Advance Praise for The Hustle:

“Anyone concerned with improving the U.S. educational system must read this book, which brilliantly highlights the problems and possibilities facing schools and students. At the same time, Doug Merlino also tells a broader story of race in America that vividly brings ten boys, and the men they became, to life. The Hustle is a wonderful reading experience.”—Robert L. Bernstein, founder, Human Rights Watch; former president, Random House

“Working on an apparently small canvas, Doug Merlino has managed to look widely and deeply into race and class, idealism and dead-end despair in America. This unusual combination of sensitive memoir and incisive reporting tells us a great deal about the nation we are and the one we dream of. A fascinating and haunting book.”—Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold’s Ghost and Bury the Chains

News & Reviews for The Hustle:

A nice piece about The Hustle in the East Bay Express ahead of Doug’s reading at Pegasus Books in Berkeley.

“You know those rare books that hold your rapt attention, the ones that you keep reading until the sun comes up? Doug Merlino’s THE HUSTLE is such a book. Part history text, part sociological study, part memoir, THE HUSTLE is more than just a book about basketball. It’s a book about America. It’s a book about the country’s past and present. It’s a book that you have to read.”—SLAM Magazine

Doug’s interview on NPR’s “Only A Game”

Listen to Doug Merlino’s interview on WNYC’s Leonard Lopate show.

Here's another great interview on Albany NPR station WAMC.

The Hustle reviewed in the —Daily Californian

Review in Dallas Morning News. Review also picked up by the Denton Record Chronicle.

Review of The Hustle included in Carol Goldberg’s Write Stuff column in the Hartford Courant

Listen to Doug’s great KUOW “Weekday” interview (with former teammate Damian Joseph and Coach Willie McClain)

Interview on KGMI Morning News

A nice piece in the Portland Oregonian

Seattle Weekly gave The Hustle a super review .

“THE HUSTLE somewhat resembles the great documentary series Seven Up, which provides now-and-then profiles of kids shaped by the English class system. Only here, both race and class come into play. Most interesting and affecting about the book are Merlino's conversations with former teammates—resumed, as it were, after a 15-year gap.”—Seattle Weekly

“Provides remarkable insight into the fortunes and misfortunes of the ten kids who shared a court but never a dream…This book, both memoir and social analysis, is an essential read as a recent social history and personal story of America.”—Library Journal (January 1 edition)

“What can we learn about race in America from answering that? The book digs deeply, compassionately and intelligently into that question.”—Doug Merlino, Espn's TrueHoop blog. Read blog

“Merlino skillfully weaves the personal biographies with the biography of a city that relegated blacks to neighborhoods that were segregated and poor, to the margins of economic life, to public schools that were overcrowded and underfunded. The book’s precise focus enables troubling considerations of the role of race and class in America.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Gripping … poignant, and memorable.” —Seattle Times. Read full review.

Featured on the blog The Novel Road.

"A very thoughtful, perceptive, and moving chronicle of the journey from adolescence to manhood."—Booklist