Magic in the Air - by Mike Sielski

Book Synopsis

"Who doesn't wanna read an entire book about the slam dunk? I love basketball." - Ann Patchett

"The definitive dunking dissertation." - Jack McCallum, Wall Street Journal

From the author of the bestselling Kobe Bryant biography The Rise comes the legend of the most powerful shot in basketball: the slam dunk.

The evolution of basketball, and much of the social and cultural change in America, can be traced through one powerful act on the court: the slam dunk. The dunk's history is the story of a sport and a country changed by the most dominant act in basketball, and it makes Magic in the Air a rollicking and insightful piece of narrative history and a surefire classic of sports literature.

When basketball was the province of white men, the dunk acted as a revolutionary agent, a tool for players like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell to transform the sport into a Black man's game. The dunk has since been an expression of Black culture amid the righteous upheaval of the civil-rights movement, of the threat that Black people were considered to be to the establishment. It was banned from college basketball for nearly a decade--an attempt to squash the individual expression and athleticism that characterized the sport in America's cities and on its playgrounds. The dunk nevertheless bubbled up to basketball's highest levels. From Julius Erving to Michael Jordan to the high flyers of the 21st century, the dunk has been a key mechanism for growing the NBA into a global goliath.

Drawing on deep reporting and dozens of interviews with players, coaches, and other hoops experts, Magic in the Air brings to life the tale of the dunk while balancing sharp socio-racial history and commentary with a romp through American sports and culture. There's never been a basketball book quite like it.

Review Quotes

"In Magic in the Air, Mike Sielski traces the evolution of the shot as well as its wide-ranging influence not just on the sports, but on culture in general. He goes deep on the usual suspects - like Erving and playground legend Earl "The Goat" Manigault - but also delves into the underlying truths behind Why White Men Can't Jump as well as the impact the shot had on the women's game. Sielski's last book was an excellent look into what made Kobe Bryant become the Black Mamba. He has a gift for storytelling, and this tale is - much like a well-executed dunk - equal parts raucous, improvisational and powerful." - Sports Illustrated

"Who doesn't wanna read an entire book about the slam dunk? I love basketball." - Ann Patchett

"The definitive dunking dissertation." - Jack McCallum, Wall Street Journal

"Such joy is easily found in Sielski's book... a series of compelling chapter-by-chapter stories that could stand as exceptional long-form features on their own." - The Boston Globe

"Mike Sielski is one of the great sportswriters of our time. Magic in the Air is the author using one of his strongest gifts: reminding us of the profundity of where something started. A great idea approached with Sielski's typical rigor." -- Bomani Jones, Emmy Award-winning writer and producer, host of "The Right Time with Bomani Jones"

"Magic in the Air is a magnificent exploration of how the slam dunk transformed into a mechanism to measure power and progress in basketball and America. Mike Sielski has delivered another superb book." -- Adrian Wojnarowski, former ESPN NBA insider and author of The Miracle of St. Anthony

"This is a terrific book, a history of basketball through the culture and racial politics of the dunk -- revelatory and full of surprises. It's a connection of dots that nobody's ever made in just this way. I highly recommend this unique history of America's great and now universal game." -- Ron Shelton, director of White Men Can't Jump and Bull Durham and author of The Church of Baseball

"I never would have thought I'd be interested in a book about ... dunking ... until I picked up Magic in the Air. I was more than interested. I ate this book up. You don't have to know anything about basketball to relish Mike Sielski's graceful and often funny writing, the depth of his research, and his ability to tell a great story." -- Abbott Kahler, New York Times bestselling author of Eden Undone, Where you End, and The Ghosts of Eden Park

"Mike Sielski expertly traces the evolution of elevation: the origins, innovations, controversy and artistry of the singular spectacle known as the dunk. They're all here -- the streetball pioneers and modern masters, the rule makers and rule breakers, names you only thought you knew, and others you never did. With Sielski's dogged reporting, lyrical prose and infectious enthusiasm for the subject, Magic in the Air is a soaring 10.0."
-- Tyler Kepner, New York Times bestselling author of The Grandest Stage and K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches

"From Dr. J. To M.J., Magic in the Air is the definitive history of the greatest way to finish in sports. Once you know how it started, how it evolved and how it became what it became, you will never see basketball with the same eyes. I hate to do this, but just have to: this is a helicoptering windmill of a book, an absolute slam dunk." -- Rich Cohen, author of When the Game Was War: The NBA's Greatest Season

"Who knew that there could be such a rich history of the dunk? Yet there is, and Mike Sielski, one of the most imaginative sportswriters working today, tells its story with intelligence and swing. By documenting the transformation of this magnificent staple of basketball--from the early days of the sport, when the dunk was considered a vulgar move, to the modern era, when it became one of the most prized assets of the giants in the NBA--Sielski delivers a narrative that is as much about race in America as it is about basketball. The book is sure to appeal to fans and non-fans alike." -- Jennifer Senior, staff writer at The Atlantic, winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing, and author of the New York Times bestseller All Joy and No Fun

"A suitably vibrant history of spectacular doings on--and above--the hardwood." - Kirkus Reviews

About the Author