Ball Books

The book covers all the basics about the exercises with the ball, the illustrations are clear and the explanations easy to follow, it just would be good that it would come with a cd on viewing how to.

This book is great and easy to follow. It has easy, intermediate, and advanced poses/exercises. I would recommend this book only if you are strongly disciplined in exercising regularly.

If you don't want to be out at the gym, this book is a great book for short workouts that you can do at the home with your own core ball.

I highly recommend this book. I am 63 years young, have always eaten heathly and maintained my weight. During the last 2 years because of very stressfull events in my life I stopped being physicaly active and although I ate healthy, I ate all the time. I put on 40 lbs. With the help of several nutrition books and the CORE BALL WORKOUT book I lost weight and I have been losing my oversized gut (belly, adomen, stomach).

I am not the type person who can read instructions and follow them. I am a hands on person - show me and I can do it. This book is very easy to follow. Great descriptions, instructions and accompaning photos to teach you the exercise.

I had major back and neck surgery years ago,this book has exercises that I can do, are beneficial both to getting fit and for stenghtening the back and neck without worry of injury.

This would be the best investment you ever make - an investment into yourself.

Well I have just got down to working out and I must say that this book is great.
I am a beginner and workout alone at home, and this book has all the details written down which are easy to understand and follow.
The exercise that I have done are pretty tasking and therefore good.
All in all, easy to understand and follow and great workouts in there, so don't hesitate to buy this book,take it from someone who is using this book as apersonal guide at home.
Enjoy

There is too much in this book to help in preparing your outline. There are other study aids which give better examples or explanations.

This study aid has been incredibly helpful. It is great to refer to it after reading a case in your casebook. It has a lot of helpful tips in writing exams as well. I would definitely recommend Emanuel Contracts to anyone taking Contracts!

This book spoke of a lot of the same cases that my professor talked about and made them understandable. Definitely recommended if the material is the same.

This is the best outline for contracts for a 1L student. It has very helpful examples and is very well organized. It is definetly worth the $.

if you need a quick lifesaver and a way to sort out a mess of notes at the end of the semester, then this book is for you!

Everything I've made out of this book has been a success, from the "laquered" Asian chicken to the celery root puree. The short ribs were outstanding. Dorie Greenspan has translated Daniel Boulud's recipes into something any capable home cook can make -- and enjoy!

Daniel Boulud is truly one of the world's greatest chefs, and this book is written proof of that. If you want simple, basic French cuisine that you can make at home without a lot of fuss, then this is the book for you.

You don't need to be a chef to enjoy this book.
The story of Daniel Boulud's passionate journey to become a world class chef is a great read. He talks the talk and walks the walk! I have since dined at his restaurant (Cafe Boulud)
and would say it was of the best meals of my life! Everything went right to create a transcendant dining experience. This
doesn't happen by accident and the book explains all that Chef
Boulud puts into his art. Enjoy!

This superb chef provides intense food that the home gourmet that has been cooking for sometime can easily handle with ingredients that are not as bizarre and hard to find as most cookbooks from star chefs.

Unique is the organization of recipes, here into four groupings of Traditional French, Seasonal Specialties, Other Cuisines and Vegetarian.

Offerings in each include main entrees, sides and desserts as well as first courses, soups, etc.

A marvelous dish from French category is Sea Bass en Croute or the Cornish Hens a la Diable. Unusual combo exemplefies Boulud's coupling of tastes, Sweet Swiss Chard Tourte. Don't tell your guests what this is until they eat. Swiss Chard done right is magnificent. A tangy sweetness to it that here is married with honey, orange and pine nuts. This is superb!

How about Cod with Blood Orange Sauce and Creamy Grits from Seasonal section? Who would have thought to put blood organes with cod? Citrus goes so well with seafood as this, but with grits? This guy is truly French-American chef.

I find his abilities and recipes to be inspirational for amateur gourmet. Techniques are not too formidiable and much is offered in the way of purchase and prep techniques. The small, details are what is worth the book. The user will see that this guy is on to each ingredient and wants to display its savor at max.

