Reviews Written By: A3GRLGP4S9PK73provided by Amazon.com |
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 | Classic Baseball: The Photographs of Walter Iooss Jr. | |
 | "Classic Photography From A Camera Artist" | 2009-09-20 |
| Walter Iooss is a tremendous photographer and has captured many different sports with his camera. That he has pointed his artistry in baseball's direction is a real joy for baseball fans. We see players in game action, at rest, at humorous moments, in frantic motion (such as the cover of the book) and in many ways that we don't get to normally see them. This pictures add life to the subjects that he portrays in his shots, and makes an excellent book of photographs for baseball fans. | ||
 | Truman | |
| "Excellent Biography of Our 33rd President" | 2009-07-06 |
| David McCullough's "Truman" is an excellent example of a thorough biography - it not only tells the life story of the subject, it gives the reader the essential background of the subject, the causes and influences of the subject's life, the highs and lows and how these affected the subject, the moments of conflict and resolution for the subject, and the relationship of why the subject is important prior to and up to today. This was all done by McCullough in a very readable style; some may feel that this biography is overly long based on the number of pages, but to cover as much of Truman's life as completely as McCullough did, I was kind of sorry to reach the end of the book. If you like history and/or biographies and would like to read an entertaining book about a great President raised from humble beginnings, this is a terrific book to read. | ||
 | Truman | |
| "Excellent Biography of Our 33rd President" | 2009-07-06 |
| David McCullough's "Truman" is an excellent example of a thorough biography - it not only tells the life story of the subject, it gives the reader the essential background of the subject, the causes and influences of the subject's life, the highs and lows and how these affected the subject, the moments of conflict and resolution for the subject, and the relationship of why the subject is important prior to and up to today. This was all done by McCullough in a very readable style; some may feel that this biography is overly long based on the number of pages, but to cover as much of Truman's life as completely as McCullough did, I was kind of sorry to reach the end of the book. If you like history and/or biographies and would like to read an entertaining book about a great President raised from humble beginnings, this is a terrific book to read. | ||
 | Truman | |
| "Excellent Biography of Our 33rd President" | 2009-07-06 |
| David McCullough's "Truman" is an excellent example of a thorough biography - it not only tells the life story of the subject, it gives the reader the essential background of the subject, the causes and influences of the subject's life, the highs and lows and how these affected the subject, the moments of conflict and resolution for the subject, and the relationship of why the subject is important prior to and up to today. This was all done by McCullough in a very readable style; some may feel that this biography is overly long based on the number of pages, but to cover as much of Truman's life as completely as McCullough did, I was kind of sorry to reach the end of the book. If you like history and/or biographies and would like to read an entertaining book about a great President raised from humble beginnings, this is a terrific book to read. | ||
 | Truman by David McCullough, ISBN 0743508068 | |
| "Excellent Biography of Our 33rd President" | 2009-07-06 |
| David McCullough's "Truman" is an excellent example of a thorough biography - it not only tells the life story of the subject, it gives the reader the essential background of the subject, the causes and influences of the subject's life, the highs and lows and how these affected the subject, the moments of conflict and resolution for the subject, and the relationship of why the subject is important prior to and up to today. This was all done by McCullough in a very readable style; some may feel that this biography is overly long based on the number of pages, but to cover as much of Truman's life as completely as McCullough did, I was kind of sorry to reach the end of the book. If you like history and/or biographies and would like to read an entertaining book about a great President raised from humble beginnings, this is a terrific book to read. | ||
 | Adventures in a TV Nation | |
| "TV Nation - Different From the Nation's Usual TV Shows" | 2009-07-05 |
