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Book Summary and Reviews of The Eleventh Man by Ivan Doig

The Eleventh Man by Ivan Doig

The Eleventh Man

by Ivan Doig

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  • Published:
  • Oct 2008, 416 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Driven by the memory of a fallen teammate, TSU’s 1941 starting lineup went down as legend in Montana football history, charging through the season undefeated. Two years later, the "Supreme Team" is caught up in World War II. Ten of them are scattered around the globe in the war’s various lonely and dangerous theaters. The eleventh man, Ben Reinking, has been plucked from pilot training by a military propaganda machine hungry for heroes. He is to chronicle the adventures of his teammates, man by man, for publication in small-town newspapers across the country like the one his father edits. Ready for action, he chafes at the assignment, not knowing that it will bring him love from an unexpected quarter and test the law of averages, which holds that all but one of his teammates should come through the conflict unscathed.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"[A]n old-fashioned greatest generation story, well told." - Publishers Weekly.

"Doig has important things to say about our thirst for heroes and heroic stories and where we might find them. He also shows great sympathy for the unheralded men and women who fought this war." - Library Journal.

"Another fine effort from a veteran writer who knows how to play to his strengths while continuing to challenge himself. " - Kirkus Reviews.

This information about The Eleventh Man was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Ivan Doig Author Biography

Ivan Doig was born in Montana and grew up along the Rocky Mountain Front, the dramatic landscape that inspired much of his writing. A former ranch hand, newspaperman, and magazine editor, Doig was the author of 13 novels, most recently The Bartender's Tale, Sweet Thunder and Last Bus to Wisdom (Aug 2015), and four works of nonfiction, including his classic first book, the memoir This House of Sky. He was a National Book Award finalist and received the Wallace Stegner Award and a Distinguished Achievement Award from the Western Literature Association, among numerous other honors.

His major theme is family life in the past, mixing personal memory and regional history. The first three Montana novels—English Creek, Dancing at the Rascal Fair, and Ride with Me, Mariah Montana—form the...

... Full Biography
Link to Ivan Doig's Website

Name Pronunciation
Ivan Doig: iven doig (first syllable of last name rhymes with toy)

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