The Intangibles

The Intangibles is itself filled with so many intangibles that they are impossible to catalogue. There is the charm, the wit, the poignant coming-of-age story, the laugh-out-loud lines, the mad beer-league hockey scenes, the violence, the grace, the messiness of life, the insights into parenthood, the moments of transcendence. What they all add up to is something tangible: one of the best books I’ve read this year, or any other * David Grann *
Just ridiculously good. Line for line, the richest, funniest book I’ve read in years. Only Nick Paumgarten could turn beer league hockey into spun gold. It’s the examined life on skates. Friendships so deep and unlikely, all the unspoken codes, the writer’s raw honesty with himself, the vestigial violence between grown men. I did not want it to end * William Finnegan *
Brilliantly written, hilarious, insightful, unsparing, humane, moving in the extreme. Did I say sports book? This is simply a great book, one that will stay with me * Louisa Thomas *
Nick Paumgarten has written the rare book about men that is also, secretly, a book about love: the strange, tender, often ridiculous ways men love each other and their sons. The Intangibles is a book to be read and savored by everyone * Susan Orlean *
When I finished this book, I experienced many different emotions at once. I felt deeply unsettled, filled with both melancholy and triumph, mixed with feelings of admiration and envy for the beautiful writing and the howitzer power of the details, and with the sense that I’d finally read the sports story I’ve been waiting for my whole life. I loved this book, clearly, but more important, I get it. * Wright Thompson *

Nick Paumgarten has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2005. Prior to that, he spent five years as an editor and writer at the magazine. He has covered a wide range of subjects, including politics, finance, art, music, food, technology, mountaineering, sports-talk radio, elevators, boxer-bartenders, commuters, and canoes. His work has also appeared in Outside, GQ, Bon Appetit, Men’s Vogue, Powder, Adventure Journal, and The Sewanee Review. He was an editor and reporter at the New York Observer from 1995-2000. He lives with his wife Siv in Manhattan.

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