This is breakthrough cuisine, with simple, straightforward technique, but full throttle flavor and expert combining of luxurious components. You'll have fun with this one!

Martha Stewart captured the charm of this book in her introduction when she says `...I cannot wait to open it again (for)... those recipes that I want to try immediately... then to all the other recipes, because I'd like to try them also'. I have felt that same urge while reading other great cookbooks, such as Julia Child's `Mastering the Art of French Cooking', to which this book is a worthy amendment. This urge is a sure sign that the author(s) of the book have something which have touched your sensibilities.

It is important to note that while Daniel Boulud is the headliner, there is a very important co-author, Dorie Greenspan, who has won more cookbook awards than any three celebrity chefs put together. It's hard to determine exactly how much Dorie contributed, but, as a major cookbook author in her own right, I have to believe her contribution was a lot more than transcribing Boulud's words from tape recordings and notes. My guess is that, at the very least, she was instrumental in translating the recipes from the restaurant to the home kitchen. Her contribution must be, therefore, essential to the attraction of this book.

As other reviewers have noted, the book, like the menu at Café Boulud, is divided into four independent sections covering French, World, Seasonal, and Vegetarian cuisines. In evaluating the recipes, I believe this division is incidental. All of the recipes are easily identifiable as having sprung from the French culinary tradition. The only thing distinguishing one section from the others in my reading is that the first section on traditional French recipes presented a concrete look at the elements of Nouvelle Cuisine in the Troisgros brothers recipe `Salmon and Sorrel Troisgros'. In the past, I have read many generalities but few real examples on what this movement is really about. I thank Daniel and Dorie for that. There is, of course much, much more.

While the subtitle of the book proclaims it to contain recipes for the home cook, these are primarily only practical for the `foodie' cookbook collector, food hobbist, weekend meals, and special entertaining meals where the added cache of preparing something from Café Boulud adds interest to the feast. Almost all recipes are LONG, with long ingredients lists. Many recipes include long marinades and braises. Most recipes include substantial subpreparations such as for stocks and sauces. Luckily, the authors always add a warning when the technique requires a plan ahead step. None of this detracts from the type of enthusiasm Martha Stewart had for the book, as I felt the same thing. These are good recipies.

It is to our advantage that the new interest in food in the US is centered around both American and French cuisines, as this means that very few ingredients used in this book will be hard to find. I have even seen Jerusalem artichokes in my local supermarket. No need to travel to a farmer's market or to the regional megamart. Spices and herbs should be no problem. The hard to find stuff is more likely to be things like sweetmeats and marrow bones.

I found no errors in this book. The closest it came was to relate Jerusalem artichokes with globe artichokes in the main section of the book. The two are not botanically related, and this is cleared up in the appendix on ingredients. In general, I find such appendices on tools, techniques, and terms to be of little value, since, being just a few pages long, they invariably omit something you may look for. This book's appendices have good content, but they fail to explain many of the French culinary terms. I also give little credit to the pantry recipe sections, but, in this book and other good books like it, you need to know how the author prepared their veal stocks and the like to really know how their stuff is supposed to turn out.

The color pictures in this book are the way I like them in separate sections, all together, so you can page through all the pictures to choose a dish. In this book, the pictures are divided into the four sections of recipes. Very wise.

This book is MUCH better than the later `Chef Danial Boulud: Cooking In New York City', where the celebrity chefs started entombing their cuisine in coffe table books with lots of useless photographs. The absence of Ms. Greenspan's influence is also felt in the latter volume.

Even at $35, this book is a keeper.

One of my all-time favorites. If you are Southern, you cannot help but identify with these charming stories. If you are not Southern, this will give you a true peek into our culture.

A wonderful, entertaining collection of short stories with southern flair. As a mother of three, sneaking in time to read is not always easy and I'm a fan of short story collections/ anthologies. This particular book is very satifying and hard to put down!
The stories range from witty to heart wrenching, but all are lovingly crafted by an extraordinary group of writers. It will tickle your funny bone, tear at your heartstrings, and leave you with a wonderful impression of the south.
The recipes in the back of the book are an extra bonus and believe me, the chocolate nut pound cake is winner!

