Dave Warner Books

I have finished reading this book and it was Great! A must read for anyone considering the rental or purchase of a new or preowned houseboat cruiser or any other boat for that matter. I could relate various aspects of my personality in each of the characters in this story. The adventure has inspired me to further my boating education by classes in the Power Squadron and Coast Guard Auxilary and becoming a member in each organization. A goal of of obtaining a Coast Guard Skipper's license within the next year is in place. Molly, thanks for sharing your adventure with us. I have caught the SPIRIT and redefined my own dreams.

Dave DelDotto was in the early 80's through 1993 the top guru on real estate and building wealth. I bought this book back in circa 1989 after seeing his informercial fortified by a friend that indicated he made a small fortune following DelDotto's techniques.

This book offers a lot of good advice on buying foreclosures and distressed property, tax liens and discounted mortgages.

In other parts of the book DelDotto tells you how to but all sorts of items; cars, clothes, jewelery for pennies on the dollar and then generate cash flow via auctions.

DelDotto's keys to success is worth the price of the book alone. You will develop proper mental mindset that can take you from where you are to where you want to be.

After buying the book, I ahate to admit this, but my buddy allowed me to dub his audio and video tapes. The material was powerful and positive. Feeling a little guilty, after I bought a few properties I went out and ordered both the basic program and the advanced 'Millionaire Training."

DelDotto was not only one of the first to teach powerful wealth building, he was also one of the best.

I find it interesting that much of what DelDotto taught is the same information in the so called newer books today. Not much has changed, only the names. The only difference is that DelDotto offered a lot more meat in his programs.

I purchased this work at least a decade ago or more. It has been
helpful in identifying foreclosure properties in real estate.
Buyers need to do the detailed investigatory work prior to
purchasing a property. In addition, it is to your advantage
to get involved with some of the fix-up jobs yourself. There
are government programs i.e. Title I loans available to help
get low cost money to cash-poor property buyers. Dave also
describes the vast auction market where it is possible to
obtain merchandise at a fraction of the cost. I have benefited
personally with regard to identifying merchandise for literally
pennies on the dollar. There are tremendous deals out there
for buyers making purchases at estate sales-particularly
if you have cash in hand. You need to obtain the services
of a good home inspector if you are to purchase a property.
It pays to hire someone knowledgable because they will advise
you with regard to potentially dangerous structural problems
and items requiring expensive repairs. It pays to make a trip
to the municipal inspector's office to look at the property
folder. This will contain many details such as major
repairs, fires, citations and a whole host of problems
that the seller may not readily admit to initially.
Now is a good time to buy because interest rates are low and
the government has many meritorious programs available for
first-time buyers, teachers/educators, disabled persons,
retirees and a whole host of constituencies. Matthew Lesko
publishes some complementary books on government grants
which may be helpful to you. Dave Del Dotto describes a
wealth of opportunities available in tax lien or certificate
sales. Sometimes an investor can secure the entire property
for pennies on the dollar. This general area will require
some in depth study; however, the payoff is worth the investment
in time and money. Analysis paralysis can be a problem.
When you've located a good deal-act on it because others
may secure the opportunity while you are still contemplating
whether or not to take the plunge.

The book is ok at best. The back cover makes some grandiose claims like his financial empire is growing $20 million per year. In fact, Del Dotto filed bankruptcy in 95 or 96. John T Reed has more info on Del Dotto on his website.
You're better off avoiding this one.

After hearing good things about this book, I bought it, read it, and was quite disappointed. Deldotto does a lot of rambling where he could have made his points in a much more clear and concise way. There's a lot of filler here and I got the distinct impression that he was trying his hardest to make something that could have been a pamphlet, into a book.

For example, he outlines that a good way to get below market cost deals on consumer products is through government public auctions. Then later in the real estate section, he goes through the topic government public auctions all over again.

