In the sports universe, biographies have become the new testimonials. No sooner has the star taken his/her final lap of honour than they dash to the typewriter to reminisce about the records they broke, the fans that loved them and the world they helped to change.
As ever, the queue of celebrities standing outside the 2002 confessional box is as long as it is predictable. However, the good news is that at last, the stars have begun to not only read the books they are supposed to have written, they are beginning to scribble them down themselves.
The leader of the pack in this regard is former England cricket captain Mike Atherton. Opening Up (Hodder and Stoughton €29.60) is his first-hand account of his turbulent years leading the English and his frequent clashes with the authorities.
It makes a good companion piece to the new edition of the 1984 classic, Douglas Jardine: Spartan Cricketer (Methuen €28.40), a dense and detailed study of one of England's most fierce and compelling sports personalities.
No surprises that Ellen McArthur opted to write her own memoir after her astonishing 12 months at sea. Taking on the World (Pengui€ 28.05) is her well- presented account of early interest in yachting and the gradual realisation of her fantastic achievements.
Strange time for John McEnroe to release Serious (Little Brown €29.00), a fairly straightforward rehashing of his New York childhood, his Superbrat days and his decline in the late 1980s.
Bill Borrows presents The Hurricane: The Turbulent Life of Alex Higgins (€26.50) during a time when the wayward god is trying to get his life back on the rails, even playing some snooker again. Most of the anecdotes are familiar and some of the details slightly salacious, but, laid out chronologically, they make for an incredible story.
Eddie Jordan - The Biography (Virgin € 31.60) was written in conjunction with Timothy Collings. The amiable Irishman explains what inspired him to make motor racing his life and the various fast moves he pulled to make it to the top in a notoriously cut-throat business.
A more subtle racing book is Triumph of the Red Devil (Portfolio € 24.99) by Brendan Lynch, the story of the 1903 Gordon Bennett race which took place in Ireland, bringing American racers to Europe for the first time. Heavily researched with some brilliant archive photographs.
Former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy launched his diary, Ireland's World Cup 2002 (Simon and Schuster €20.00) shortly before vacating the hot seat. So much has happened in Irish soccer since that much of the book's content has a faraway feel about it. Still, it does contain the manager's definitive account of the most famous row in Irish sporting history.
Putting It On the Line - A Year in the Life of the Irish Rugby Team (Inpho €40.00) is a pictorial tribute by the talented Inpho team. Includes wonderfully evocative dressing-room shots after the famous win against England last autumn and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Eddie O'Sulliivan impersonate Bruce Lee.
Ray McManus's Sportsfile have produced the GAA equivalent in the annual A Season of Sundays (Sportsfile €40.00), which has become a highly anticipated visual calendar of the summer season. Always beautifully produced, this series has established itself as a unique and invaluable eye of the great moments, small and big, for Ireland's native sports.
Other GAA books released this year include Men in Black (Sliabh Bán Productions €14.99) by Jim O'Sullivan, the venerable correspondent for the Irish Examiner.
Eighteen of the association's top-class referees - for decades a silent species - opened up to O'Sullivan to explain their reasons for officiating, their fears, the great days and the games they would rather forget.
Brian Carthy's annual The Championship (Sliabh Bán Productions €14.99) is the definitive catalogue of the past season of games, with pictures, reports and statistics from every championship match.
Munster Hurling Legends (O'Brien €20.00) is Eamon Sweeney's entertaining study that spans seven decades of the sport in that province. He depicts the great teams and characters from the eras through profiles, interviews and anecdotes.
A particularly beautifully laid-out book is Breaking 80: The Life And Times of Joe Carr (Poolbeg € 29.95), Dermot Gilleece's study of the outstanding amateur golfer and the first Irishman to play in the US Masters. Carr enjoyed a phenomenal amateur career before developing a highly successful business. Here, the highs and lows of both lives are examined.
In a lean year for rugby books, Mick Galwey has come up trumps with his life story. Labelled with the refreshingly candid title of Galwey: The Autobiography - The Story of a Great Irish Sportsman (Frank Quinn € 20.00), it is an affectionate walk through his long and colourful Irish career during which he successfully made the crossing to the professional game along with his comrade Peter Clohessy.