This book is a joy. It's like having someone sit down and say "I remember..." and off goes the story. These stories are funny and poignent and gentle and enjoyable. These stories really capture the spirit of the South- the faith, the strength and the pride. This book has been added to my bookshelves and will stay there and be enjoyed for years to come. I have even bought a few extras for my relatives down south.

Well worth reading.
Enjoy

I love the title of this book so much! This is a book of stories by Southern women writers. A lot of the stories really struck a chord with me. I laughed. I cried. The stories that stuck with me are "Grandma Tells a Tale," "Fingerprints," "Cookie the One-Eyed Horse," "Grandpapa's Garden," and "Sweet Tea." They are everything that is good about Southern fiction: strong sense of place, interesting characters, tug at your heartstrings, quirky, and just plain Southern.

This is my kind of book, good stories and great recipes! Several 'southern' writers have gathered their favorites...in both foods and stories and these stories make for a wonderful summer's read. From the dilemma of what to do with the (somewhat functional) outhouse that the man of the house just can't let go of, to the rememberences of our first time at Vacation Bible School and the original "what would Jesus do" we all struggled with at a young age, these women have tapped a vein of southern storytelling that runs sweet and deep. Some will have you laughing out loud, some will send you back in time, but all are infused with a real knowledge and love for the south. Danna Ball, Sandra Chastain, Debra Dixon, Virginia Ellis, Nancy Knight and Deborah Smith combined for the 16 stories tht will enchant any lover of southern fiction.

Karen Ball's WILDERNESS is a rollicking adventure in the woods, with romance and wit and wisdom sprinkled liberally over the story. I loved this, and I know you will, too. A wonder!!

I loved this book! The characters were great! I enjoyed reading as the characters grew yet stayed "real". I laughed a lot and my husband enjoyed it too.

This book had so many inspiring scriptures and passages that I made it required reading for my two teenaged daughters! Not only is the book fun in it's storyline but it is funny and can't put it down exciting! I loved this book.

This is one of the hilarious book that I have read in a long time. It shows that you can be an accident prone person and still be used by God in a wonderous way. It is a book about redemption and forgiveness and most of all LOVE. Definitely a book to spend with on a nice sunny day or just curled up in bed.

The story in this book is about Mady and Jason who meet on a trip to the wilderness with a group of people. Mady's first impression of Jason is that he is a "sourpuss" and he doesn't seem to like her very much either. Adding to that many things happen accidentially, like Mady knocking Jason down with her bag and landing on his back, that aren't very helpfull to create friendship between the two, even if as reader you are always aware that there is something between them. But this story is also a Christian romance. So even after their first kiss Mady can't love Jason because she is a Christian and he doesn't believe in God. Mady can only go on praying about what she sensed already at the beginning of this trip: that she is here to bring Jason close to God. She agrees that God should use her for this purpose even if it takes a trip into the wilderness where she and Jason as a team have to find their way on their own. But they get lost and now have to survive and to wait for help. Can this really be the answer to Mady's prayers?

This book is a romance but not a romance with a helpless woman and a heroic man. It's a story with many funny elements, written in an amusing way from the beginning to the end. I also loved the characters, Mady as a selfconcious woman who believes in God and who tries to obay him even if this sometimes seems to be hard in daily life but she doesn't give up. Also Jason and his past. I always tried to guess what made him turn away from God but I would have never guessed the "real" reason. The author really surprised me at the end. I loved every page of this book and I recommend it to everyone who loves Christian romances. I will definitly buy more books from Karen Ball.

Well-written, interesting and sheds new light on a long-forgotten subject. The author has the gift of understanding and writing well about both Gilded Age high society and finance, and uses her gift to good advantage. Occasionally the inner manueverings in the Equitable drag a bit, but this is a hardly noticeable defect. Five stars +; buy and and read it with enjoyment.

This is a well presented and gripping account of the clash of the titans of industry of a century ago. It shows them in their true, unsavory, colors, albeit a tad muted....

