Magic in the Air is a series of narrative stories, much like features in a sports magazine, weaved in a chronological order to trace back the history of the dunk and its importance to both the game of basketball and how it shaped society over the past century plus. For someone that’s aware of a bit of basketball history but hasn’t dug into it, I was impressed and surprised at the depth of research done by Mike Sielski. For instance, I had no idea the NCAA banned the dunk for a decade; Sielski denoted his attempts to find out why, ending in failure. The first story is at the present with Ja Morant, a talented yet troubled superstar that earned fame with the dunk. It then traces back to the first dunk and creation of basketball around the start of the 20th century and making ways forward back to 2024. Each story was intriguing and enlightening, tying the dunk to key players, markers of basketball development, and society at large. I was hoping to have another story in the 21st century, but it’s not a big loss. The audiobook was read by Landon Woodson, and his eloquent tones made the many stories captivating. If you’re into basketball or want to know a bit about the sport shaped culture and society, this is a can’t miss!

Great book for the sports lovers, basketball lovers, and history buffs. While I am a basketball fan, this book gave me a greater appreciation into the early basketball players and the slam dunk. I very much appreciated the detail and care that the author took to research a deep history and included women in the book. I was excited to hear more about the slam dunks by Jordan and Vince Carter, but the focus of the history was earlier than them. It would have been nice to have more than just a few chapters dedicated to the 80s/90s/00s dunks. It's a very deep dive, but one well worth taking. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC. My reviews is unpaid and honest.

If you grew up when the slam dunk was king, this is absolutely the book for you. The information and stories in this book are like candy! You just keep wanting more and more. For example, I had no idea Jackie Robinson was a basketball player and track and field athlete on top of his baseball accomplishments nor that the NCAA banned the dunk for the better part of a decade. This book takes you through it all from the documented first dunks (there is no way to know who was actually first) through to the peak of the Slam Dunk Contest in the late 1980s and even touches on today's perimeter-focused game.

One would think such a narrow topic (and one that is compelling for its visual, visceral excitement) would be a poor candidate for a deep dive in book format, but that could not be further from the truth. Mike Sielski has put in the work and has done a magnificent job researching the topic, interviewing players and their families, and, in some cases, visiting the places where the players' stories began. It all results in a highly readable and engaging book.

Landon Woodson is a phenomenal narrator for this book, and I highly recommend the audiobook for this one! He is authoritative while never being dry, which is a difficult balancing act that Woodson accomplishes with aplomb.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for provided an advanced copy of this audiobook for review purposes. My opinions are my own.