| I can't say that I remember much of Michael Moore's show "TV Nation." After reading the book of show it was created and the content of its episodes, missing the show is definitely my loss. The creativity of the individual pieces in the show, displaying the humor, in-your-face confrontation with a smile and making a point at the silliness of people's actions is not something that you'd find on many, if any, newsmagazine shows. Moore took a proactive approach to many of his pieces, being on screen to help move the story's action in the way that would be most enlightening and create the most exposure. A couple of favorite pieces sited in the book: the farewell tour for Communism, and the guy who shredded checks at the Heritage Institute. The book, while not seeming to be a complete history of the show, is worth reading for its laughs, creativity in shows and for showing how TV could be if TV producers allowed themselves to take chances/go out on a limb into stories that may be somewhat uncomfortable to others. It's a very entertaining book. | ||
 | I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon | |
| "Bad Karma for a Musical Genius = Terrific Book" | 2009-06-13 |
| During his long demise to cancer, Warren Zevon asked his ex-wife, Crystal, to write a book about his life; it was something they had discussed in the 1970s, but until this point little thought had been given to this project. Warren gave Crystal instructions to include everything, both the good and bad parts of his life. The written story of Warren Zevon's life resulted in "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon." Crystal Zevon has done a masterful job of interviewing the performing masters of the last 40 years, friends, lovers and acquaintances of Warren, co-workers and using Warren's diaries and notes to develop a chronological picture of Warren Zevon. From a troubled childhood to a successful songwriter to a performer who hit the top of the charts; to a brilliant performer who could never quite shake his demons; to a brilliant man with a large variety of interests to a man with obsessive compulsive disorders; to an estranged father to a father with children that shared mutual love: this and much more constituted Warren Zevon. I am a Warren Zevon fan and have been one for more than 30 years. I thought he was the best songwriter around, and it's nice to see that so many other performers felt some degree of the same way. At the same time, it hurts to read about his many problems, oftentimes self-inflicted. But as with other people that we consider heroes that had the nerve to show us that they are human, one cannot take away the achievements of Warren Zevon through his music and its meaning. Feet of clay - we all have them. Warren's intellect, creativity and musical ability - that is what I will remember the man for. Crystal Zevon's wonderful book has opened the life of a gifted man, and I highly recommend reading it. Sometimes it just ain't too pretty at all. But then I'd rather feel bad than feel nothing at all. | ||
 | Hal Chase: The Defiant Life and Turbulent Times of Baseball's Biggest Crook | |
| "A Bittersweet Baseball Life" | 2009-06-01 |
| Martin Kohout's "Hal Chase: The Defiant Life and Turbulent Times of Baseball's Biggest Crook," is a well-written and well-researched book about a man who, to use a worn-out phrase, "had it all." Chase was someone who could run, hit, throw, hit with power and field superbly, at all levels of baseball. He is not considered a superstar now or for many years before because when the list of crooked baseball players is drawn up, Hal Chase is either at the top or extremely close to it. Kohout looks at Chase's life, and attmepts to show us the "why" of this happening. The conditions of the time were vastly different than they are now, regarding player control and management control at the top of baseball's structure. What Chase was accused of and apparently did was not an extreme case in those days, when players could be approached by gamblers (or know of teammates who were) and be offered money to not try their best for a particular game. It was crooked and cheating and deceitful, but most associated with baseball were happy to hide these indescretions until the 1919 World Series came along. Chase was notable for the depth and quantity of his cheating, to obtain easy money, and carried his notoriety and reputation right out of the league and into other fields that he played on to the end of his days, even becoming estranged from most of his family. Kohout does an excellent job of displaying this living example of how potential and life can travel a path of darkness in pursuit of easy money, only to come to an unhappy ending. | ||
 | Musial: From Stash to Stan the Man (Missouri Biographies) | |
| "Excellent Biography of Stan The Man" | 2009-05-31 |
| James N. Giglio's comprehensive biography of Stan Musial offers a fine life-view story of one of baseball's brightest stars. Spanning the years from his parent's arrival in America to the recent years, Giglio shows us that with Musial, "what you see (and hear about) is pretty much what you get:" a superstar ballplayer who really is a nice guy in person. With the depth of experience as a researcher and writer, I feel that Giglio has explored all avenues of Musial's life and has written an excellent book of the man's history, character and actions. This isn't to say that Musial was perfect; there are instances of temper, inaction and mistakes, but it make Musial no different than anyone else. As a role model, Giglio shows that Musial can fill the bill; for the book, Giglio enlightens and entertains - a very satisfying read, indeed. | ||
