Author Guide · Participatory Journalism
Books Written by
In 1963 George Plimpton, the editor of a literary magazine, turned up at the Detroit Lions' training camp as a rookie quarterback, and ran a handful of plays in a scrimmage before being thrown for a loss. He had already pitched to major-league hitters at Yankee Stadium; he would go on to box three rounds with the light-heavyweight champion Archie Moore, play golf on the professional tour and keep goal for the Boston Bruins. This guide covers his seventeen books in order, from the sports books to his oral biographies, and where to start.
By Lisanne Swart · 17 books · Participatory journalism · 1956–2004 · Updated October 2026
ClickTap a spine to jump to that book below.
Quick answer
George Plimpton published seventeen books between 1956 and his death in 2003, the last appearing in 2004: seven participatory sports books, from Out of My League (1961) to Open Net (1985); two oral biographies, Edie and Truman Capote; a novel built on a famous April Fools' hoax; and books on fireworks, excellence, exploration and more. He also edited The Paris Review for fifty years. The sports books are where most readers begin.
Where to Start with George Plimpton
If you want the famous one
→ Paper Lion (1966).
If you want to start where he started
→ Out of My League (1961).
If you want something different
→ The X Factor (1990).
If you want a hoax
→ Open Net (1985).
All 17 George Plimpton Books, in Order
The Rabbit's Umbrella
His first book, a children's story, published three years after he became editor of The Paris Review.
Out of My League
Plimpton pitched to a line-up of major-league stars in an exhibition at Yankee Stadium, and wrote about the experience from the mound. It was the first of his participatory sports books, and Ernest Hemingway admired it.
Paper Lion
In 1963 Plimpton joined the Detroit Lions' preseason training camp as a backup quarterback, lived with the team and ran a few plays in an intrasquad scrimmage. His best-known book, it was filmed in 1968 with Alan Alda as Plimpton.
The Bogey Man
A month on the professional golf tour of the 1960s, playing alongside the pros in tournaments and watching his own game fall apart under pressure.
Mad Ducks and Bears
His return to football: a companion to Paper Lion built around his friends on the Lions' line, the defensive tackle Alex Karras and the guard John Gordy.
One for the Record
Hank Aaron's chase to overtake Babe Ruth's record of 714 home runs, and the pressure and hate mail that came with it.
Shadow Box
Plimpton's book about boxing, built around the three rounds he sparred with the light-heavyweight champion Archie Moore, and his time around Muhammad Ali.
One More July
A long conversation with the veteran lineman Bill Curry, driving to what might be his last training camp, about what professional football does to the men who play it.
Edie
With Jean Stein: the life of Edie Sedgwick, the heiress and Andy Warhol star who died at twenty-eight, told entirely through the voices of the people who knew her.
Fireworks
A history of fireworks by a man who loved them so much that New York appointed him its honorary fireworks commissioner.
Open Net
Plimpton trained as a goalkeeper with the Boston Bruins and played in a preseason game, in what became the last of his participatory sports books.
The Curious Case of Sidd Finch
His only novel grew out of a 1985 Sports Illustrated April Fools' story about a Mets rookie, trained by monks, who could throw a baseball at 168 miles an hour. Many readers believed it.
The X Factor
An essay on what makes some people excel, drawing on the athletes, writers and performers he had spent his life around.
The Best of Plimpton
A selection of his journalism from across his career, chosen by Plimpton himself.
Truman Capote
Capote's life told, like Edie, entirely through the voices of the people who knew him, from his childhood in Alabama to the society friends he lost.
Ernest Shackleton
A short illustrated biography of the Antarctic explorer, published in the year of Plimpton's death.
The Man in the Flying Lawn Chair
A posthumous collection of his magazine pieces, the title essay about a man who flew over Los Angeles in a lawn chair tied to weather balloons.
How Many Books Did George Plimpton Write?
Seventeen books of his own between 1956 and 2004, besides the many anthologies and Paris Review interview collections he edited.
- Participatory sports books — Out of My League, Paper Lion, The Bogey Man, Mad Ducks and Bears, Shadow Box, One More July and Open Net. Read the entries →
- Oral biographies — Edie (1982, with Jean Stein) and Truman Capote (1997). Read the entries →
- Everything else — a children's book, a novel, books on fireworks and excellence, an anthology and a biography of Shackleton. Read the entries →
In What Order to Read George Plimpton
His books are not a series. The sports books read well in the order they were written, because each one builds on the reputation of the last: by Open Net the players know exactly who he is.
A reading path
1. Paper Lion (1966)
2. Out of My League (1961)
3. Shadow Box (1977)
4. Edie (1982)
5. Truman Capote (1997)
Quick facts about George Plimpton
- Born
- March 18, 1927, New York City
- Died
- September 25, 2003, New York City, aged 76
- Education
- Harvard University; King's College, Cambridge
- The Paris Review
- Co-founder and editor from 1953 until his death
- Known for
- Participatory journalism: playing the sport he wrote about
- Teams
- Detroit Lions (1963), Boston Bruins; sparred with Archie Moore
- Hoax
- Sidd Finch, Sports Illustrated, April 1985
- Books
- 17 of his own, 1956–2004
How George Plimpton Wrote: The Amateur Among Professionals
Plimpton's method was to be the amateur in the professionals' world. He did not watch the game from the press box; he took the field, usually badly, and wrote about what the professionals' world looks like to an ordinary person standing in the middle of it.
His humiliations are the point. The books are funny about his own failures, and that self-mockery lets the athletes around him come across as people rather than heroes.
Later he turned to oral biography, building Edie and Truman Capote entirely from interviews, so that the subject's life is told by a chorus of the people who knew them.
Frequently asked questions about George Plimpton's books
How many books did George Plimpton write?
George Plimpton published seventeen books of his own, from The Rabbit's Umbrella (1956) to the posthumous The Man in the Flying Lawn Chair (2004), besides many anthologies and interview collections he edited.
What is Paper Lion about?
Paper Lion (1966) is about the time Plimpton spent at the Detroit Lions' preseason training camp in 1963 as a backup quarterback. It was filmed in 1968 with Alan Alda.
What is participatory journalism?
Participatory journalism is reporting in which the writer takes part in the activity they are writing about. Plimpton is its best-known practitioner: he pitched in a major-league exhibition, played quarterback for the Detroit Lions and kept goal for the Boston Bruins.
Who was Sidd Finch?
Sidd Finch was a fictional New York Mets pitcher, invented by Plimpton for an April Fools' story in Sports Illustrated in 1985, who could supposedly throw a baseball at 168 miles an hour. Plimpton later expanded the story into a novel.
Did George Plimpton write a book about Truman Capote?
Yes. Truman Capote (1997) is an oral biography, telling Capote's life through the recollections of his friends, enemies and acquaintances.
Footnotes
- George Plimpton — New York State Writers Institute
- A Feast of Classic Plimpton — Sports Illustrated Vault
Bibliography last verified 1 October 2026.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
If this shelf interested you, the full bookshelf has more: reading lists by theme, author guides, and notes on what is actually worth your time.
Browse the full bookshelf Get book recommendations