FROM THE DUST JACKET:

Massy was big, over 8'2", and still growing. He was the biggest man in pro basketball by nearly a foot. And coordinated, too. But no one thought it possible that a guy that big could move -- could run and jump and shoot and rebound. At first Massy proved them right. But before his first year was out, he became a legend, and a threat to the game.

No one likes a giant; no one roots for Goliath. Cursed and spat upon by irate fans, elbowed, punched, kneed in the jewels by competing players, he is universally despised. What drives him on? What is there in his past that makes him drag himself up and down the court when he would rather be playing the piano? What about his father who can't stay off the bottle? And the little girl with the flute?

As the season nears its ultimate close, the fury and the tension mount. No one can stop the big man even though he hasn't got all the moves and shots. No one and nothing. Beating the backboards, pounding in slam-dunks so hard the rim shakes, pulling down rebounds a yard above the rim, blocking and deflecting shots from ten feet away, he is a one-man wrecking crew, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the fans hate him, the opposing teams hate him, the officials hate him.

Bigger than Wilt, destined to become better than Russell or Jabar, he obliterates the opposition almost single-handedly But the more shots he blocks, the greater the national hysteria. And the book surges on to a screaming, apocalyptic ending as unexpected as it is inevitable. It opposing players can't stop him, there are other means available. The most original sports novel of our time, this is a fast-breaking story that makes a strong and provocative comment on our entire society.

Jack Oisen was an editor and writer for Sports Illustrated for over a decade This is his second novel, the first being the enthusiastically acclaimed Alphabet Jackson.