 | The Bush - Haters Handbook: A Guide to the Most Appalling Presidency of the Past 100 Years | |
| "The Early Years of The Appaling Presidency" | 2009-05-26 |
| As Jack Huberman's book was published in 2003, we had yet to see the full impact of an administration that set us on a course of national devastation and international disaster. Huberman was quite thorough in his timeframe for the destruction of environmental policies, the rigging of the national election, the infusion of business and politics in public policy, such as the energy policy, and a whole range of other important topics of the time, including Homeland Security, Iraq, judicial nominees, and nuclear armaments. Huberman's book showed the record of this administration in its first few years; it is profitic in its illustration of what we came to expect until this administration left office. | ||
 | The Unofficial Guide to Baseball's Most Unusual Records | |
 | ""Unusual" Has Its Moments" | 2008-11-23 |
| Bob Mackin's "The Unofficial Guide to Baseball's Most Unusual Records" is a reasonably entertaining book showcasing baseball's interest in all kinds of statistics - records, in this case. The book, in twenty chapters, is organized into groups of like records (i.e., pitchers, batters, home runs, etc.) and within each chapter are records of the mildly interesting (such as age of youngest player, age of oldest rookie) to those records that you probably will not find anywhere (earliest news conference to announce a retirement, for example, or the only ballplayer shot by a Lithuanian-speaking stalker). Like potato chips, cashews or nachos, these bite-sized bits of information are hard to put down.
That said, the errors in the book tend to hit a wrong note when one is found when reading. While I usually tend to look past mistakes in books, reference and record books should be checked more closely to eliminate errors, so that others don't pass along faulty facts. But finding out that the first tie World Series game occurred in 1922 (not including 1907 or 1912, apparently) and errors on World Series opponents do cause one to look twice at the information, to make sure it's being read correctly. | ||
 | The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America | |
| "The 1893 World's Fair" | 2008-06-15 |
| There's not too much left of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair any more. We are introduced to some products by author Erik Larson in his book "The Devil In The White City," that were first shown at the fair, a beer that won the blue ribbon at the fair (Pabst), architectural marvels, and enough drama in Larson's story to overshadow it all. A classic story of two men, one good, one bad, form the outline for the book. The good, Daniel Burnham, is in charge of creating and overseeing the creation of the fair's buildings. That he was able to do so successfully within the restraints of time, money and meddling is remarkable. That he was able to do so with the loss of his business partner in the planning stage adds to his legacy. Despite infighting between architects and their firms, bank administrators and outside distractions, the Fair was a great success, a worthy successor to the 1889 Paris World's Fair, to which Chicago strived to surpass in comparison. The bad, Herman Webster Mudgett, a.k.a. H.H. Holmes, was the "Devil," both in book title and in deed. In the few years after the fair, no one knows how many people failed to return to their homes after the fair, but it is accurate to say that Holmes played a part in not returning some to where they belonged. In fact, from the time that Holmes came to Chicago in 1886, the death toll in the city had a new source of increases. This culminated in a building that Holmes designed and had built that contained the facilities of a killing lab. His business dealings were similarly sinister and underhanded - non-payment of goods and services was standard operating procedure. Yet he was able to perform his deeds by easily gaining the trust and empathy of almost everyone he dealt with: a look, a touch, a sympathetic ear, false identities and more in his bag of tricks proved fatal for many, both economically and literally. At close to 400 pages, it is still a compact book, full of architectural talk of plans and murders, and has a kind of novel-type read to it - but it is history, not fiction. That's what makes it a compelling story, that these men were able to pull off what they did, even though the end for both was not what they had planned or foreseen. Larson is a very fine writer, able to draw you in to the world at that point of time, and keep you interested until the end. | ||
 | The Sizzler: George Sisler, Baseball's Forgotten Great | |
| "The Sizzler's Story" | 2008-06-15 |
