Review of Rob Dinerman’s Squash Compilation by James Prudden December 23, 2014
Rob
Dinerman asked me, a/k/a ‘the Squashist’, to give his new book a read.
“Selected Squash Writings” is a compilation of 16 articles that Rob has
penned over several decades. Rob himself has sound squash credentials,
lettering all four years at Yale in the sport, winning over 50 Open
tournaments, and eventually attaining a top-10 WPSA ranking.
Many of the articles in his book come from the last decade or so, but
the 1980s and 1990s are represented as well. The book is not organized
chronologically, so the articles bumblebee through the years, which I
first thought was an odd way to organize things but upon reflection
realized it makes a kind of thematic sense. Although his articles often
discuss the greats of hardball squash, the later ones segue into the
international game, and singles and doubles are both well represented.
Rob’s sentences are famously complex, but there is no doubt that his
pen can craft some great sentences. Here’s a noteworthy example about
Jahangir Khan:
"Jahangir’s presence at a tournament could be likened to that of the
most striking woman at a party; if the mood of the room changed and
there was eyeball telepathy wherever she went, so the atmosphere was on
a noticeably different frequency when Jahangir was around; it became
charged with gratifying possibilities, the musk of encounter was in the
air."
That’s a nice sentence! Long, complicated, and nice.
His book is exceptionally well researched, and some extraordinary facts
emerge from its pages. We learn that Phillips Exeter player Julian
Benello, who had gone on to attend Cambridge University for graduate
studies, was on the plane that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Improbably, his squash racket was found intact in the rubble and given
to his younger brother as a keepsake. We also read how a Princeton
player was forced to default because he was observed punching the
lenses out of his eyewear, a violation that gave Yale a win. Speaking
of Yale, we read how John Musto, after a heroic victory in a 1990 match
that was the exclamation point for an undefeated season, was so elated
that he described himself as “out-of-control happy.”
Through its pages the reader understands the reverence with which Rob
holds the sport, and on that point he and I agree. His famously long
sentences may be an intentional way of imparting the breathlessness he
feels in the presence of squash greatness, or it may be done
subconsciously, but that is the feeling I get as I read his articles.
Although an excellent player in his own right, Rob Dinerman’s greatest
contribution to our sport is written on these pages. It is an excellent
addition to any squash player’s library!
James Prudden (thesquashist.blogspot.com)
is an enthusiastic squash player of 40 years' duration, which explains
his dodgy right knee, and the editorial director of a medical
publishing company, which explains why he is convinced he is suffering
from a multitude of diseases at any one time.