Deldotto's writing style is bland and after finishing this book, I had to ask myself, "What did I learn?" I thought about it for a while and couldn't really come up with much.

This book is a good try I suppose but it seems as if the author is trying to cash in on the popularity of what I call 'money-help' books by passing off a sophmore effort in the guise of some sort of ultimate bible.

You could and would do better with a different book.

I bought the harback book for full retail $19.95 back in 1989 and it was worth every penny. This book got me thinking about ways to make money. I found the foreclosure advice particularly beneficial. Back then, like now, foreclosures were at all an all time high. It was great being to able to help people and make money at the same time.

I also found the advice on picking up merhandise at auctions very valuable. Great cash flow strategy.

His home study program was state of the art. Seminars outstanding. Nobody packed more information than Dave DelDotto did.

In the late 1960's and early 1970's there were two revolutions in professional sports. The first was the rapid growth in the salary levels. This was due to the growing power of the players relative to the owners as they finally were able to overcome the legal and institutionalized restrictions that kept them in a degree of servitude. The second was the stripping of the facade of the players as mighty and pure men, where they were revealed as much less than the supposed ideals. This change was largely due to the appearance of tell-all books that described what really went on in the sports.
In major league baseball, the initial book was "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton and in the National Football League (NFL) it was this book. When both first came out, the authors were severely chastised for their statements, yet subsequent revelations have all supported their claims. Shortly before he died, Mickey Mantle spoke out about how his consumption of alcohol damaged his career and his body, something Bouton wrote about.
Meggyesy talks about the tremendous racism in the NFL in the sixties, the brutality and the rampant use of performance enhancing drugs. He also describes the tremendous hypocrisy of college football, where rules violations were routine and also common knowledge. Every subsequent statement by ex-players has upheld his statements, with many arguing that it was even worse that what Meggyesy claimed.
As you read the book, you clearly see that Meggyesy is an intelligent man in an area where acting intelligently was discouraged. Football players were to be seen on the football field and heard only through the violence of their on-field actions. Expressing an intelligent political opinion was considered "action detrimental to the sport and the team." The only flaw in the discourse is that Meggyesy's political views sometimes taint his discussions about football. It would have better if he had avoided going in that direction.

David Meggyesy is one of America's true unsung heroes. Working as a pro athlete at a time when the pay was less that of a trash hauler, with no benefits or job security, and the only guarantee a lifetime of pain and disability, Meggyesy exposed deep hypocrisy in America's hero worship at a time when the nation was at war, and the rich were getting richer at everyone else's expense, and to speak out was to be condemned as a pariah. In other words, things haven't changed one iota except for the salaries of the players, and this, ironically and significantly, is also Mr. Meggyesy's doing, in large part. As founder of Athletes Against the War back then he took on the establishment. As co-founder and Western Director of the NFL Players Association he continues to take it on to this day. A great book by a great man, for all its rough edges.

I was certainly suprised by this sometimes mindless writing excercise called "Out of Their League". Although I did find the behind the scenes football world interesting. The self study of what makes him continue with a brutal and often times soul destroying game, also made me think. Even at times wondering why I love this game the way I do. However, the polital statements bare no explanation. Bold statements get no follow up, such as "Nixon administration being the most repressive in U.S. History", keep in mind this book was written years before the Watergate scandal. Pure emotionalism is my only deduction to his political alignment and at the time, his demontrations against the status quo.

I just finished reading this book and found it to be quite insightful about the exploitation of professional football players. As a pro-football player, Dave Meggyesy is one of the rare players who not only finishes college but constantly questions everything that's going on around him. ... Dave is pretty articulate and has a lot of character substance. Against the backdrop of the 60s, Dave traces his intellectual and political development which is cool. This is the 6th sports autobiography that I've read for my professor at UH and it's so far my favorite. When is the last time you heard a white football player make a political statement about racism in the 60s?
The book left me wondering what Dave Meggyesy is doing today.