We find the anything-but-poor, yet unsuspecting Mr. Hyde (heir in his 20s to the Equitable Insurance fortune) shaken from his elite complacency and thrust into the eye of a storm that is kept stirred by the machinations of Equitable board member Henry Clay Frick, one of the more amazing and alarming capitalists from Pittsburgh's steel days.

In a bid to oust Hyde from control of the mega-insurance concern that his father founded with wit, skill and sleight of hand, Frick engineers a negative publicity juggernaut that calls Hyde's personal financial ethics into question and ends up in the courts. The Equitable goes into receivership-with some luminaries like George Westinghouse in temporary control-until, beset by the scandal, Hyde sells out, shakes the dust off of his well-heeled shoes, and departs for Pre-World War I Paris. He remains a Francophile expatriate for the remainder of his days.

There is more to the story and some of it is here, and well worth the reader's time and attention, especially since Ms Beard had access to some privately held family papers and files that cast the story in a Schubert pink spotlight, with few shadows. The author, a personal friend of Hyde's granddaughters and a member of the same giltetry social set, goes easy on some of the tale. What is left on the cutting room floor is even more fascinating than what made it into this book.

For, shadows there are, and there is oh so much more of the story to be told, ranging from the Johnstown Flood (this family is connected to the infamous South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club) to the crafty ire of Mr. Frick's European counterpart, the equally effective and furiously ambitious harridan, the Archduchess Isabella of Austria-Hungary (again, an extended family connection).

What a yarn and all of it, true!

Perhaps Miss Beard will muster the courage to follow up this book with a prequel about Mr. Frick's very similar, skillful machinations regarding Mr. Hyde's future father-in-law, and a sequel that more fully addresses the irony of World History that found Mr. Hyde's son among two generations of this extended family who served diligently, on both sides of W W I and W W II, some as top level spies. Then again, perhaps not.

But if not, one hopes that other historians might take note, there is so much more to be told! This is a real life E Phillips Oppenheim novel. It would find as its centerpiece, Hyde's father-in-law, a rags to riches success - an orphan who rose to the top of the tree, on both sides of the Atlantic and who had his hands in many a pie, industrial and diplomatic....

Now...The only question is: Who will be the first to tell it?

Perhaps Martha Sanger, or Teresa Carpenter or Les Standiford or - of course - the incomparable David McCullough!

If you find this review helpful you might want to read some of my other reviews, including those on subjects ranging from biography to architecture, as well as religion and fiction.

"After the Fall," Patricia Beard's clear-eyed look into the excesses at the tag end of the Gilded Age, focuses around a costume party thrown in 1905 by then 23-year-old James Hazen Hyde, who was expected to accede to the presidecy of the Equitable Life Insurance Company when he turned thirty.

It never happened. Instead his enemies, in the company and outside it, used the ball as an excuse to start a power play that would bring him down. As sometimes happens, however, they brought themselves down as well.

The book is almost like a musical comedy in structure. The title is somewhat misleading as the ball itself comes in the middle of the book (imagine the ball as the big production number that brings the curtain down on act one). It begins with James's father, Henry, skips quickly through James's adolescence and early manhood (there'll be a production number having to do with James's hobby, racing horsedrawn carriages), the premature death of his father, and his rise to the first vice presidency of the insurance company, where, or so his father had hoped, he would be tutored by the interim president, James W. Alexander, who was nearing retirement age.

When the curtain rises on act 2, you will encounter an array of schemers, some driven almost batty as they struggle for power, and a parade of the gilded age financiers, J. P. Morgan, E. H. Harriman, Henry Clay Frick, and James Fortune Ryan, as well as President Theodore Roosevelt, ex-President Grover Cleveland, and Charles Evans Hughes, who would some day be, thanks largely to his investigation of the scandal, Chief Justice of the United States.

You'll maybe hear patter songs in your head as the robber barons form committees, make deals, break deals, and leak their doings to the press, as they scheme to acquire the faltering company for themselves.

