Ohio Books

Interesting reading (and everything that has been said so far in other reviews), but...

I noticed that in the first two political scandals (Harding and Rhodes), it is pointed out that the party was Republican, but when it came to Wayne Hays and the sex scandal in Congress with Elizabeth Ray, I had to go to the internet to find out which party he was representing. Surprise, surprise, it was the Democrats. Wonder why the author left that out?

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OK, my first comment was from about 1/2 way through the book (when I gave it a 5), now, after finishing, I'm going to have to lower it to a 3. The stories are all still good, but there is a definite ax that the author has to grind with any politician that is not a liberal or a democrat.

If I wanted a political book, I would have bought one, I wanted to read stories about Ohio, but without all the little snide comments about the republicans mentioned in the book.

Most of the stories are good though.

This is a fun book to read. This is history with a naughty twist. It's almost like reading a few episodes of a Jerry Springer show. However, this is all true, and the people involved didn't set out to make themselves famous or infamous.

The Buckeye connection to Charles Manson, porn queen Traci Lords, gangster John Dillenger, and the voice of Nazi propaganda "Axis Sally," are all there. John Boertlein tells more than 30 stories in his well-crafter book. It's like looking into the family closet and learning all the dirty secrets inside.

There is serious history, too. Boertlein shows his police connections when he relates the tale of the murder of a cop, that waited four decades to be solved.

Mass murder, sexual escapades, gambling, drinking, and many more vices are related in this book. Boertlein started with my home state, Ohio. I hope he goes on to do 49 more of these "Confidential" books. I'll read them all.

My entire family is from Youngstown, Ohio, and I grew up hearing names like "Traficant" bandied about at the dinner table. However, since we moved away when I was a kid, I don't have much knowledge of Buckeye history. I picked up "Ohio Confidential" thinking it would be educational and would make good before-bed reading since each entry is about the length of a short story. Well, educational it is, but I had trouble putting it down and going to sleep. These stories are really engrossing, and Boertlein has a great conversational tone that makes you feel like you're hearing them all first-hand. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to fans of weird history, pop culture, true crime, and/or the Buckeye State.

John Boertlein returns to his true crime roots with Ohio Confidential. As big of a fan as I am of his first two publications this one wins the race. The pages drip tales of the notorious with all the sleaze intact. Bortlein tells us many tales of bootleggers, bank robbers, porn and murder in a way that you almost feel like you're sharing a beer with him as he tells stories.

Ohio Confidential is a hard book to put down. The tales are intriguing and the layout is slick. If you're from the Buckeye state, a fan of pop culture, true crime, or interesting non-fiction you must buy this book. I hope Boertline publishes more "confidential" books for the other 49 states.

5 out of 5

Opening Day At Great American Ball Park by Cincinnati Reds baseball enthusiast Dann Stupp is an exciting celebration of Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park openeing day. Dazzling colorful photography and a sprinkling insightful asides fill the pages of this visual celebration of the grand sport of baseball, as well as the athletes who strive to excel, and the fans who love the thrill of watching teams compete to be the very best they can. Opening Day At Great American Ball Park is very highly recommended for baseball buffs in general, and Cincinnati Reds fans in particular!

This was a great book about the first day at the Reds new ballpark, Great American Ball Park. Unfortunately, I thought it would be a book about the financing, architecture, details of the construction, etc. Although an opening chapter does hit on these topics - I was hoping for a little more.

I do have some other complaints. Some of the photos in the book look a little dark and fuzzy. Also, I was hoping more of the book would have been devoted to the players and their reactions to the ballpark.

So why give it 4 stars?

Though the book wasn't necassarily what I expected, it was still really interesting. There were great photos from inside the clubhouse, the restaurants, fans, the parade and even the implosion of Cinergy Field - as well as neat tidbits about the whole day. I have it sitting in my living room, and its the first thing our guests pick up. Though a little pricey, its surely worth it to any Reds fan.

I first heard about this book during an in game advertisment in the ballpark late in the season. Like so many others, I paid an arm and a leg for my tickets for Opening Day at on an online auction site. And like so many others, I thought it was totally worth the cost. Although the Reds had a terrible season because of injuries and an embarrassing ownership group, the team did "go all out" for the Opening Day festivities.

For those of you expecting a detailed history of the tax increase, the ballpark construction and the companies involved -- this isn't exactly that type of book. Although it has a chapter on the buildingof the ballpark, most of it's devoted just to Opening Day.

