Newspapers Books

I did not think that the book would have famed writers talking about their experiences in the world of sports.

This is an excellent oral history of sports and sports writing. In the 1970's Chicago sportswriter Jerome Holtzman placed his tape recorder in front of 18 old-time writers from the ¨Golden Age of Sports.¨ Nearly all were elderly, yet they spoke with passion and eloquence, providing vivid memories of baseball, boxing, football, newspapers, etc. Readers hear from Shriley Povich (75 years at the Washington Post, 1923-1998), Al Horwits, Paul Gallico (later a novelist), Ford Frick (later baseball commissioner), and a surprisingly apologetic Red Smith. Dan Drebinger, Fred Leib, and Marshall Hunt describe the Murderer's Row Yankees, and stars like Babe Ruth and Lou Gherig. Dan Daniels describes covering the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1909. We learn of the machinations of the Philadelphia Athletics, Connie Mack, train travel, etc. Even long-gone writers like Grantland Rice and Damon Runyon are reincarnated by the fond memories of their peers. The book should be of special interest to baseball fans (then the pre-eminent sport) and aspiring jounrnalists. It's a vivid, moving look at sports and sportswriting from a bygone era.

In the early 1970s, Jerome Holtzman interviewed 44 fellow sportswriters from the previous generation. He asked each to talk about his experiences covering sports. 18 of those reminiscences were published as NCITPB in 1973. Holtzman published a new edition, with 6 additional interviews, in 1995. The interviews were oral (ala Lawrence Ritter's The Glory of Their Times); reading them is akin to sitting in on the conversations. Like Ritter's book, we hope the original tapes become an audio version.

Dan Daniel remembers covering the Dodgers in 1909. Marshall Hunt shares some Babe Ruth anecdotes. Al Laney speaks about Bernard Darwin, his primary influence as a writer. Shirley Povich relates how he was named sports editor of The Washington Post at 21; he still worked there at age 90.

Some of these writers concentrated on sports for their entire careers (Fred Lieb, Red Smith); others branched out. John Kieran studied and wrote about the natural world. Paul Gallico left sports to write fiction, and made Hemingway jealous. Povich and Jimmy Cannon served as war correspondents during WWII.

Holtzman does not intrude. He elicits observations and stories that are informative, humorous, and fascinating. In our instant access Internet age, Holtzman reminds us of the not-so-distant past when most news was delivered via newspapers or radio. His book is a wonderful look back at a bygone era with some of its primary recorders. This title is out of print but well worth finding, especially for fans of sports journalism.

I actually returned this book because it was not what I expected. No detailed information here.

The most informative book I have ever seen covering the detailsof the print production process. Also, some very helpfultips on marketing that will benefit no matter what the field.

I owe much of my successful card business beginnings (Scarlet Crane Creations) to this book. It contains valuable insight and information that is not readily available for anyone interested especially in their own greeting card/stationery business.

I particularly appreciated the list of resources and recommendations for trade shows and found the honest accounts of his own experiences most helpful.

In my previous post--Bob, Thanks for the Memories--I of course mistyped former Syracuse university basketball coach Roy Danforth's name as Ray Danforth. Apologies to Roy.

I have to admit, I didn't check the number of pages when I ordered. I assumed that for almost 30 bucks I would be getting a comprehensive history of Syracuse basketball. What I got was a book that is much too short and lacks adequate detail. Entire stretches of 2-4 years are skipped, even in the Mid-80s! No articles concerning Pearl's shot to beat BC in '85. No articles about Lawrence Moten breaking scoring records. I hope the next person that tries this book does it right!

I couldn't wait to get this book. I'm a guy who had the good fortune to not only go to Syracuse University in the Sixties but also work as a reporter at the Syracuse Newspapers in the Seventies. Anyone who has lived in Syracuse knows the important place SU basketball holds in that town. Bob Snyder's invaluable compendium of SU basketball highlights as reported and depicted in the Syracuse press is a something special. They say that journalism is the first draft of history, and the first draft presented here needs no rewrite. One of the nation's finest basketball programs, brought to us by coaches Fred Lewis, Ray Danforth, and the great Jim Boeheim, is a reader's delight as offered by Snyder. And, personally, to see once again the bylines of the likes of writers Snyder, Arnie Burdick, and Bud Poliquin as well as photographer Hal Slate brings on a flood of memories that warms the soul. SU alums and fans wherever you are, treat yourself to this book as a way to always remember the good times brought by Dave Bing, Rudy Hackett, Roosevelt Bouie, Louis Orr, Leo Rautins, Billy Owens, Lawrence Moten, John Wallace, Etan Thomas, Jason Hart, and all of your other favorite SU players.

I was very excited about finding and using this book. I queried several agents listed. Agents that seemed to be looking for my work, judging by the description. I followed the excellent suggestions on submitting queries.No problem with the book. The sequel to this book should be why agents don't respond to queries. I included SASE's every time, wrote legible, direct, well-written queries. For eleven agents I queried, only three responded. The title for the sequel should be "How To Contact Rude Arrogant Agents Without Having To Be An Already Existing Bestselling Author." Thanks.