| George Sisler, the subject of Rick Huhn's book, "The Sizzler," is yet another of the classic ballplayers of the early 20th century, admired during his career, acknowledged for his achievements during and after his career, slowly forgotten over the years and without a biography until recently. Huhn has stepped in to correct that oversight in Sisler's case, and it is a welcome addition to the baseball greats section of the library. George Sisler, as Huhn stressed, was not a colorful player: he kept a low profile and let his playing do the talking. There were few incidents in his life where he made waves: signing a professional contract while underage, and the resulting fight for his services helping to lead to the end of the National Commission; his tenure as manager of the St. Louis Browns, his transfer to the Senators in the late 1920s; his sinus infection and the resulting difficulties with Browns management in 1923; but most importantly, his hitting and fielding with the Browns during his greatest years. His record for hits in a season was untouched for 84 years, and his two years with averages over .400 are impressive, even for the time in which he played. He finished second to Ruth in home runs one year, and his Runs Created between 1915 and 1922 surpassed Ruth by over 100. That he was not exactly the same player after sitting out 1923 is a disappointment, but he was certainly honored in his time, named by Ty Cobb in his all-time team as first baseman. Huhn has provided us with a fine biography of a deserving player, a stand-out performer in his time, and all time. One other thing: It has been noted that Bill James, author and Society of American Baseball Research member, wrote in his 2001 Historical Baseball Abstract that Sisler is "perhaps the most over-rated player in baseball history." (p. 441) Mr. James is entitled to his opinion; it's his book and he can interpret the statistics in any way he cares to. I've been a SABR member for over 25 years and am familiar with Mr. James' work, and it is quite safe to say that I do not agree with him a good half the time, this being one of those times. If you look back at his 1985 Historical Baseball Abstract, you'll find that he said "George Sisler is probably the only player other than Gehrig who can reasonably be considered the greatest first baseman ever in terms of peak value . . . Sisler was a different type of player, he didn't have the home run pop, but he hit for a higher average, was faster and a better defensive player than Gehrig, and the comparison between the two is not easy." (p. 346) So what happened? Sisler's statistics didn't change in the 16 years between books; the 1920s didn't change, either. Most of the guys who seemingly leap-frogged over him in performance were done playing before 1985. Mr. James explains on page of the 2001 book that in rereading the 1985 book there are a lot of things that he didn't like. As I said, it's his book and he writes what he wants, but that doesn't mean I'm buying what he's pushing on me. In terms of perspective of the times, Sisler was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939, in the year of the inauguration of the Hall of Fame, as was Gehrig. A number of guys who jumped ahead of him on the list of top first basemen won't get in the Hall except with a ticket. If this makes Mr. James an over-rated writer, well, I won't say that he is or isn't. But you can make up your mind whether the old Bill James is also the new Bill James, and which one you want to believe. | ||
 | Why Does My Rabbit . . .? | |
| "Why Does My Rabbit . . . ? And why it doesn't . . . ." | 2008-05-04 |
| Anne McBride's book on rabbit behavior describes both the normal and abnormal in rabbit actions. It is easy to use for reference, and many common problems are arranged in alphabetical order, and even deals with wild rabbits, a bit of history, and affects on behavior as separate chapters. In all, it is a handy book for rabbit lovers and owners to use in discovering more about these unique and lovable animals. | ||
 | Big and Little Poison: Paul and Lloyd Waner, Baseball Brothers | |
| "Enjoyable Book About Underappreciated Players" | 2008-04-27 |
| Clifton Blue Parker's "Big and Little Poison: Paul and Lloyd Waner, Baseball Brothers" is a much needed and welcomed biography of two brothers that don't get much publicity any more: the Waners. In their time, the late 1920s and 1930s, they were considered a force to be reckoned with for any team that played Pittsburgh: Paul being the better hitter, Lloyd being the better fielder. Each brother's ability in the other brother's expertise, though, was close enough for teams to acknowledge that the Waners could beat you with their bats, gloves, arms or speed on any given day. They were greatly respected around the league for their conduct, too, something harder to win than ability and to be treasured more. While Parker's book describes the live and time of the Waners and America (a plus) and does a fine job of displaying