Carrier's highly detailed descriptions of the social and political milieu of the time give this work a depth and resonance beyond most sports books. Attempts to probe the psyche of the very private Richard, however, are rather more problematic. At one point, the author writes, "he keeps all his discontent behind his silence, which is closed as tightly as a safe," and his attempts to open that safe aren't always successful. Still, the writing makes up for such shortcomings. Carrier is something of a Canadian legend himself as author of the much-loved children's story The Hockey Sweater. His sentences are short and to the point, like a good hockey pass, with a fluid poetry that matches the grace of a Rocket end-to-end rush: "His eyes are two black bullets that are silently shot at his opponents." As a hockey-playing youngster, Carrier revered Maurice Richard. In Our Life with the Rocket, he does the man true justice.