I really wish this book had some sample pages on amazon so that other people could see the type of photography in this book. There are some great shots of Barry Larkin, former President Bush, Marty and Joe, panoramic shots of the ballpark, etc.

I attended opening day this season in the Reds new ballpark. It was a great event and a big celebration for the city. This book has a ton of great photos that span from the Findley Market parade to the closing of the ballpark after the game. The photos are fantastic, and the captions provide plenty of information about some of the cool features in the ballpark like the Pepsi Power Stacks, the Big Red Machine Bar and a lot of the history elements found throughout the ballpark.

I plan to give a copy to all my friends who are Reds fans for the holidays.

What a pleasant surprise to find new poetry that is carefully crafted, intelligent, and genuinely moving. If only more poets writing today took their craft as seriously. I hope Mehigan is working on a second book!

Had we a genuine literary culture I believe The Optimist, the debut collection of Joshua Mehigan, would enjoy the reception accorded Delmore Schwartz's "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" in 1938. These are poems of expressive, never hide-bound formality. In "A Questionable Mother" the realization that every perfectly modulated line of blank verse has a feminine ending can make one laugh out loud, yet also, together with the ghost of a refrain, contributes to a growing unease.
"Promenade" furnishes Mehigan with a hilarious excuse for an overripe rhetoric, as it appears to be a dramatic monologue for a fatuous, middle-aged bachelor, ending on a beautiful, nonsense mock-aphorism. This poem's companion piece could be the brilliant "Another Pygmalion". Both evince the poet's eclat, somehow reckless and modest at the same time. "Promenade" is written in rhyming couplets, yet so sinuously and with such a sure touch at enjambment that the effect is rather peekaboo than Pope and "Another Pygmalion" although printed in a solid block reveals itself to be written in perfect, albeit run-over, terza rima. "A Bird at the Leather Mill" has the eerie quality of a parable by Kierkegaard or Kafka. "Buzzards" feels like it may have its origin in family anecdote, but also reminds this reader of the underappreciated metaphysical lyrics of Leonie Adams. In this poem and many others he can be moving, "In the Home of my Sitter", "The Optimist", "Introduction to Poetry" among them.
That Mr. Mehigan can write such tender, bitter, ruefully comic scenes of upstate New York working-class life and also write very good poems with titles such as "Imperative of the Minor Florentine Chapel" and "Alexandra", about a fourth century anchoress, testifies to his range.
The collection's title may seem sarcastic after so many cynical chuckles, but after closing this book on the lovely "Merrily", I am reminded that stoicism and existentialism are positive philosophies.
I have a personal ascending scale for poetic worth. These poems are worth reading, rereading, memorizing, and then repeating.

Joshua Mehigan, America's premier younger poet, has a rare combination of gifts: a flawless ear and an eye for the eerily right detail. In poem after poem, he startles the reader with images that seem drawn as much from nightmare as from life. For example, in the haunting poem "The Pig Roast," a farmhand about to slaughter a pig exhibits a surprising tenderness before pulling the trigger: "Outside, the farmhand closed his day. He crouched / beside the rifle hanging from the fence / and scratched the pig's broad head, then slowly rose / as though he'd left a teacup balanced there." It is hard to imagine a more apt and beautiful way to describe the fragile gesture that the farmhand's next action will shatter.

Sometimes Mehigan's imagery borders on the grotesque and comical, as in the dreamlike "Merrily," where a Rimbaud-like speaker, drifting downstream, remarks on the mesmerizing scenery in a series of bewildered questions: "West, through the trees' meshed crowns, light scattering / toward such specific ends! Why those? And why / these flexed roots? Why that oak's failed rendering / of coupled elephants in living wood?"

Perhaps the most memorable image in the book appears at the conclusion of the opening poem, "Promenade," when the wind at an outdoor wedding in Queens creates a climactic spectacle that is both grittily urban and wittily urbane: "Every face turns to look; / and when the bride's tall orange bun's unpinned / by ordinary, inconvenient wind, / all, in the breath it takes a yard of hair / to blaze like lighted aerosol, would swear/ there was no greater miracle in Queens. / Wish is the word that sounds like what wind means."

Good luck trying to forget that last line. Now go buy the book and discover for yourself why Joshua Mehigan is already a poet for the ages.