how good the Waners were, the book is not without its faults. My major complaint is the frequent referemces to Paul's drinking. Yes, Paul had a drinking problem, although it seldom affected his play and never seemed to affect his personality, which is a large plus. I had read before about his drinking, but perhaps others had not, and it's a fair topic to bring up in an autobiography. Perhaps kids will read the book and need to know that this is a conditionn that they need to avoid in the future, which is fair. But how many times can this be brought up before alcoholism becomes a heavy-handed, repetitous story? The book's focus on this matter becomes a prime point if this were a kid's instructional book, but it's not: it's an adult's biography, we know after the first couple of mentions that both brothers drink and the point really doesn't have to be driven home as frequently as it does. Other than this point, though, this is a fine book that does its subjects much justice, and is fine reading for anyone who wants to read about baseball and its stars when they were a lot close to being average folks than those playing today. | ||
 | Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen - We've Got a Live One Here | |
| "Rockin' That Boogie" | 2008-04-13 |
| Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen are a tremendously entertaining band, so it follows that the live version of one of their shows is going to be a lot of fun. This album does not disappoint in any way; the ad-libs in their stage show are funny, the country and western swing music is excellent and the narration between the songs is very entertaining. Although the show took place more than thirty years ago, the songs still sound fresh, and the CD is still well worth the price. | ||
 | Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order | |
| "A Riveting Book on The State Of Our Nation (and Press)" | 2008-04-13 |
| Mark Crispin Miller's "Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order" provides an indictment of both our current administration and the press assigned to report both the good, the bad, the praiseworthy and the abuses of this administration. The most telling part of the book was the comparison of the press-perceived Clinton and the actual character of Bush - the way Clinton was reported to have acted was the image of the way Bush acts, whereas the press-perception of Bush is close to the way Clinton actually acts. It's a masterful job by the press to display the characteristics of these two men to the way they want the public to view them - a sneaky, pedestal-lifting, character-assassination job, but masterful. Also in the masterful character-assassination class is the debunking of Scott Ritter's abilities as a weapons inspector shortly before the Iraq war. Miller, once again, has created an expertly written book on the dysfunctional leaders of our nation and the protectors running interference for them, and has done it in spellbinding fashion. | ||
 | Will They Ever Trust Us Again | |
| "The Words of Soldiers" | 2008-03-01 |
| For the record, Michael Moore is the fellow who put this book together, through his invitation to soldiers to write to him. Mr. Moore, as we all know, is a polarizing figure who you either hate or love, for your own reasons, and he's the guy who came up with the idea for this book. The real authors of this book, though, are the soldiers who responded to his invitation and wrote back about their feelings of our military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. This book really belongs to them and their honesty in expressing their thoughts. Now, not all soldiers feel the same way as those who appear in this book, just as there is no clear-cut concensus at home of our military presense in these Middle East countries. Yet I do not believe for one minute that the feelings of these soldiers are just isolated examples from the fringe of our military; when asked to possibly lay down your life for your country, a soldier needs to believe that the cause he is fighting for is good and just, and if there is some question as to the legitimacy of this military operation, soldiers question if their wounding or death would be in vain. Military action was much more clear-cut until about sixty years ago; then our pretense for military operations became progressively more blurry for those out on the battlefield. The soldiers in this book are the real stars of this story: they are the ones with the most to lose and the ones who see the what is really going on in the countries under siege, plus they are the ones who know best about the good or bad that we are creating in these countries. Michael Moore, for his part in the authorship of the book, has put together the book and then has ask the ultimate question: given our blurry pretense for military operations in the Middle East for the last five years, will we (or should we) ever be trusted again when we say that we need to go to war? It's quite a good question, based on the e-mails of those who have been asked to fight. | ||
