The Games We Played: A Celebration of Childhood and ImaginationSteven A. Cohen Since time immemorial, kids have given childhood its principle magic by dreaming up games, writing their own rules, and inventing endless variations on anything fun. In this enchanting book, Steven Cohen has collected a splendid group of essays about these games, gathering childhood memories from a host of stars, public figures, and writers. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss recollects a Wisconsin childhood in which his pals played a version of softball called Five Hundred. Novelist David Baldacci revisits a splendid and brutal struggle called Bottle Cap Soldiers. Movie star Esther Williams remembers the dollhouse built by her father in the midst of Depression-era poverty, and the endless scenes she acted out with simple paper dolls behind its miniature walls. Novelist Daniel Wallace describes a game called Kid Crusher, which he played with his little sister. Together, these marvelous accounts suggest that the joy of these games lay in the kids' freedom. As Maraniss writes, "There were no adults acting out fantasies of being major league managers. Childhood was for children". With contributions from Andrew Shue, Robert Pinsky, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and others, The Games We Played brings us the magic of unstructured time and the wonder of childhood. |
Contents
Introduction | 15 |
The Sweet Long Days | 23 |
Paper Dolls | 31 |
PingPong Palace | 40 |
On with the Show | 49 |
Dominoes | 55 |
My Childhood Skips and Stoops | 66 |
Like It Was Yesterday | 76 |
The Cone War | 103 |
Keeping Up with Cal | 111 |
The Craziest Kid | 120 |
Wild Child | 128 |
The Walk | 135 |
Alley Cats | 150 |
Rocket Ball | 157 |
You Can Take the Kid Out | 166 |