Optimism means the tendency to hope for the best. It is possible that Joshua Mehigan wrote this book hoping that it would be liked by many. So far, many critics have enjoyed this book.
He uses violence and cruelty, and adds in a sense of humor. His writing in brilliant and he is extremely talented. Although his work portrays some violence and cruelty, his work qualifies as
mysterious. The word optimist meaning a hope for the best coincides with his work. Possibly, when writing about "A Questionable Mother" or "Last Chance at Reconciliation", the hope was that the mothers daughter would be found or that reconciliation could be a factor for this certain man. These
two are not only the two poems that deal with hope. They all do in some way. The Optimist contains poems on different subjects such as the weather, a house fire, noise pollution, murder,
suicide, love, ideal love and reconciliation. These poems contain themes such as suicide and death. "An Ideal Passion" almost seems like a poem about a guy who is stalking this woman. He loves this woman whom he can not have and dreams of her. The poem "Riddle" is set up as a riddle. It leaves the reader to figure out what exactly the poet is talking about or of whom. "The Murder" had a deep impact on myself as the reader. The last line "The way to a woman's heart is through her chest" left me uneasy. "Post Partum" deals with depression after the birth of a baby. I would recommend that everyone take the time to read Joshua Mehigans book. He converts deep emotion into powerful art. The language he uses creates power over the reader, that one can't help but keep reading. This book overall, was very good. It is the first of many to come.

This book, written by a man very in touch with nature and himself, is one of my favorites. It is not a long read; just enough to give the reader a chance to feel like they have spent a season with Ora Anderson...walking with him on his journey. The book is broken down into seasons, and within those seasons; his experiences with the animals and nature around him. He does not propose to have a perfect world as he does share with the reader the hardships of watching some of the birds that he has grown attached to die or become injured. But he makes peace with all that is around him. The book also shares bits of information about the different birds; but the information is within his daily walks and "chats" with the reader. It is an easy read, but one that you will want to take your time going through just as you would want to savor the conversation that you would have with Mr. Anderson, if you could. Thank you Mr. Anderson; you are missed...

Too much of the time, in these days of instant gratification, we don't take time to be still and truly observe the natural world around us.
We also don't take time to listen to those who have been around long enough to see and experience, what once was.
This book was an inspiration!
If you don't want to go for a walk in the woods (birder or not) after reading just one of his magical stories, well then, check your pulse.
How I wish I could've known this wonderful man, who had such a pure and optimistic outlook on the world.
If this is as close as I can get, then it will have to do.
The poetry is a song of love for nature, and those he loved.
Of course, Julie's illustrations (pencil only) are a marvel.
I will be buying a copy of this book for my mother's birthday. She's the one that taught me to appreciate the natural world. She's in her eighties. This is one way I can give back to her, what she gave to me.
Thank you Ora.

Written by journalist, conservationist, and naturalist Ora E. Anderson, Out of the Woods: A Bird Watcher's Year is a memoir reflecting upon the joys of birdwatching, the majesty of growing old, and the wondrous natural diversity of Appalachia. Wit, gentle humor, and an abiding appreciation for avian life from geese to woodpeckers to songbirds fill this appreciative guide, lovingly illustrated with beautiful black-and-white sketches of feathered friends feeding, migrating, flying, or raising their young. A treasure by a birdwatcher and bird lover, for birdwatchers and bird lovers.

I would compare this book to sitting at your grandfather's knee, listening to the old stories, rambling on. Maybe you heard that one before, maybe a similar one someplace else? Just a comfortable, sit by the fire while it's raining outside kind of book. Doesn't require a great deal of thought, conveys no remarkable insights. Comfortable....

This was a great book. I love true stories and this was very interesting. It had a little drama and laughs and many uplifting moments. What an amazing woman and story. (The movie was almost as good as the book, worth checking out).

I've read this book, I own a copy. Aside from being an excellent memoir of life in the smalltown Midwest of the 50's and 60's, it also gives memorable views of other things, large families, the experience of living with an alcoholic, contesting, but more than anything, it speaks to being able to find success in a life that seems hopeless. Evelyn Ryan was a winner because she decided she would be one and she passed that on to her children. It is hard to read of the struggles and the abuse the father inflicted on his family, but it is joyous to read of the triumph of the human spirit in such conditions.

This is one of the best family memoirs I've ever read. I laughed, cried and cheered this woman of courage, wit and faith. Why watch a C+ movie? Read the A+ book for the real Evelyn who was so much deeper than just a chipper housewife with a knack for winning contests.

