Brothers on Three
I recently read something, somewhere (#precise) about the book Brothers on Three: A True Story of Family, Resistance, and Hope on a Reservation on Montana by journalist Abe Streep. So I checked it out from the library. And then I read it, and now I am recommending it to you.
Sport-related memoir à la The Boys in the Boat is far from my go-to. I understand the appeal; sport is a great foil for relaying personal triumph. Streep’s book — an outgrowth of reporting he did for the NYT Magazine about the Arlee Warriors, a champion high school basketball team from Montana’s Flathead Reservation — does that…but goes a bit further. Suicide clusters pox the area, NCAA recruitment takes on a slightly different flavor for “Rez kids,” and a burgeoning urban population encroaches pockets of Montana. All provide springboards for Streep’s storytelling.
That oh-so-trite phrase, “everyone has a story” can rankle — but it’s true. If you’re not going to pick up a newspaper or read other longform journalism, then every once in a while, pick up a book like this.
originally published on instagram