Review of "Lucky Bastard: My Life, My Dad and the Things I’m Not Allowed to Say on TV," by Joe Buck

 Review of

Lucky Bastard: My Life, My Dad and the Things I’m Not Allowed to Say on TV, by Joe Buck ISBN 9781101984567

Five out of five stars

 Given his longevity and versatility in the sports broadcast business, it is safe to say that Joe Buck has made it on his own. However, it must be granted that he started with significant name recognition from his father, longtime broadcasting legend Jack Buck. This is his autobiography up to the year 2016.

Buck is very forthright about his father Jack and how he was the result of an extra-marital liaison between his father and another woman. When she became pregnant, Jack divorced his wife and married Joe’s mother. This created long-lasting hard feelings between Joe and his half-siblings.

 Joe acknowledges that his father Jack was a workaholic, taking nearly every broadcast gig that he could, even though that meant he was gone a lot. However, with Joe, Jack did what many working parents now do, they bring their child to work with them. Joe grew up in a broadcast booth, absorbing lessons that served him very well once it was clear that he also wanted to be a sports announcer. Joe grew up interacting with former and current players, so he learned much about the background of pro sports while still a child.

 Joe is also candid about his problems fighting baldness and the pain and suffering that he has gone through trying to maintain a credible head of hair for the cameras. He describes the difficulties when he divorced his first wife and how for some time, he struggled to regain an announcer’s voice.

This is a great book about a man that grew up in the shadow of his father yet started in the minor leagues and rose to broadcasting prominence on his own. Joe Buck paid his dues and is now half of the top broadcasting duo of the Fox Sports Network.