I loved this book, and am sure I will enjoy reading it again at some point in the future. Evelyn Ryan had 10 children and an alcoholic husband, who managed to drink away a significant proportion of his earnings, leaving her barely able to feed her family, never mind provide for other costs (unforeseen and known). One of the most inspirational aspects of this book is Evelyn's attitude - she doesn't appear to have wasted much time feeling sorry for herself or ranting and raving at her weak husband, rather she just gets on with finding a way to remove barriers and to do the best by her family. As the title suggests, a significant proportion of the family's income comes from Evelyn's skill and success in entering (and winning) competitions - from cars and large cash prizes, to appliances and suitable Christmas gifts, she wins them all. Her daughter obviously inherited her talent with words, for she has written this account of growing up (poor but essentially happy) in a large family in 1950s and 1960s small town America in a way which has you completely hooked - from the little humorous events which make you laugh out loud, to the heart-warming moments which almost bring tears to your eyes - a great story about a great woman.

Teresa is a local author from Pike County, Ohio. She has done a great job with her first book. "Redemption's Song" kept me glued to it. I couldn't put it down. Once that one was finished, I couldn't wait to read the sequel.
It is a very good Christian themed mystery. I highly recommend this book to anyone.

Sometimes I can be disappointed when a second book in a series comes out. Not in this case!!! From page 1 I was drawn back into the world of Jamie Steele. How refreshing to read a book where the characters learn from lifes lessons along the way. I only have one problem with this series.....waiting for Book 3!!!!

The second book in the Jenna's Creek series, Redemption's Song is the story of two prideful women in love with one man. Their obsession with their own desires and willful conflict with one another risks blinding them to their Christian faith in God. A profound saga about the consequences of sin and misdeeds, and the importance of keeping God in one's heart, Redemption's Song balances the misery caused by selfish behavior with the potential for atonement through God's loved. A heartfelt novel, reflecting the author's deeply held faith. Also recommended is the first book in the Jenna's Creek series, "Streams of Mercy".

The second book in the Jenna's Creek series, Redemption's Song is the story of two prideful women in love with one man. Their obsession with their own desires and willful conflict with one another risks blinding them to their Christian faith in God. A profound saga about the consequences of sin and misdeeds, and the importance of keeping God in one's heart, Redemption's Song balances the misery caused by selfish behavior with the potential for atonement through God's loved. A heartfelt novel, reflecting the author's deeply held faith. Also recommended is the first book in the Jenna's Creek series, "Streams of Mercy".

Christopher Knight has a way to keep you reading through his books with short chapters. St Helena was an interesting book about a haunted light house on Lake Michigan. It's easy to ready and you are able to visualize the story with his descriptive writing. I would recommend this book to people who like the thrill of Ghosts trying to murder or make their victims insane.

This book was one of Christopher Knight's best work! It will keep you going and on the edge of your seat until the very last word! If you don't buy this book......you will loose out on a great horror/suspense thriller by one of the nations best author! This is one book you can not put down! ~Kristin Tant~

This is a great book. I read it after reading one of his other books. It has great local Michigan interest and really makes you think. I'll never renovate a lighthouse or swim in the dark again. Could not put down "The Laurention Channel" or "Bestseller." Can't wait for another one. All his books are great!

I read St.Helena because it was a local author. I didn't really know what to expect from it. From the moment I read the first few pages I was hooked. His words were so descriptive and I was chilled to my very bones. I found myself racing to get back to this book and as of right know I am looking for his new book Felocity. I would have to compare his writing to Stephen King. He took me on a wild spine tingling journey that I would jump off only to find myself drawn back. Very Good book would recomend it to any one who likes a good scary mystery.

Simolke, Duane. "New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio: Stein, Gender, Isolation", toExcel, 1999.


