Former Viking running back Robert Smith has a book coming out:
If Robert Smith had his way, no one would care why he abruptly quit professional football three years ago. In his world view, people would focus on more critical issues than why a 28-year-old superstar gave up $40 million with no explanation.
Smith, who rarely gives interviews, spoke with a reporter Thursday to promote his autobiography. The former Vikings running back said society has gone too far in elevating athletes to celebrity status. It is a central theme of his book, "The Rest of the Iceberg: An Insider's View on the World of Sport and Celebrity," and it represents a large portion of a complicated explanation for his departure from sports and public life.
Viking fans might be interested in his explanation for running out of bounds in the fourth quarter of 1999 NFC title game against the Falcons while the Vikings were trying to drain time off the clock. Not that I'm bitter about it or anything.
He's not the only new author with a local connection:
Jacob Slichter has been in this boat before, getting rave reviews from not-so-little rags such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, talking about advances and publicists, and browsing the bins at his local stores to make sure his new release is stocked.
No, there isn't a new Semisonic album out. The drummer for Minneapolis' favorite power-pop band has a new book, "So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer's Life", which is all about Semisonic's less-than-enviable jaunt in the major-label marathon.
Both sound like great reads. That is, if anyone is even reading anymore.
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