 | Groucho: The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx | |
| "Life Parodies Art" | 2008-03-01 |
| Stefan Kanfer's "Groucho" is one of several biographies that I've read about Julius "Groucho" Marx, and is one of the better books on the comedian. The passage of time has allowed Kanfer to bring us the full story of Marx's life, death and post-death legal situation, to his advantage. There is not much new information about Marx's life that could not be found in other biographies. However, I found in Kanfer's book a significant issue in Marx's life that was not drilled home as effectively in any other biography that I have read: the inability of Marx to separate his stage self from his private life. It's something that should be a common-sense point of acknowledgement, but Kafner seemed to display this point more effectively than other authors. Amid the wreckage of lives of those around Groucho, this is a significant point, as ugly as it may be, but these are (or were) real people who were affected by the same kind of insults that we laughed at when Groucho was on the stage. I'm still a Groucho fan, still enjoy his humor and ad-libs and TV/movie work - he was a brilliant American original - but my admiration for him is from afar, not as a husband or as a father. | ||
 | Will They Ever Trust Us Again: Letters from the War Zone | |
| "The Words of Soldiers" | 2008-03-01 |
| For the record, Michael Moore is the fellow who put this book together, through his invitation to soldiers to write to him. Mr. Moore, as we all know, is a polarizing figure who you either hate or love, for your own reasons, and he's the guy who came up with the idea for this book. The real authors of this book, though, are the soldiers who responded to his invitation and wrote back about their feelings of our military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. This book really belongs to them and their honesty in expressing their thoughts. Now, not all soldiers feel the same way as those who appear in this book, just as there is no clear-cut concensus at home of our military presense in these Middle East countries. Yet I do not believe for one minute that the feelings of these soldiers are just isolated examples from the fringe of our military; when asked to possibly lay down your life for your country, a soldier needs to believe that the cause he is fighting for is good and just, and if there is some question as to the legitimacy of this military operation, soldiers question if their wounding or death would be in vain. Military action was much more clear-cut until about sixty years ago; then our pretense for military operations became progressively more blurry for those out on the battlefield. The soldiers in this book are the real stars of this story: they are the ones with the most to lose and the ones who see the what is really going on in the countries under siege, plus they are the ones who know best about the good or bad that we are creating in these countries. Michael Moore, for his part in the authorship of the book, has put together the book and then has ask the ultimate question: given our blurry pretense for military operations in the Middle East for the last five years, will we (or should we) ever be trusted again when we say that we need to go to war? It's quite a good question, based on the e-mails of those who have been asked to fight. | ||
 | Groucho : The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx (Vintage) | |
| "Life Parodies Art" | 2008-03-01 |
| Stefan Kanfer's "Groucho" is one of several biographies that I've read about Julius "Groucho" Marx, and is one of the better books on the comedian. The passage of time has allowed Kanfer to bring us the full story of Marx's life, death and post-death legal situation, to his advantage. There is not much new information about Marx's life that could not be found in other biographies. However, I found in Kanfer's book a significant issue in Marx's life that was not drilled home as effectively in any other biography that I have read: the inability of Marx to separate his stage self from his private life. It's something that should be a common-sense point of acknowledgement, but Kafner seemed to display this point more effectively than other authors. Amid the wreckage of lives of those around Groucho, this is a significant point, as ugly as it may be, but these are (or were) real people who were affected by the same kind of insults that we laughed at when Groucho was on the stage. I'm still a Groucho fan, still enjoy his humor and ad-libs and TV/movie work - he was a brilliant American original - but my admiration for him is from afar, not as a husband or as a father. | ||
 | The Ditty Bops - The Ditty Bops | |
| "The Ditty Bops Premiere" | 2008-01-20 |