Amos Lassen and Literary Pride

One of the topics that interested me greatly when I was in graduate school was Gertrude Stein and the theories of gender that we associated with her writings. I was mad for Gertrude Stein and my library of first editions of most of her work are somewhere that Katrina took them. Frankly I have been so busy that I have not thought about Stein for a while. In the process of reviewing I cane across Duane Simolke and it emails with him, I discovered that he had researched Stein and had published a book about his research. He was kind enough to send it to me.
His approach to Stein differed from mine but we both discovered some commonalities in reference to gender. Simolke's book deals primarily with the relationship between Stein and Sherwood Anderson and his analysis of "Winesburg, Ohio" relates to Stein and gender roles and gay subtext among other themes. "Winesburg, Ohio" was published in 1919and deal with the industrialization of the small town and how it affected the lives of the people. He shows the influence Stein had on Anderson's writing as well. We learn the motivation for the writing of the book as well of the homoeroticism of his other works. He gives us, basically, an outline for the writing of a short story.
Simolke brings fresh outlooks on the works he writes about. And as he explores the sexual subtext of Anderson's writings, some of you may be surprised at what he found. Within the sexual subtexts, there is no writing about sex per se but rather with human contact.
The book is refreshing, interesting and educating. I have always loved books that take on established works of literature and look at them with a new and different slant. As I read "Winesburg" the novel. I was amazed at how much I have missed. Its relevance is especially important today when we hear about the way immigrant workers are treated and we may compare that a bit to the way industrialism overtook America and changed the way we did everything. It is also interesting to note that this industrial takeover has been overtaken, itself, by the technological revolution, which owes a great debt to the industrial takeover which preceded it.
Perhaps I have scared some of you by going off on a literary tangent. That was not my intention. Rather, I think the importance of gender roles is so pervasive today that it would do us all a great deal of good to see how it has been treated historically. It's an easy book to read, clear and concise and it opens your eyes to a new way of thinking.

What a pleasure to read a dissertation embracing the poetry and passion of simple language as well as the art of old-fashioned story-telling exemplified by the often underrated Sherwood Anderson.

In seven chapters Dr. Simolke (whose lyrical collection THE ACORN STORIES was clearly influenced by Stein and Anderson) examines themes of alienation, sexuality and gender in Anderson's masterpiece WINESBURG, OHIO.

Bringing fresh perspective to Anderson's best known work (considered by critics to be a forerunner of modern fiction with its focus on "real folks" and small town America of the early 20th Century), Simolke candidly explores sexual subtext.

In "More Than Man or Woman" he writes, "I call attention to all this terminology because Anderson transcends those societal perceptions of gayness; his use of gay themes has little to do with sex and everything to do with human contact."

Do we need still one more analysis of the work of another dead white guy? Yes, most certainly, when it is as refreshingly and unabashedly enthusiastic as Simolke's. Criticized as being sentimental and outdated, WINESBURG becomes relevant again in this unapologetic and insightful re-reading.

Stein, Gender, Isolation, and Industrialism New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio
by Duane Simolke
Reviewed by Joe Wright
This book is the work of Dr Simolke. It served as his doctoral dissertation. It shows the relationship between Sherwood Anderson, his work and Gertrude Stein. In Dr Simolke's own words, "I consider Gertrude Stein, gender roles, the machine in the garden, feelings of isolation, and attempts at communication, as they all relate to Sherwood Anderson's masterpiece."

Of course the masterpiece he is talking about is the story cycle, Winesburg, Ohio. Published in 1919 about a small town in Ohio becoming industrialized and what that does to the lives of the people of Winesburg.
New Readings would be a great companion to go along with Anderson's Winesburg. It gives you not only the history of Mr. Anderson, but also the history of his stories. In Chapter 4 Men and Women, Dr. Simolke talks about how Mr Anderson's 1923 novel Many Marriages was banned by many libraries and book stores due to the fact that the book mainly focuses on nudity and sex.
If your a tried and true fan of Gertrude Stein or Sherwood Anderson New Readings is a must have!

Pour yourself a little brandy, pull your chair up to the fire, and read Duane Simolke's Stein, Gender, Isolation, and Industrialism: New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio. Better yet, dust off your copy of Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, and then read Simolke's remarkable explication of Sherwood Anderson, the influence that the great Gertrude Stein had on his writing style, and the equally important effect of turn-of-the-century industrialization on Anderson and the stories he tells. In this straightforward, yet literary accounting of Anderson's Winesburg narratives, you will come to a fuller understanding of what motivated Anderson to write his story cycle, what part homoeroticism and homophobia played in the story "Hands" and "The Untold Lie." This work should be required reading in any college course involving the art and craft of short-story writing as well as in courses on Sherwood Anderson, himself. I found the greatest pleasure in reading a while from Simolke's work, then reading from Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio. Simolke's book is a great reading guide, as well as a thoughtful and measured reading experience all by itself. ---Ronald L. Donaghe, author of Uncle Sean

The Sweet Scented Manuscript caught me unawares, I thought Mr. Perdue had given up writing since fewer people are reading these days. After all, most novels nowadays are hacked out with the hope that a Hollywood producer will take notice and pick up the movie rights. That will not happen in the Lee series for two reasons. First, because Lee Pefley is his own man, and has definite notions about what's what. And second because producers only take notice of comic books. Lee might best be described as a dinosaur in the Era of Louthood.