And when the curtain comes down on the tale as the chastened but hardly impoverished Hyde leaves for France--saying his goodbyes aboard the ship that's about to sail perhaps--it comes down, as well, on the Gilded Age itself.

Notes and asides: The afterword, about Hyde's later life and that of his son, who was in the OSS during WWII should not be skipped.

"After the Ball" is a biography of James Hazen Hyde (1876-1959), Gilded Age aesthete, sportsman, patron of the arts and heir to the majority shares in The Equitable Life Assurance Society, which his father Henry Baldwin Hyde had founded in 1859. The emphasis is on the decisive event of James' life: His battle to retain control of his father's company that played out over the course of 1905 against Equitable's president James Waddell Alexander and its ruthlessly ambitious 2nd vice president Gage Tarbell. That battle commanded 115 front page articles in "The New York Times" alone and resulted in the passage of New York's Armstrong Laws in an attempt to regulate the insurance industry. Author Patricia Beard knew James Hyde's only son Henry Hyde -Henry was godfather to her son- which explains the late chapter dedicated to Henry Hyde's life.

James Hyde became the majority shareholder in The Equitable at the age of 23 upon his father's death in 1899. Henry B. Hyde had planned that his son serve as 1st vice president under the tutelage of James Alexander before assuming the role of company president at age 30. But Henry had ill prepared his son for the murky realities and unbridled ambitions of the business world. And James was ill-suited to the job, being by nature a man of arts and letters and high society. James idolized his father and took his legacy seriously but didn't understand his responsibilities until it was too late. In 1905, frustrated by James' ability as majority shareholder to stifle his plans for the Society, unscrupulous, dogged Gage Tarbell recruited malleable and unstable James Alexander as his ally and launched a campaign to force The Equitable to mutualize (give shareholders voting rights) with the intent of ousting James. They expected James to resign, sell his stock, and move to France. Instead, he put up a fight.

"After the Ball" provides a blow-by-blow account of The Equitable crisis and the attempts to resolve it, from James Hyde's lavish 18th century France-themed ball in January 1905 until his self-imposed exile in France a year later. Although it occasionally bogs down in minutiae, the battle for The Equitable is a page-turner. Histories of Henry B. Hyde, The Equitable, James' later life in Paris and New York, and his son's service in the OSS during World War II bookend the drama. Prominent industrialists and financiers from Wall Street's boom years of the 1890s-1920s are the cast, and The Gilded Age itself is a character. James' flamboyance, active social life, and ostentatious wealth exemplified the ideals of the era. He was praised for successfully juggling his business, social, and artistic pursuits. But he couldn't. "After the Ball" is the story of a doting father who gave his son an empire but neglected to teach him how to rule for fear that his image would be tarnished in the boy's eyes. It's the story of a son who inherited great wealth and power but little motivation to comprehend or exploit them and so fell victim to those more willing.

A well-researched history book that reads like a novel is a rare find, but this is one. In an era when corporate greed and corruption are once again a part of everyday life, it's also a nice reminder of where years of deregulation and laissez-faire policies got us last time. James Hazen Hyde was a product of that time: spoiled, overly entitled, shamelessly extravagant in a city where poverty was widespread, and fond of business practices that have since been made illegal. But he was also the victim of even greedier - and smarter - associates, and Beard does a great job of portraying a rather unsympathetic character sympathetically.

Hyde's downfall seems to have been a lack of ambition or interest in learning the business he inherited, coupled with an overeagerness to reap the benefits of his father's financial success. Illustrating the latter is the party that serves as the book's climax, an incomprehensibly extravagant affair by the standards of any era. Beard argues that Hyde's detractors had already been hoping for years to bring him down, and the ball simply served as a welcome excuse to do so. Whether she's right or wrong about that, the event certainly proved to be fertile ground for scandal. In a classic case of "the truth is never juicy enough," rumors began circulating that Hyde had paid for the ball with company funds (he hadn't) and that the already-obscene cost was four times as much as it really was. Despite being guilty of nothing worse than bad taste, Hyde was soon bought out of his father's company and out of Wall Street society. Investigations and reform legislation followed, but those who were guilty of real wrongdoing were never punished.