| Amanda & Abby of The Ditty Bops form an interesting musical duo: a sweet sound, harmony, and pointed commentary at time that sounds so innocent that you have to listen closely to realize that someone or something is getting skewered. This is the brilliance of The Ditty Bops, the ability to perform their songs and make a point all under the soft, gentle tones of pointed criticism from their point of view. Examples of this are their first song, Walk or Ride, where they had extolled the virtues of planting and nurturing a tree - until they need a pencil, at which point they chop it down. Other themes include loneliness, awkwardness and relationships, but there's also shimmying like their sister Kate. All in all, it's a fun album to listen to, their voices blend very well together and it's worth listening to again and again. | ||
 | Funny Bunnies | |
| "Funny Bunnies Is Fun & Entertaining" | 2007-12-29 |
| The book "Funny Bunnies" is a picture-filled delight of nature's cutest animal (okay, some may not agree that they are THE cutest, but I think that they are; and the pictures are delightful, too). The main body of the book offers pictures of pets for most breeds of rabbits, some background to the breed and a little humorous biographical information or story about the pictured pet. At the beginning of the books are ears of various breeds, at the end are the tails of rabbits: i.e., front and back of bunny. The book is well-written and entertaining, and as noted, the pictures are terrific. It is an oversized, short book (slightly less than 100 pages), but it's a fun book, one that you might find yourself paging back through time and again. It's definitely worth treating yourself to this book. | ||
 | Mark Martin: Small Town Hero, Big League Racer (Superstar Series) | |
| "A Short Bio of a NASCAR Favorite" | 2007-12-13 |
| Mark Martin is probably my favorite driver of all time, since I've been a fan of his for about 20 years and my NASCAR experience goes back more than 35 years. He's honest, loyal, hard-working, tenacious, respectful and very respected around the tracks, and author Kathy Persinger captures these and other traits of Mark in her book. It follows his life from birth to the last few years, and does a fair job of that. This book, part of a driver series, does not shed a lot of new light on Mark, is a rather short biography, and is probably better meant for someone just beginning to explore NASCAR or a younger fan. In this context, it is a fine book, one that they would enjoy. | ||
 | The Desert Rose Band, Chris Hillman - A Dozen Roses: Greatest Hits | |
| "Definitely The Best Of The (Desert Rose) Band" | 2007-11-04 |
| In their all-too-short history, The Desert Rose Band is an integral part of bringing country rock music to the mainstream of country music. This album shows them at their best - hits, near hits, a couple that I don't remember - but to this day I still enjoy listening to this album with its distinctive DRB sound. It's fine music with catchy lyrics that brings my recommendation to buy this album. | ||
 | Flat Out and Half Turned Over: Tales from Pit Road with Buddy Baker | |
| "Buddy Baker's Memories" | 2007-10-29 |
| Buddy Baker's "Flat Out and Half Turned Over: Tales from Pit Road" is a chronological rememberance of a time when NASCAR moved from a regional non-sponsored organization to the time when the corporate interests of NASCAR started to take over. Baker, son of the famed Buck Baker, tells stories of when drivers were human enough to play practical jokes on each other, have knock-down, drag-out fights if they had an altercation on the track, and then get drunk together that night when all was forgotten. In today's big-money sanitized stock car racing world, this activity seems like ancient history, if it is recalled at all. As a driver and a TV commentator, most of these stories have been told and retold before, although they are still interesting. Two of the less-mentioned chapters of Baker's stories are 1) why he had to retire (serious medical injuries, which were a testament to his build and strength), and 2) how significantly the NASCAR landscape would look if three drivers (Davey Allison, Alan Kulwicki and Tim Richmond) had lived. This is a point that I had considered in my own thinking as a race fan; life's coming and going is what it is and we don't have a say in that, but these three bright stars in NASCAR would have made the sport look much different over the past 15 years if they had the opportunity to compete. Buddy Baker's book, to his critics, is not "War And Peace" or Shakespere, but it never claimed to be. It is simply an interesting book about simpler times; stories about how men raced hard for a living so they could support their families and how Buddy Baker made his way in this world. It's good to have recorded and read a book like this, before NASCAR and its drivers become too close to the America that the corporate world loves and individuality disappears. | ||
 | Race with Destiny | |
| "A Watershed Year" | 2007-04-30 |
