Two Tickets to Freedom

I really like this book and I'm not sure I can find words for exactly why. It's not exactly fine literature, but Duncan's writing style is very readable and the book is extremely successful at evoking an emotional high.

It's interesting to me as a Saints fan, of course, and one who got into football in 2010, the season after their 2009 Superbowl win – I enjoyed learning about the franchise's history and experiencing secondhand the lead-up to the 2009 Superbowl. And as a football geek in general, I enjoyed getting a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes to create a great team.

Duncan serves up a great mix of reporting to put the Superbowl win in context: historical details, the impact of Katrina, descriptions of New Orleans and its residents... not to mention all the details you'd expect from a book about the Saints: details about the players and coaches, the strategy, the locker room speeches, how the important games played out. It really gives a sense of how everything came together for the team and for New Orleans.

I still can't decide if this would be a good book for long-time Saints fans (maybe they know this whole story already?) or for football fans in general (maybe you have to be a Saints fan to care?), but my suspicion is that folks in both camps would get something out of it. And if you're like me and a relatively recent convert to Who Dat Nation, this book is awesome.