Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 1/18/2012

1/18/1972:
With 11 seconds remaining, center Dave Cowens of the Celtics ties the score at 110-110 in the NBA All-Star Game at the Forum with a 14-foot jumper. But Los Angeles Lakers guard Jerry West thrills the home fans by sinking a 21-foot, last-second shot to lift the Western All-Stars to a 112-110 victory. West finishes the game with 13 points in 27 minutes. Cowens pulls down a game-high 20 rebounds (no one else has more than 11) and contributes 14 points in 32 minutes. Celtics forward John Havlicek and Knicks guard Walt Frazier tie for the scoring honors with 15 points each. West is named MVP of the contest.

Birthdays:
Syl Apps b. 1915
Curt Flood b. 1938
Mark Messier b. 1961
Brady Anderson b. 1964
Mike Lieberthal b. 1972

CRITICS’ PICK

A Reliable Wife is more than a reliable choice for your next read. It’s a home run. Critics, booksellers, and readers went gaga for this literary pick, an unsettling domestic thriller that opens at a frigid Wisconsin train station in 1907. Ralph Truitt awaits the arrival of his mail-order bride. Catherine Land, it turns out, is not what he expected. A smoldering, gothic spine tingler for fans of The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber. The Washington Post raves, “Intoxicating.”

A RELIABLE WIFE, by Robert Goolrick (Algonquin, 2010)