I like all of Dave Duncan's books, but I think this is my favorite. I've had it for years and pull it out to read again every so often.

Jerry is such an average Joe that you wonder how he got into Mera in the first place. Then he has to handle such a series of characters that you can't imagine how he will pull it off.

I can't recommend it too highly.

JM

I thought this book was awesome!!! It was well written. Dave Duncan makes you sink into this book and visualize you were there. I'd recomend this book to anyone!!!! Trust me... you'd have a few suprises along the way. Being a short book I didn't think it would've been as good as it was, but it WAS!!!!

A Rose Red City is a short but enjoyable book. As I recall -- and I admit that it's been a while since I read it -- the tale is one that centers around the "saving" of individuals, by offering them Greek-style immortality. This device allows for an examination of the differing attitudes and priorities of mortals vs. immortals; further, because "rescue" attempts ensure that immortals are temporarily rendered mortal, it allows us to see how they deal with vulnerability, and ultimately, being human.

I read this book when it was published in the 1980s and for over ten years, I felt it was the best book about Elvis Presley.

However, Peter Guralnick produced a great piece of work with "Last Train" and "Careless Love" that captured the essence of Elvis that had been missing from every type of media that attempted to tell Elvis Presley's story.

Marsh's book doesn't fare well when compared to either book but it was the first serious work that, for the most part, was able to correctly put Presley's life on paper.

As compelling as the two Guralnick books are, my favorite is this sprawling, wonderfully illustrated biography highlighted by Mr. Marsh's knowledgeable text. His list of song highlights in the back of this invaluable volume serves as a great "crash course" in the King's discography. Dave Marsh is a great fan of Elvis, but the book does not sink into gushy fan love letter stuff, nor does it go the Albert Goldman route. If I could award six stars, I would.

I bought this book thinking it would make a good bookstop. Doorknob. Showstopper. Whatever.
I was quite disappointed. This book is not suitable for any kind of portmanteau. It makes you think, however. I had at least three, not, four thoughts while, before, instead and after reading it. For that, I will be inmensely grateful.

When I purchased this book, I expected humor that was new, that was unpublished, that was quirky. I was a third right. It was quirky, and while I hadn't read some of them, most of them I had read(...) That being said, the stories and the lists are funny, and it's a great bathroom book. just don't expect anything new.

I was so extremely bored by the stories, that the time I got to the lists I was almost falling off of my couch laughing. I loved the lists. Loved. But I must be honest and wonder if this was a true literary effort, or a study regarding the effects of different types of comedy on vaguely intelligent human beings.

If the latter is the case, myself and my boyfriend were tearing the book out of each others hand to giggle endlessly over the absurdity of the contents.

Overall this is an excellent book, with only a few disappointments, which are inevitable in a compendium of this nature. My favorite part of the book is at the end, and consists of humorous lists (my title comes from a list by Steven Tomsik, "Eleven Lunch Meats I Have Invented") of all varieties.

McSweeney's is always a mixed bag, and this volume is no exception. Most of the material is very good, yet there are some articles that are weak or overly lengthy ("Journal of a New COBRA Recruit" and "Unused Audio Commentary by Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky, Recorded Summer 2002, for 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring DVD (Platinum Series Extended Edition), Part One'" come to mind here, respectively). Despite these exceptions, the majority of the pieces are very clever and entertaining. Especially noteworthy are "How Important Moments in my Life Would Have Been Different if I Was Shot Twice in the Stomach", "Fire: The Next Sharp Stick?", and "A Letter From Ezra Pound to Billy Wilder, 1963", to name but a few.

This book isn't for everyone, but people who are inclined to academic humor or clever wordplay will love it. I highly recommend this book. Perhaps you can enjoy it over a brumschlagen sandwich.

Now, more than ever, Americans are troubled.

