title: The Arena: Inside the Tailgating, Ticket-Scalping, Mascot-Racing, Dubiously Funded, and Possibly Haunted Monuments of American Sport
author:  Rafi Kohan 
description: Smart, readable, deeply reported and researched, engagingly personal, funny and often surprisingly poignant.<br /> - <strong>Jay Jennings, <em>New York Times Book Review</em></strong><br /><br />[<em>The Arena</em>] covers everything from how those fighter jet flyovers sync with the national anthem to an inside look at the disease that is rabid fandom (in the chapter "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Gross"). Think of it this way: for less than the price of admission to most any of these stadiums, Kohan will let you travel from Wrigley to Lambeau to the Superdome in the most American way possible. Without ever having to leave the comfort of your couch.<br /> - <strong><em>GQ</em></strong><br /><br />Fascinating.He comes across as the Studs Terkel of stadium life, demonstrating an easy camaraderie with his sourcesIts his sod-level reporting that animates the book, lending a distinctive blue-collar vibe of bantering co-workers who take pride in jobs well donejobs like painting the logo on a playing field or combing over the bald spots in the ivy-covered outfield walls of Wrigley Field.<br /> - <strong>Will Blythe, <em>Wall Street Journal</em></strong><br /><br /><em>The Arena</em> is fun because of the authors wit and style  a kind of gonzo/embedded journalism hybridBut most importantly its fun because it is, metaphorically speaking, a circus mirror reflection of who we are as a nation 'psychologically, economically, politically, culturally, historically.'<br /> - <strong><em>Christian Science Monitor</em></strong><br /><br /><em>The Arena</em> is an inventive, fast-paced look at what have become our modern shrines in a sports-obsessed society. But it artfully illuminates us - including the often quirky people flocking to these shrines - even more than the structures.<br /> - <strong>Tom Verducci, Best-Selling Author, <em>Sports Illustrated</em> Senior Writer</strong><br /><br />This is an irresistible tour de force that reveals how and why our monuments to games are hard-wired to fans most thrilling and heartbreaking memories. A fabulous book.<br /> - <strong>Don Van Natta Jr., ESPN, Pulitzer Prize winner, and <em>New York Times</em> best-selling author</strong><br /><br />Rafi Kohans terrific <em>The Arena</em> sees stadiums as a reflection of ourselves, in all of our glory, all our failings, and all our desires. It also made me want to go to a game, immediately.<br /> - <strong>Will Leitch, author of <em>Are We Winning?</em> and <em>God Save The Fan</em>, senior writer Sports On Earth and founder of Deadspin</strong><br /><br />Kohan answers a central question: If every game is on TV, why do we still shell out hundreds to see them live? Hint: Even in this era of HDTV and disposable stadiums, we still need to be together. <em>The Arena</em> is a pioneering work of athletic anthropologyand just plain fun.<br /> - <strong>John U. Bacon, <em>New York Times</em> best-selling author of <em>Three and Out</em>, <em>Fourth and Long</em>, and <em>Endzone</em></strong><br /><br />An altogether new and riveting sports classic. A copy of Kohans brilliant, funny, illuminating book should be sealed in a vault beside every one of these places we go to yell ourselves hoarse, so that future archaeologists sifting through our ruins can understand who we were and why we gathered together.<br /> - <strong>Josh Wilker, author of <em>Benchwarmer</em> and <em>Cardboard Gods</em></strong><br /><br />An addictive, detailed look at the lives of sports arenas . . . . Kohans curiosity and empathy are infectious as he demonstrates how human this corporate aspect of sports can be. He has created an immersive, informative work that will delight and enlighten a wide range of readers.<br /> - <strong><em>Publishers Weekly</em></strong>
zlib_text: **Witch and Wizard**
  
  >  **Witch and Wizard**
  
  > > Witch and Wizard
  
  >  **Witch and Wizard**
  
  >  **PROLOGUE**
  
  > > YOU'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE
  
  > > Witch and Wizard
  
  > > Wisty
  
  > > IT’S OVERWHELMING. A city’s worth of angry faces staring at me like I’m a
  > wicked criminal—which, I promise you, I’m not. The stadium is filled to
  > capacity—past capacity. People are standing in the aisles, the stairwells,
  > on the concrete ramparts, and a few extra thousand are camped out on the
  > playing field. There are no football teams here today. They wouldn’t be able
  > to get out of the locker-room tunnels if they tried.
  
  > > This total abomination is being broadcast on TV and the Internet too. All
  > the useless magazines are here, and the useless newspapers. Yep, I see
  > cameramen in elevated roosts at intervals around the stadium.
  
  > > There’s even one of those remote-controlled cameras that runs around on
  > wires above the field. There it is—hovering just in front of the stage,
  > bobbing slightl