New York Times bestselling authors Mike Schur and Joe Posnanski travel the world in a hilarious and heartwarming celebration of fans and the things they love: baseball, basketball, chess, darts, football, futbol, Indigenous North American stickball, pickleball, WWE, Taylor Swift, Star Wars, and more. Two great friends. Lots of frequent flyer miles. And a bottomless appetite for experiencing sports. That’s what BIG FAN is all about. Bestselling authors and podcast hosts Joe Posnanski and Mike Schur love games—almost any game!—and they bring readers to the front row (and sometimes even right onto the field). Whether ringside at WrestleMania in Las Vegas, singing along with the maniacs at the World Darts Championships in London, or just watching eight straight hours of football at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Dallas, they bring us to the very heart of what it means to love something so much it hurts. Through crushing defeats and glorious wins, whether cheering penalty kicks with 65,000 fans in Liverpool or beholding a chess master castling in dead silence, BIG FAN is about why we love what we love and how fandom connects us in a time when so much else pulls us apart. Praise for Big Fan : “So, this is like a ‘mid-life crisis’ situation?” —Mike’s friend Alex, when told of the premise of this book “$#%&$.” —Montreal hockey fan sitting next to Joe “They're letting you do what?” —Joe's wife Margo “I mean, I guess I would say, ‘That’s too many Mookie Betts rookie cards.’” —Mike’s friend Olivia, when she saw how many Mookie Betts rookie cards Mike has “#@%$#&.” —A lot of other fans, sitting next to us, at a lot of other events “I can’t seem to find your name on the list.” —Every single will call employee, at every single event, when we gave them our names to get our tickets “Swifties, Kopites and yet-to-be-nicknamed chess enthusiasts abound in this sprawling survey of the world of fandom.” — The New York Times , “The Nonfiction Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026” "A treat for the sports fanatic of the household.” — Kirkus “An entertaining, humorous, and thought-provoking examination of the human obsession with sports and entertainment told with a delightful, self-deprecating style that will appeal to a variety of readers.” —Booklist "'They’re letting you do what?' Posnanski’s wife said to her husband when hearing about his accepted book proposal. It sure sounds like a win for these sports-obsessed pals: Podcast hosts Schur and Posnanski... took to the road (and air) to report on their observations of sporty adventures of all sorts, including visits to WrestleMania in Las Vegas and the World Darts Championships in London." —AARP Michael Schur is an Emmy Award–winning American television producer and writer. He created or co-created the comedy series Parks and Recreation , Brooklyn Nine-Nine , The Good Place, and A Man on the Inside , after getting his start on Saturday Night Live and The Office . Schur lives in California with his wife, Jennifer Philbin, and their children. Joe Posnanski is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of nine books, including Why We Love Baseball , Why We Love Football , and The Baseball 100. He has won two Sports Emmys, been named National Sportswriter of the Year by five different organizations, and, most proudly, was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame. For this book, Mike challenged him to watch and participate in a pickleball tournament, a sport he loathes. Posnanski lives in Charlotte, N.C. with his wife Margo and their ancient poodle Westley.