Beard's overview of the financial events and disputes will probably be too simple for those with a strong knowledge of finance and business, but it's perfect for the rest of us. In any case, she is clearly more interested in Gilded Age high society and how it set the stage for James Hyde and his party, and her research in that area is impressive. The era's many excesses leap off the pages, with various Vanderbilts and Roosevelts making cameos throughout, making the greed and injustice palpable without anything approaching preachiness. Hyde himself becomes a somewhat tragic figure, living off his inheritance in Europe, outliving the damage to his reputation but emerging as a walking anachronism on his return to New York in the 1940s.

Sad, but very well done!

By far this is the best book I ve ever read on how to improve yourself in every aspect of life. I will challenge you to go to any page and read 10 lines and you will find some pointer or nugget which you can implement in your life or you will get insight of some topic. It talks about your life and helps us to make some wise decisions and it will throw out a lof of situations in your life and exactly tells you what to do. I was bowled over when i read this book. Serious people stop reading reviews and grab one and you will thank yourself and me till you die.

This book contains the most practicle information I've ever read. Surprisingly, it's not about other people, it helps the reader focus on the inside. For anyone whose fears or inadequacies have prevented a successful life this book offers easy steps and valid solutions to follow. When a person can perceive things in a different way, he/she can grow. This book concisely offers solutions to marriage, self-esteem, careers, family, friends and just plain loving life. I've given away several copies and I plan to buy more and give them away as well. A tool that encourages and helps folks transform their own lives is the best gift you can give anyone. Thanks to Dexter Yager and others who were inspired by God to put this book on the market. I've read quite a few self help books but this one was simple,and straightforward. Best of all, after 33 years I now have a new, friendlier less demanding, happier Mom to interact with. I'm still working on me, however, its good to know I have the best tool on the market as a reference. I don't have to call anyone else for help.

Two things that I like about this book.

1) It was written about a topic that the author is clearly a
master at. I don't know of anyone who is more charismatic
or has helped more people that Dexter Yeager.

2) It is written with a christian overtone. The author, despite
his incredible success has not forgotten when he came from or
who to give thanks to. Something that other, less successful
people need to pay attention to.

Dynamic People Skills is divided into four parts, 10 chapters and 180 pages. The advice in this book has already made a profround affect on my life and my business. Highly recommended.

The absolute best book on basic people skills I or anybody I know that has read this book know of. This book is written with a Christian overtone and from a Christian's perspective. The author has been successful in alot of venture's from business to establishing successful charities. This is an author who has walked the walk and is able to talk the talk because of it. No theories here, great guide and information. Would recommend this book over all others in dealing with people skills.

When a man claims to be a "Christian" yet spends nearly every waking minute of his day engaged in thinking of projects that will provide new ways to make "more money"; this is surely a contradiction of terms and values. But the words of another, I feel, will most adequately describe this book's author...and his motives:

"The man who professes to be a Christian must not expect God's (holy) angels to keep him if he goes in the way of worldliness. There are hundreds, and I fear thousands, of church members who say that they are the people of God, yet they appear to live entirely to the world. Their great aim is moneymaking and personal aggrandizement, just as much as it is the aim of altogether ungodly men. The kingdom of Christ, the needs of His church, the wants of perishing souls have a very slender place in their hearts; they live wholly for themselves, only they try to conceal it under the plea of providing for their families. '...seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.'" (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)

I can't believe the hype surrounding this overhyped, overrated NFL receiver. To think , Jets could have had Marvin Harrison (a surefire hall of famer) instead of him Me-Shawn in the 1996 draft.