By bladder-contol, erectile dysfunction, evolution and cat litter. By Humvees masquerading as family sedans, and SUVs that brake for cracks in the pavement! (I mean, really! Who are these morons?) By a government that spews out cant about "morality" and "values" and lies like Hitler at a torchlight rally! By Celebrity Bimbos (male, female, and not sure), who have taken it upon themselves to "explain" to us how we should feel about everything from Bush to babies. By childish books about Da Vinci Codes and Sorcerers' Stones that out-sell anything containing an actual original idea! By ...

... Well, you get the idea. Nothing seems quite right any more in the Great Republic; it's all just ... well ... wrong! Despite the fire-and-brimstone blandishments of the `New' Right, despite the timid bleatings of the Other Guys (what's the name of our "Opposition" Party again? I can't seem to remember) ... we're still troubled. Terribly, terribly troubled. It's evident from the state of the "culture" (Low Brow, Middle Brow, Hi!, and Not Sure), that we've reached a sorry state indeed.

What to do?

Well, you could do worse than follow some our brightest minds across the thin line that separates "us" from The Lunatic Fringe. If this collection of offerings is anything to go by, the trip is short and painless, and it's not nearly as Dark and Fearful over there as you'd think. Sean Condon's "Pop Quiz" for instance sheds considerable light on the great imponderables: Who's That Girl? Why Do Fools Fall In Love? Who Are You? Are You Experienced?, etc., etc. And Tom Ruprecht provides convincing, albeit anecdotal, evidence that "It's Not Actually A Small World" after all. Jim Stollard reveals what you've always suspected: The Supreme Court has nothing to do with the Supremes ... and everything to do with Basketball. Jason Roeder brings "Words of Hope and Wisdom" that'll stick in the craw of insomniacs everywhere. And John Moe provides a representative list of some "Cancelled Regional Morning TV Shows" that'll make your stay out there on the Lunatic Fringe so much more enjoyable ("Wake the Hell Up Knoxville!").

If all of this is too ... well ... Low Brow ... for you, then John Hodgman's "Fire: The Next Sharp Stick" should bring you up to speed on the revolutionary new technolgies that are changing our world; J. M. Tyree's disquisition "On the Implausibility of the Death Star's Trash Compactor," will answer those questions we all have about space excrement (it's a bigger problem than you'd think); and Jeff Alexander's and Tom Bissell's brilliantly insightful Zinn/Chomsky commentary on "The Lord of the Rings" DVD Collection will bring to light hidden depths in ... well ... The Lord of the Rings trilogy!


Though not all of the pieces in this collection will grab your attention, the best have a sort of anarchic brilliance that'll have you howling with laughter. Many of those that don't will catch you unawares when you double dip later. Even the quietly "unfunny" ones have their magic. Give them time.

I'm not an American, but this kind of humor strikes me as quintessentially American. It's intelligent, literate and highly irreverent. No holds are barred, and it takes no prisoners. (What a Crock of Cliches!) Like everything else with Eggers stamp on it, it reminds me of some of the more deranged moments in Zappa or "Catch-22." It bubbles up like a deranged guffaw from an improbable stew of what Ezra Pound'd call "Kitch and Kulcher".

Golf is not a team sport, but this book used ten different writers to come up with a murder mystery on a golf course full of celebrities. Each wrote a different segment, and sometimes the story line does not jell, but I'd say they had fun working on this silliness.

Golf used to be a man's game, and used to be called the "good walk" when the men used that means to exercise their bodies as much as their golf swings. Nowadays, they ride the golf carts and play at the game. They've actually started teaching golf in schools, and nine great values the game teaches for youth (sportsmanship, confidence, integrity, perseverance, respect, responsibility, judgment, courtesy, and honesty) ensures a future for the continuation of the game of golf.

Only one of the nine contributors was female who used such off-hand characters to pepper her chapter: Mr. Potato Head, Sensible Shoes, Book Bag Woman, 'Star Wars' star pilot, MacLout, and Cameron who directed the movei 'Titanic.' She laid out the sexual hijinks of the golfers at the castle in Scotland. Dave Barry had the middle to fill in so he used his usually raucous vocabulary as he led into an explouding golf ball made out of enough plastique to end the world as we know it.

