West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life by Jerry West

West's revealing autobiography charts his rise from a small town in West Virignia to his status as an NBA legend, along with his life's more troubled and tortured moments.

(Little, Brown, $28)

“Jerry West is going to hate his autobiography,” said Mike Downey in the Los Angeles Times. That may sound odd, but consider what we learn about him. Here’s Jerry West, NBA legend, the man whose silhouette graces the league’s logo, confessing to us that he’s not a hugger, not even with his wife and children. Here’s West, longtime Los Angeles Lakers executive, revealing that he once complained about a steak in a restaurant, demanded a check after being told there would be no charge, but was so insulted when the check was actually presented that he walked out, ordered a cheesecake elsewhere, and carried the dessert back into the first joint to signal his resentment. West is not just tormented; “he is unknowable”—except that he can always be counted on to change his mind.

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