First of all let me start off by saying that i'm not the biggest fan of Keyshawn, as a matter of fact he is probably my least favorite NFL player, I always found him to be arrogant, and this book just proved my point even more. The whole book he complains that he is not being paid enough, he hates on his coaches. When he gets the ball, I have yet soon him to put up the numbers he claims he can get. I always wondered why Shawn King was benched, even though he led tampa bay pretty far the season he started, I was not surprised to hear rumors that keyshawn had something to do with it. He proved in this book that its all about the money for him, not the love of the game. If I was a coach I would not want him on my team. The only thing I liked what Mr. Johnson had to say, especially with the new ruled that was pass allowing guys to enter the draft to play football without playing college football, is that there is nothing like playing college football. Again, this is just my opinion of Mr.JOhnson, I could be totally wrong, he could be the most humble player in the NFL.

while i'm a big time Bills Fan i give Keyshawn Johnson madd Props for this Very Honest&Open Book.it details a Season&the Politics involved in the NFL.I'M Pulling for The Bills Vs Tampa Bay in The Superbowl.THe JEts were Dumb for Letting KeyShawn go.after what he had to deal with Growing up, The NFL is like Sesame Street by Comparison.

Great guy! Mr. Johnson is gutsy. He's not afraid to take on the sacred cows of the NFL. His numbers would tell you that he is an above-average receiver, while Keyshawon will tell you that he's the best receiver of all time. Who's right? I'm not sure, but reading this book will have you laughing in recognition. What a ride! His infectious smile will melt your heart and his double-talk unedited stream of consciousness logic will confound you. I only hope that Mr. Johnson will finish his career in Canada or possibly NFL Europe, which appears where he's headed. By 2007. my guess. Thank you Key! Stay hot and don't let bad stats get you down. You're a winner in my book. Which, I'm thinking of titling "Keyshawon Johnson: Genius and Scholar."

Keyshawn Johnson's memoir, Just Give me the Damn Ball, is a chronicle of one man's journey to understand himself. The "Ball" as every reader of Johnson's prose understands, is not an actual leather ball, but a metaphor for the unnameable phatom that evades all of us, and the thing that can give us, if we could just get our hands on it, a true spiritual balance that could once and for all stop the longing we all feel and that some people attribute to our being made in the image of a creator to satisfy this creater's longing. Using a musical and lyrical style, he paints a portrait of the difficulties and obstacles faced by many of our young men in this country today. And he pulls no punches; make no mistake, Keyshawn writes like he plays: often dropping the "ball", but rarely failing to dwell in those small moments of triumph. While the narrative is first person, the voice Johnson achieves can give an impression of almost total detachment. He describes his battles as uphill conquests, relaying little detail other than those of his own ability to catch the "ball", though we all know no one can hold on to the ball forever. Johnson understands this, though he never comes to the point where he feels comfortable saying it. The idea that one thing, the ball in this case, can satisfy a being, one made of skin and nerves and thick red blood, is nothing new, but Johnson is able to breath life into it by creating a world where we, while, at our core, understanding that the grasp of one object could never satisfy our depths, the pursuit of this object could give a life purpose and, ultimately, could satisfy the pointed ends of the "ball" which would only leave the middle, and though the middle could never be satisfied, the pursuit of it all, the endless journey we put ourselves in, is one that will one day be rewarded. But when will we know for sure?

What a great way to change up your routine and maintain interest in working out. This book has recharged my body and I see incredible results. Those exercises that look simple are really cranked up to a new level by doing it on the ball. I am on my second round through the book and have double the reps/time for each exercise. I also like the menu plan for it's portions and it helps guide me to more snacks during the day.
Laura

I was looking for something I could do with my kids and this is the perfect workout because you can do it anywhere literally. Its fun and easy. There are tons of exercises and the stretches feel wonderful.

Anyway I just finished up week 1 and so far I've lost 1 inch off my waist, 1/2 inch off my hips and am 1.5 pounds lighter. I did not follow her diet plan but just did weight watchers instead. And I did 30 minutes of cardio as well 3 times per week.

I was so excited that I just had to come and post a positive review on this book. I'm motivated more than ever to keep going now. Great book and much better than those pricey machines that take up space in your house.

Honestly this is really the only book that you will need to get a complete body workout. Not only does Denise break down the chapters into Abs workout, lower body workout, and upper body workout with the ball and bands she also shows how to perform yoga and pilates on the ball. This book is easy enough to throw in your suitcase with your resistance bands and take on vacation or even to the gym after your weight training. Absolute the best!!!