I must assume that there is a hint of autobiography in these novels, and Manuscript describes how Lee met his bride. The setting alterantes between Ohio and Chicago, with school and work in the former, and romance in the Big Shouldered City. It's Lee's attitude to work that fascinates me because he does absolutely nothing to please his bosses as if daring them to sack him. He's always trying to find out which will be the last straw. I can't live like that, but wish I could tell my toady bosses where to get off. It seems that most firings take place due to "lack of chemistry" rather than employee incompetence.

I have never met Mr. Perdue, but I did meet his neighbor once in Montgomery AL in a rally to support Judge Roy Moore. The young man seemed surprised to find somebody familiar with his work.

This is Tito Perdue's most accessible book to a general audience. All his books are exceptional, but are pretty deep. This is just a great semi-autobiographical story of a young Alabama farm boy leaving for college and running into the beatnik lifestyle and life in the big city. Wonderfully written and his descriptions of the gritty underside of the city, as well as campus life and love, are remarkable. This one is highly recommended.

This book tells of a young man going off to college and what happens to him there. It describes the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of a young man's first impressions of the world outside of Alabama. This could be considered a 'coming of age' in the 50-60's story, but through the magic of Perdue's prose, it is also much more. The descriptions of the world seen through Lee Pefley's eyes are unique, more beautiful and more ugly than you had realized, but they are instantly recognizable. The Lee Pefley character in this book is innocent, but learning, not yet angry and frustrated as in the later Lee Pefley books. The characters are real and their interactions true and amusing. This is a beautiful and entertaining book and I think anyone would enjoy it, even if not familiar with Perdue's other books. I think I've been reading these books out of sequence. This should be the first book in the Lee Pefley series, then New Austerities, where Leland is middle-aged, then Lee, where he is an old man, and finally Fields of Asphodel, where Lee is dead. I agree with the previous reviewer: it's a shame this book hasn't received more attention.The New Austerities Lee Fields of Asphodel Opportunities in Alabama Agriculture: A Novel

While the subject of Tito Perdue's "The Sweet-Scented Manuscript" (a country boy experiencing the world for the first time when he arrives at college) may not seem unique or special, it is in Perdue's deft manipulations of the novel's language that this artistic effort really shines. Perdue doesn't dumb anything down - rather, he exhibits an efficiency with words that gently demands that the reader pay full attention to the prose. Often, books like this can get bogged down in their own aesthetic self-importance, but Perdue sidesteps such problems with ease. Practically every sentence is phrased in such a refreshing manner that I found myself smiling while reading this book - not because of the situations or characters (though the characters are highly individual and fascinating throughout), but because of the playfulness of a sentence or the intricacy of a turn of phrase.

It is a shame that Tito Perdue has remained out of the mainstream for so long - this is his fourth published novel, and it reflects a capable and poetic wordsmith. I recommend this novel to anyone interested in having a fresh and compelling reading experience.

I think this is an incrediblly well-written book.
The stories are short, interesting and insightful. Any Browns -- new or old --- will enjoy this book. Grossi is the best Browns writer EVER!
An NFL team should hire him for his insight and knowledge of the game.

I thought I knew everything about some of my favorite Browns players and stories until I read this book. They should have subtitled it, the Greatest Stories NEVER Told. This is a must-buy for a fan of any Browns era.

I would recommend this book for any Cleveland Browns fan. It makes for good light reading, and yet is very insightful into some stories you may not know about your favorite Browns of all time. Grossi couldn't have spent much time putting these stories together because they are very brief, but he does the job in giving the reader some unknown info about Browns from the past. The only thing that would have made it a 5-star rating for me is if the stories on the individuals would have been more in-depth.

I was 8 years old when my father took me to the 1964 NFL Championship Game, and the Cleveland Browns' 27-0 victory over Baltimore remains the highlight of my sports life. I felt that rush of happiness again when I read Tony Grossi's fine page-turner, "Tales From the Browns Sideline." It's filled with great stories about all of our heroes, and also has a few eye-openers about some little-known characters from Browns history. Read it in one sitting, or pick out a chapter here and there . . . you'll remember the glory days immediately!