I started off with the idea of making the rise of Jim Thorpe the spine of the story, and that didn’t change. Projects always grow on me as I research and begin to outline. Were you aware of all of these strands when you started this project? You fit so much into Undefeated-the formation of the Carlisle Indian School, the early years of football, Pop Warner’s backstory, the origins of the Carlisle football program, the rise of Thorpe and his teammates and on and on. And I think it adds to the drama that modern readers have no idea how Carlisle’s big games turned out. I tried to capture this same edge-of-your-seat feeling with the football games in Undefeated. But those stories pull you in, and you find yourself worrying and cheering, as if these races from the 1930s were taking place before your eyes. I’m a huge fan of underdog sports books like The Boys in the Boat or Seabiscuit-and I really couldn’t care less about rowing or horse racing. I feel like once readers get to know the characters, and what they’re up against, it’ll be easy to start rooting for them. Why do you think this story of a football team from the early 1900s will resonate with a 2017 audience?Īt heart, Undefeated is about Jim Thorpe and his teammates taking on enormous obstacles, on and off the field. Undefeated exhumes football’s early years and a period in American history not as far removed from today as we might like to believe. Three-time National Book Award finalist Steve Sheinkin offers a new work of nonfiction as riveting as any historical novel you are likely to read this year.

Undefeated book steve sheinkin