My sister bought me this book for Christmas and it was the best present ever! While weight was not really a big issue for me, I wanted to tone my body and to target those resistant fat-areas, such as the tummy (mine is the "apple" type and is really hard to get rid of). I faithfully completed the 3-weeks routine and tried to follow the diet. Most of the recipes are delicious and simple to prepare. However, the cumulative amount of food per day is more than my usual intake: I discovered that I am actually gaining weight with the suggested diet! I still occasionally use the recipes but do not follow the menu day-by-day. Once I completed the program, I designed my own routine, following Denise's guidelines on pp. 180-190 with an emphasis on my midsection. I liked working with the ball and bands so much that I use them for an hour nearly every day. I also supplemented the equipment with 8 lbs weights which I use instead of the bands for some exercises. Several months later I am happy to report that I have a great posture, a leaner body and I feel amazing! The program is a lot of fun and very convenient. It is a great time- and money-saver and I fully recommend it to anyone!

Overall, I like this book for many of the same reasons others did, but only for the duration of the 3-week program. I chose it because usually bands and balls are considered ideal for anyone who's just getting started exercising or who hasn't exercised in a long time, and for the most part it is - except for someone with a considerable amount of weight to lose.

Some of the positions in the exercises are difficult for someone with a lot of excess weight to achieve proper form (such as and planks and push-ups). I found one exercise - a standing quadricep stretch with your hand on the ball - impossible to do as pictured because at 5'6", apparently I'm taller then Denise and couldn't reach the ball without bending. There's no modifications for any of these except for advanced exercisers.

The recipes are good and surprisingly quick but again, no modifications if there's a food you don't like or might be allergic to (such as peanut butter), or if you live in an area where your grocery options are limited. I live in a major midwest metro area and have NO idea what "Old Bay seasoning" is, nor could I find it. (Must be a Texas thing.) As for cost, the food isn't as expensive as the South Beach Diet or Abs Diet.

Most of your eating is during the day, with two between-meal snacks(and snacking at work is a habit I'm trying to break). Many recent studies indicate that most people eat more later in the day, so it seems a light after-dinner snack would prevent late-night munchies but there's none here, despite an overall daily calorie count of about 1500.

(And...no dessert? Not even 10-calorie, sugar-free Jell-o? That's just wrong.)

I have saved this book to read just before the start of the new baseball season, not that I need to get fired up! Especially fun read as I live in Phoenix and root for the D-Backs and Mr. G!

My husband and I are a big fan of this man who has done a lot for the Arizona Diamondbacks, our favorite team. He is a gem to us and look forward to hearing him commentate more games this year.

Joe G. is a great storyteller, except in this book. I was very dissappointed in the fact it was like reading a "How to Play Baseball" for a 12 yr old. The stories were one liners and wrapped around the history of shinguards or who and how they make bats. Only finished 80% of book and will go bnack at later time.

I bought this for my husband. Who is a big NY Yankee fan (not too easy when you live in Red Sox territory). He enjoyed this so much, it was funny and informative. Go Yankees!!!!

Reading this book is like having a private lunch with Mr. Garagiola.

It's as if he's just lettin' the memories flow out, randomly. It's almost a stream-of-consciousness deluge of little anecdotes, stories and ideas.

Consequently, it's not the most elegant book; the writing isn't anything to get excited about. Given the innumerable literary baseball classics out there, it's safe to say this is not one of them. He's not in the Kahn/Halberstam/Angell/etc. territory here. Nor does he intend to be.

On the other hand, its' leisurely pace makes it more personal, more folksy, and therefore more real. Having heard his voice, oh, a bazillion times over the last several decades, it was easy to simply hear that voice in my head while reading this slim volume.

It works like a charm. Some of the incidents aren't as funny as he thinks they are; most of them are hilarious. Just like a favorite uncle who indulges you with stories from his past...which usually includes your own family members...Mr. Garagiola clearly enjoys the telling of the tale, with famous baseball personalities that for fans are exactly like old family members.

This is an easy recommendation, and a most pleasurable summer read for any baseball fan.