Bliss, Remembered by Frank Deford; Unabridged MP3 Audio Book; Narrator Pam Ward and Traber Burns

With Bliss, Remembered, the celebrated Frank Deford has produced a work of literature that ranks with the best of his many novels, including Everybody’s All American, which Sports Illustrated ranked as one of the twenty-five best sports books of all time. In Bliss, Remembered, Deford explores new territory as he tells two love stories from the perspective of a beautiful should-have-been Olympic champion named Sydney Stringfellow.

At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Sydney begins an intense love affair with a German, but the affair abruptly ends when political forces tear them apart. Back in the US, Sydney—daring, vulnerable, and memorable—is left healing her broken heart when a striking American begins to pursue her. In Deford’s tender novel, the simplicity and honesty of choices of the heart clash with a brutal time—a time when choices seemed so dire in the enveloping shadows of a changing world.

“Told as a memoir, Deford’s newest is entertaining and thought provoking. He has a superb sense of character and period, and readers will at once feel drawn into the turbulent times. The memoir device, while overused in many books, is put to excellent effect…The surprising twist will catch readers off guard but not leave them feeling cheated. This is a poignant story, utterly charming and enjoyable.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“I’ve long been a huge fan of Frank Deford’s writing, and this wonderful novel is further confirmation that he is much more than one of America’s best sports writers—he is one of our country’s best writers, period.”—Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author

“One of the greatest writers of our time, Frank Deford has done it again. This book is compelling, insightful, and Frank even shows us his romantic side. I didn’t just like it, I loved it.”—Billie Jean King

“A work of enthralling historical fiction…Deford slyly teaches readers something about 1930s–1940s history while also writing convincingly about love and war. Sydney is a spirited narrator whose fictional memoir is sprinkled with innumerable colloquialisms and many reflective of the era. Highly recommended.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“If you’ve always enjoyed Frank Deford’s sportswriting, you’re in for a surprising, blissful departure with Bliss, Remembered…Deford’s story takes us through Nazi Germany, heroes and villains real and imagined, love, lust, heartbreak, and heroism. There’s a hell of an ending, too. Who knew that Frank Deford, apart from everything else, is a crazy romantic?”—Mary Carillo

Frank Deford, author of The Entitled, is senior contributing writer for Sports Illustrated (and six-time Sportswriter of the Year), NPR commentator, and correspondent for HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. He has won a Peabody, an Emmy, and countless other awards. He lives in Westport, Connecticut.