Tim O'Brien, whose book IN THE LAKE OF THE WOODS I enjoyed, wrote "On an adjacent putting green, also under umbrellas, mingled such notables as Tony Blair and Al Gore, both decked out in tweeds and starched golf shirts. Nearby, Mu'ammar Qaddafi was giving a now-or-never, sink-it-before-you-die putting lesson to Jack Lemmon, while only a few feet away Chi Chi Rodriguez did his best to adjust the clumsy, rather primitive one-handed putting stroke of former senator Robert Dole." These are just a few of the names; Fidel Castro was present as was Dan Rather and other important people.

The ending was written by the editor whoever he is, preferred to stay anonymous. The ending was explosive, to match the varied styles of writing the international language of golf. Other writers taking part in this project are Lee K. Abbott, Richard Bausch, James Crumley, James W. Hall, Ridley Pearson, Les Standiford, and Tami Hoag. How many are golfers, I wonder?

I haven't read this book in a long time, but I thought it was great. I don't know why other readers gave it such a low score. I can only think that they didn't know what type of book they were getting into. If you want to laugh out loud, get this book!

This group-written book has two things going for it: Colorful characters and a promising plot. But that's about it. Wading through several chapters to get to Dave Barry's part in this fiasco was a waste of time otherwise. While the characters are certainly vivid, NONE of them are likeable. At all. ZERO. To top it off there are more F-bombs here than a def jam hosted by Chris Rock, and not nearly as many laughs. The handoff from one writer to the next is sometimes fairly smooth, but the writing styles sometimes vary so wildly that one wonders if one is still reading the same book from one chapter to the next, and it's intended to tell one cohesive story, not be a collection of shorts. Pass on this.

This was a terrible book. Multiple authors were not able to successfully make the book flow from chapter to chapter. Character development was disjointed to say the least. Way tooooo much celebrity name dropping...it almost read like People Mag. Buy "The Greatest Player Who Never Lived" instead.

It is said that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. Since a camel is very efficient doing what camels are intended to do, then the remark must mean that a camel is a very funny looking horse. Well, in The Putt at the End of the World, a committee of nine individually popular writers has turned out a very funny golf story.
The Putt at the End of the World is apparently the brainchild of last-listed author Les Standiford, shown as editor and compiler. It also seems to be a salute, at least in part, to recently deceased British writer Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy series which includes The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. It is certainly reminiscent of Adam's work, with zany characters interacting amidst nefarious schemes, all centered around a golf tournament. But not just any golf tournament. Computer zillionaire Philip Bates has bought a Scottish castle and cleared original growth timber to construct the ultimate golf course-as well as rehabbing the castle into an exotic hideaway retreat. This infuriates both environmental terrorists and the last of the MacLout clan, who claims that the MacGregor sellers usurped his family's claim to the property and he should have gotten the money. Then Bates (no relation to this reviewer) scheduled a conference and golf tournament inviting all of the world's political leaders and top golf players.
One of the invitees is Billy Sprague, club pro from Squat Possum Golf Club in rural Ohio. Billy is a magnificent golfer, unless there is money involved in which case he can't even get the ball of the tee. Billy's mentor is the old retired family doctor whose life is golf, who build the Squat Possum Club and who dies immediately after giving Billy his invitation and telling him that he has to go to Scotland and play in order to lift the curse and "...save the world as we know it..." Then FBI and British Secret Service refugees from the Keystone Kops get involved because of the terrorist threat, and the rest is-not history, but hilarious.
Each of the nine authors wrote one of the chapters. They did a good job matching styles, and/or Standiford did a great job of editing, because the novel is seamless. It is a farce, but at the same time has a "Bagger Vance" note of paean to the wonder of golf. It reads fast, and it reads great.