This is probably the best available book for people (like me) who are in search of a literary agent. It consists of short, just the facts ma'am, listings with all the basic data, e.g., name, address, name of the contact person(s), listing of recent sales, whether or not you'll get hit up for a fee, etc. This book's big weakness is, not surprisingly, that its compilers take the agents' side rather than the writers' side, which means that the info tends to be very bland. Another big weakness is that many prominent agencies (e.g., The Wylie Agency, the Endeavor Agency, and a number of others) are not listed at all, because they asked to be left out, in order to minimize the number of incoming submissions.

Although this is a classic text on the development of the Arabic book it is now disappointing to read. It was originally written in 1949, translated and published in English in 1984. There are several corrections of fact and opinion contradicted by other evidence, footnoted by the translator. But it is also disappointing in not describing the basics. A collection of Arabic books such as the one exhibited recently in the Art gallery of New South Wales (The Arts of Islam: Treasures from the Nasser D Khalili Exhibition) in 2007 illustrates facets of books that are just not explained in The Arabic Book. These include the decorative features of so many pages, which are called hasps; the inclusion of commentaries, commentaries on commentaries, and interleaving of text, decoration and gloss or translation as a common feature in the design of many books. Pedersen is strong on the process of composition and copying, the production of books. For a bookbinder the short chapter on bookbinding has some snippets of information, but no great depth of insight.

Johannes Pedersen's "The Arabic Book" is a well written piece on Arabian literature including information on books before islam, much about the Quran and traditional Arabic literature. It includes information on composition, transmission of the books from scribes and booksellers to writing materials to scripts and calligraphy, book painting, binding, and libraries. There is information on the printed book too. It has many a splendid illustration as well. It is hard to find book, but this lil' monkey would highly suggest the search, for the text is well worth it.

Contemporary publishing would probably be in far better shape if more of its managers had the fiscal know-how of Bailey. There's no question that he has a unique mastery of the accounting and financial formulas that were necessary in his own day. But this book was originally written in 1970 and, while one would like to believe that good advice is timeless, there have been so many changes in the publishing industry since then (many occurring in the last five years) that it is difficult not to conclude that some of his concerns and emphases are just no longer in sync with times. If you're accumulating a library of publishing texts, surely include this one. But if you want contemporary financial advice that takes current realities into account, you're better off with a book like Thomas Woll's excellent Publishing For Profit.

This book is a must for a person who is interested in book publishing. The author discusses selecting a list price and selecting a print run size from a mathematical point of view. The book is packed with concepts that a mature publisher would take for granted and a novice would need to grow into a mature publisher. I can imagine this book as a college text for an advanced degree.

While the author may know a considerable amount about academic publishing, the book's format -- composed of a fictional series of letters to authors who've supposedly committed mistakes in the publishing process or who've supposedly asked questions they want answered -- is distracting and keeps the author from addressing his subject in an in-depth, serious way. William Germano's book, Getting It Published, covers this subject in a more comprehensive, more easily accessible form.

Derricourt does a wonderful job of explaining many aspects of the scholarly book publishing process from the publisher's point of view. His writing style is quite entertaining and easy to read. And the book is designed well, too

This 216 page book is loaded with more than 600 full color, large, clear photos of Beatles memorabilia covering their heydey from 1964 to 1968. The beautiful picture, price guide features: Early Beatles Memorabilia, Jewelry, Buttons, Yellow Submarine, Apple Studio, Yellow Submarine Celluloids, One of a Kind Items and more. There's a brief introduction to the topic, and each picture features a description and price. Some collector resources are included. A beautiful book that Beatles collectors will love. Add it to your library.

This book is full of items the collector needs to know about. How many times have people (I know I have) passed up on great items to collect, simply because they were not sure that an item even existed, as a "real deal" collectible? This book has been well researched by the author and provides the collector with a great resource and guide, a true collector should not be without. A great addition to the library of any Beatles' collector or fan.

It was a delight to read this charming and cogently argued book that takes one into the world of politicking in the mid- nineteenth century and shows how involved voters got. Splendid.

Neely's book offers a fresh and insightful analysis of American political culture during the American Civil War period. More specifically, his book offers a material culture approach to understanding the relationship between people and politics. This study of objects includes lithographs, prints, political cartoons and posters, sheet music, pamphlets and other objects that contained political meaning. These objects can help reinforce or add new interpretations to our understanding of the past.

Neely is interested in showing us these objects of American political culture which in turn tells us more about the people of that time period and their interest or activity in politics. The theme of his book concerns the boundaries between the public realm of politics and the private home. In other words just how interested and involved ordinary citizens were in the politics of their day. Neely argues that the boundary lines weren't as distinct and separate as some historians have argued, though not denying the very limited role of women in political issues and debates for example.

The workplace and clubs like the Union League offered some means of public expression of political activity on the part of various groups of citizens. Minstrel shows, which could be considered part of the pop culture of the mid nineteenth century, became caught up in the political debates and issues of the day, though never purely connected to any party or cause.

Neely discusses these topics much better than I can. His book is relatively short and not always fulfilling; it does lack a bit in terms of comprehensiveness, but as he admits, the material evidence isn't always there in large quantities. Nevertheless, this book offers a different way of looking at political culture during the Civil War period, mainly concerning Northern politics.

I've been a working journalist for more than 15 years. I can say without a doubt, this is the book I most often recommend to people who want to improve their writing. And no matter your profession, you WILL be a better writer after reading it.

Just like anybody else, I bought this book to improve my newswriting skills.
I was hoping for tips on how to write, but instead I got tips on how NOT to write.
Great book if you want to read a bunch of poorly written scripts.