The story of the sports epic has always been a very successful genre, but it has been reserved almost exclusively for men. But things are changing: Here is a selection of some interesting volumes dedicated to female athletes.
Books and women’s sports: stories of brave girls
André Agassi’s The Open is one of the greatest literary achievements in the history of sports literature. The biography of the outstanding tennis player from Las Vegas also served as a kind of pioneer for the development of the sport. A world of literature dedicated to women’s sportsa niche that is increasingly expanding in proportion to the increasing interest in women in sports.
Nowadays there are many volumes dedicated to successful athletes, even romantic and fascinating stories that make a dent in a little-known planet such as women’s sports. About Books that make us enjoy travelsA small memoir, each in its own context, of women whose efforts, human and professional dimensions, and important contributions to writing have made.
5 books about women’s sports
It comes to my mind when talking about a past that should not be forgotten Giovinette, a wonderful book by Federica Seneghini, Corriere della Sera journalist, published by Solferino in 2020. The story is about a group of girls who, in the winter of 1933, decided to challenge Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime and not give up on their dreams of playing football.
The “group of Milanese female footballers”, consisting of fifty girls, was subjected to ridicule in the newspapers and forced the Sports Office of the Fasci di Combattimento federation to officially ban football. Establishment of women’s football clubs. Federica Seneghini’s book is important not only as a historical document that brings to light an adventure unknown to most people, but also because it underlines, above all, the double struggle initiated by the Milanese girls.
Fascism on the one hand, gender stereotypes on the other. If the fight against the fascist right seems won (but be careful not to let your guard down), the fight against the fascist right macho chauvinism of sport
Ninety years after the Giovinette experience, it is still open.
A newer story, with more sporting and epic aspects than political ones, The big sisters of contemporary tennis: Serena and Venus Williams. In her book “Serena and Venus Williams, in the name of the father”, Giorgia Mecca, collaborator of Il Foglio, Corriere della Sera and Internazionale Kids, tells the incredible story of two girls who not only became two of the best tennis players of all time, but also transformed. Of time as well as of global pop icons.
Their achievements, which they represent on a cultural level, start from the public spaces of Compton, one of the toughest suburbs of Los Angeles, and revolve around the contradictory and difficult figure. Father RichardRaising two sisters alone The only goal is to make them champions.
With 44 slam titles won and countless taboos broken forever, especially racism in tennisThe Williams sisters changed the history of the sport, and this book, published by 66thand2nd, tells their remarkable saga with serious fascination and precise detail.
Biographies of female athletes: from Divina to epic cyclists
When he comes great sports women There is an Italian girl whose name we cannot pass without mentioning, whose autobiography published by La Nave di Teseo in the spring of 2023 is a real gem of emotion: Federica Pellegrini. While writing Oro (that’s the title of the book), “Divina” was supported by the lively and confident talent of Elena Stancanelli, who was nominated for the Strega Award in 2016 for her La Femmina Nuda, among other things.
The highly successful operation provides us with: immersing ourselves in a much more complex reality more than you can imagine. Behind each of Federica’s great achievements, behind the most memorable collapses of her career, there are tears, blood, effort and an endless, unbeatable desire to compete. Therefore, at the end of the reading, it is impossible not to admire the passion, discipline and pure talent of one of the greatest swimmers in history.
Finally, two volumes worth including in this small list books about women’s sports. The first of these is Ladies Football Club by Stefano Massini, one of Italy’s most popular writers and playwrights. Published by Mondadori in 2019, it is a novel that describes his first English adventure with great charm. women’s football team in history.
The second, Women on Bicycles, was written by Treviso journalist Antonella Stelitano and published by independent publisher Ediciclo in 2020. The book describes the Bancarella Sports Prize 2021 with mastery and lightness and, above all, with a magnificent research work. The history of women’s cycling in Italy.
