and Mail. His work has appeared everywhere from the New York Times to the Christian Science Monitor.?

Famous names get theirs:

Tom Landry? Despite cause, the Cowboys' legend didn't press assault charges against Joyce. Michael Jordan clams up for his Pulitzer-winning biographer while Charles Barkley holds court until Joyce's pen runs dry. The writer trudges through the bush in the dead of winter to interview All-Star reliever Tom Henke, after he gave a homer that cost the Blue Jays the pennant-the interview subject toted a bottle of schnapps and a loaded shotgun.

"This sparkling memoir tells the stories behind the stories behind the...well, other even better stories. Gare is more compelling than most of the people he's chronicled through the decades. They're lucky to have him." (Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated)

"Joyce's latest? Call his bluff. Pure fun." (Robert Lipsyte, New York Times)