{"product_id":"puckstruck-9781771640480","title":"Puckstruck","description":"\u003cdiv\u003eLike many a Canadian kid, Stephen Smith was up on skates first thing as a boy, out in the weather chasing a puck and the promise of an NHL career. Back indoors after that didn’t quite work out, he turned to the bookshelf. That’s where, without entirely meaning to, he ended up reading all the hockey books. There was \u003ci\u003eCrunch\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBoom Boom\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSlashing!\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHigh Stick\u003c\/i\u003e; there was \u003ci\u003eMax Bentley: Hockey’s Dipsy-Doodle Dandy\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e Blue Line Murder, \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Nagano\u003c\/i\u003e, a Czech hockey opera. There was \u003ci\u003eBlood on the Ice\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCracked Ice\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFire On Ice\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePower On Ice\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCowboy On Ice\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eSteel On Ice\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003ePuckstruck\u003c\/i\u003e, Smith chronicles his wide-eyed and sometimes wincing wander through hockey’s literature, language, and culture, weighing its excitement and unbridled joy against its costs and vexing brutality. In exploring his own lifelong love of the game, hoping to surprise some sense out of it, he sifts hockey’s narratives in search of hockey’s heart, what it means and why it should distress us even as we celebrate its glories. On a journey to discover what the game might have to say about who we are as Canadians, he seeks to answer some of its essential riddles.\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Stephen Smith","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42955827314806,"sku":"9781771640480","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0671\/1374\/6550\/files\/CoreSourceHub_a0d4b6ae-48ef-442a-ac2c-1ea8fb232549.jpg?v=1767716208","url":"https:\/\/ingramacademic.com\/products\/puckstruck-9781771640480","provider":"Ingram Academic \u0026 Professional","version":"1.0","type":"link"}