| NASCAR's 1992 season was going to be a year of the changing of the guard; it was confirmed the year before when Richard Petty announced his retirement. Few people had any idea how much impact the year would have. It was the year of the alliance of Bill Elliott and Sterling Marlin with Junior Johnson, and a rebirth of Elliott's championship chances; the year that Davey Allison, injuries, crashes and all, because a championship force; and Alan Kulwicki, the engineering graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, running his own team, an afterthought at the beginning of the year except that Junior Johnson had offered him $1,000,000 to drive his car, which he turned down. Poole looks at these competitors, their races, their personalities, and the exciting 1992 season, truly one of the best, most dramatic in the history of NASCAR. It offers a more profound, in depth view of each man than other books I have read about the year, the culmination of the last race and the championship banquet, and the aftermath of the year. It's an excellent book, one worth reading and having in your library. | ||
 | Where They Ain't : The Fabled Life and Untimely Death of the Original Baltimore Orioles, the TeamThat Gave Birth to Modern Baseball | |
| "Good History of Early Baltimore Baseball" | 2007-04-17 |
| "Where They Ain't," as baseball fans know, is part of the phrase used by Willie Keeler as an explanation of where he hit the ball. Unfortunately appropriately it describes the Orioles major league team relationship with Baltimore between the end of 1902 and 1953. The book opens and closes with Wee Willie's life, transitioning into the Oriole baseball team that identifies so well with him, not to mention John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson. In all, it is a very good book detailing how, basically, Baltimore got the short end of the stick twice in less than 5 years, once each by the National and American Leagues (an equal opportunity shafting). Solomon tells the story well and brings a closeness of Baltimore to the team and the sense of loss when the team leaves, and it's a book that I would recommend for your baseball library. | ||
 | Deadball Stars of the National League | |
| "Excellent Book On The First Two Decades of N.L. Baseball" | 2007-04-06 |
| The Society for American Baseball Research rarely turns out a bad book, and "Deadball Stars of the National League" continues that trend. It is an excellent book, with short biographies of the major stars for each of the franchises active between 1901 and 1919, complete with photos rare and common. The book was an enormous undertaking, with a huge amount of people on the "Deadball" Committee of the organization taking part in the writing, editing and fact checking. It's a wonderful book for those wanting a feel of the game in the first decades of the 20th century, and of the players of that time, and I highly recommend it. | ||
 | Namath: A Biography | |
| "From Broadway to Hollywood to Daddy Joe" | 2007-04-05 |
| Everybody knows Joe Namath (okay, most people have heard of him). Of our knowledge and recollections of Namath, most go back to about 40 years ago, when he was a young quarterback on fragile knees, had a shotgun arm, a team jelling around him that lead to The Guarantee, a Super Bowl win . . . and he was Joe Namath, The Swankiest Dude in NYC, ladies at his beck and call, llama rug, fur coat, bachelor lifestyle, etc. After that, it all kind of fades to memory: years of frustration, a year with the Rams and retirement. Once in a while you'd hear about him, starring in the theater of all places, but the memory goes back to when he was 26 and an American idol. Kriegel wrote a heck of a book, cutting through the cobwebs of our collective memories to give us a much different portrait of a man than the hype had provided to us: one who cared about family, one who respected the father figures of his life, one who cared deeply and was loyal to his friends - but one who reinvented himself at various times of his life and left his old friends behind. His reinvention of his life led to marriage and a family, where he wanted a stable, loving family around him - but didn't quite achieve that. Now, the reinvention goes on - new relationships, new family relations as his children got older, but the old life he lived has never quite been shaken off. This book was written without the direct help of Namath or through his lawyer, Jim Walsh. It appears that Namath's policy is that his personal life is nobody's business but his, and I respect that: he's had years in the spotlight and what he chooses to reveal to the world should be just that which he chooses. Walsh, a lawyer who has as his sole business that of Joe Namath, requested a huge sum of money for access to Namath and his story. That I have little respect for. I think that Kriegel's version without the help of Namath and Walsh give us a much better, more honest view of the man than if Namath had cooperated in the writing and editing. The result is a book that sheds a good deal of light on a much more complex man than we thought we knew. | ||
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