Academics
Summer Reading Program
Outcasts United: An American Town, A Refugee Team and
One Woman’s Quest to Make a Difference
by Warren St. John
AWARDS & REVIEWS
Outcasts United was one of four finalists for the inaugural Pen/ESPN Award for Literary Sportswriting.
"Outcasts United succeeds so emphatically because, just as the Fugees are so much more than a football team, this is much more than a sports book. St John…has produced a dense and unjudgmental portrait of America in the 21st century (and a vital primer to African and colonial history in the last one)."—The Observer (UK)
“Truly unforgettable, Outcasts United offers a stirring lesson in the power of a single person to transform the lives of many. It’s an incisive window into the world ahead for all of us, where cultural diversity won’t be an ideal or a course requirement or a corporate initiative but a fact of life that has to be wrestled with and reconciled, if never quite resolved.” —Reza Aslan, author of No God but God
"Not merely about soccer, St. John’s book teaches readers about the social and economic difficulties of adapting to a new culture and the challenges facing a town with a new and disparate population…This wonderful, poignant book is highly recommended…" —Library Journal, starred review
"St. John hits a trifecta . . . A fascinating and fast-moving account of big-picture politics, small-town sports, and some very memorable people." —Booklist
"Inspiring…Deeply satisfying…a bighearted book." —Shelf Awareness
"Remarkable…a marvelous story, all the more moving for being written straight by a talented reporter." —The Times of London
"As St. John tells it, the Fugees’ story is something of a radical social experiment: a test case in 21st-century immigration and identity politics. But it’s also a deeply moving example of what men and women of goodwill can do." —Very Short List