Teams Books

Nine Keys is a very practical step-by-step process in how to implement successful, healthy small groups into the local church.

I am a small-groups person. I have been in one small group or another, often as a leader, almost continually, for the past 30 years. I believe small groups are just about the most important aspect of a church's life.

I have read many books on this, gone to many seminars. There is a lot of good material on this topic.

But in my present role as a church consultant, this is the book on small groups that I hand to pastors who are wanting to know how to grow a small group ministry or how to better equip their small group leaders.

Why? As George explains in this book, most church small groups do a good job of promoting nurture and fellowship, but most stop there. George believes an effective small group should perform three basic functions, not just nurture. In addition to nurture, he believes small groups should be effectively engaged in small-group-based evangelism (George says that in any given year, only one small group in four does any evangelism), and he thinks that small groups should constantly be training small group leaders through apprenticeship. I agree that a small group needs all three functions. And so I use this book as the entry point for someone who is new to these ideas about small group life.

After this introduction, I point churches to further training or more in-depth printed materials about various aspects of this approach to small groups, but in my opinion, there's not a better starting point than this one.

We have used this tool since it came out. I've found that this tool is best for easily organizing the 'how to' stuff of small group leadership. It does not cover the ministerial philosophy issues. A good book for that is 'Master Plan of Evangelism' by Robert Coleman.

As the title for this book says, it covers nine keys for effective small group leadership. Each key really has four or five sub points...so in reality it is nine times about five...or forty five keys if you will. But George has organized them into nine groups...or keys.

We've found that leaders who study this material are easier to work with and easier to build a vision with for a local church ministry. There are a lot of books on Small Group Leadership that will help you. This one is very practical. It's so well written you can use it even if all you do is read the paragraph headers. Everything is well explained and easy to find or follow.

So even for leaders who don't like to read or who you suspect will not read everything you ask them to read, this book still might get through to them. I recommend it as a curriculum text for a course in a local church/ministry for leading small groups.

Enjoy it!

The best two things about this book are: 1) it helps the small group leader coordinate with the pastor, and 2) it includes shepherding, building community, discipleship and evangelism as part of the small group experience. It is the best balanced book available today!

Carl George effectively communicates the essential basics. This book does a good job of highlighting the difference between being a facilitator of small group time and being a leader (someone who is a disciple-maker). I have used this book as the main text for training small group leaders. It provides great material for interactive discussion and presenting a wholistic picture of all that small groups can be.

The author takes a very direct, unvarnished approach to addressing the issues that derail so many team meetings. I am not a facilitator by trade, but have led large teams, and been part of many meetings led by outside facilitators. I have first hand experience and know the difference between a productive meeting that leads to sustainable results, and disasterous meetings that produce make-work exercises that leave all participants feeling undervalued. The big take aways for me in this book surrounded the discussion regarding who the client really is, and how to engage participants. As a side bar, chapter 4 is alone worth the price of the book. The examples that Rahaim sites are excellent. His experience is rich and diverse. This is a good read for anyone interested in leading productive meetings. I wish I had this book 15 years ago!

I have been leading meetings for a number of years. Jack's insights into creating great,productive meetings are spot on.
He takes the fundamentals, breaks them down into steps, and creates a path to success which brings proven results.

Having worked at Jack's feet over a period of almost 20 years, I am delighted to find in "No More Meetings from Hell" the genius behind the genius. The book demonstrates that his approach is most paradoxical in that he is extremely well prepared, yet flexible enough to exploit (in its most positive sense) every opportunity to elicit, yes, the genius, out of a very diverse group of differently-motivated attendees. One thing is clear from Jack's book: not everyone is a facilitator and that truth is best learned before trying it. I was particularly impressed by his characteristically candid statements on ego and courage. Both are critical to successful facilitation. Jack's "product" is not a pre-packaged one-size-fits-all approach. If one can be as nimble as Jack, the "answer" can be playfully seduced out of those who best know the business.

I hate wasting time in meetings, and I hate leading meetings that go nowhere. Before reading Rahaim's book, I figured that facilitating efficient meetings was just a gift that some people had and some people didn't, or that it had to do with something like charisma or confidence. But Rahaim shows how anybody can become a good facilitator by using their individual strengths to their best advantage. He balances sound principles of organizational behavior with instructive anecdotes from his own consulting practice.

His step-by-step guides to gearing a meeting towards the needs of the participants (p. 24) and logistical preparation (p. 64) are particularly valuable. Those alone have saved me hours of preparation time in the last month!

I did have some minor quibbles with formatting style (the footnotes are arranged strangely in the text, and the editor has used British-style single quotes throughout.) But these do not detract from the readability of the book. All in all, Rahaim's book manages to be both precise and readable, both theoretically nuanced and immediately practical.

As someone who is called upon to facilitate client groups, I've been looking for a text which deals with more than surface training issues. This book delves into groups, how to work with where they are and how to guide them through a process to success. The section on identifying the 'real client' and crafting a methodology are worth the price by themselves. I have often wondered how the 'pros' approach this work. The author does an excellent job of letting us into his head as he plans a couple of client efforts. I highly recommend this book to anyone who facilitates or is considering facilitation either as part of their job or as a full time career.

This is an outstanding resource book for OSU Buckeye football fans. It offers detailed accounts of each season, including scores, stories, and much more.

However, there is one important shortcoming with this book. After watching the HBO special about the OSU-Michigan rivalry, it is clear that this book leaves out several important details about OSU football, usually details that tend to portray OSU in a somewhat negative light.

For example, absent from this book is the fact that one year during the 10 year war, in the midst of an OSU blowout, Hayes ordered his team to go for a 2 point conversion after a touchdown, and when asked by the media why he had gone for two, Hayes replied "Because I couldn't go for 3!" Michigan then used that as motivation as they took revenge upon OSU the following season when they won the rivalry game. This entertaining and important story is absent from the book, perhaps because it portrays OSU in a negative light. However, I prefer to read an objective account of what happened, and I like to hear both the good and the bad. This book offers much of the "good," but doesn't say much about the "bad" things that have happened in OSU football.

One further example, Hayes' career notoriously ended when he punched a Clemson player following an interception in a bowl game. This book covers the story, but really goes easy on OSU and Hayes, and fails to capture the type of shock and scandal that ensued following that incident. It may be a dark chapter in OSU history, but it was an important moment, and this book doesn't delve into the details, but rather defends Hayes as having acted "in an obvious fit of frustration" (paraphrasing). This was a disservice, as this was an excellent opportunity to present both sides of the story, from Hayes' supporters and his critics. Instead, the book glosses over much of the info, says that Hayes left, later spoke at a graduation, and leaves it at that. Hayes' impact on the school merited a more detailed explanation of what had happened, and the incidents that led up to Hayes' resignation. The lack of information, and the lack of objectivity detracted the book.

The book also does not go into much detail regarding the 10 year war, and the relationship between Hayes and Schembechler. I would have liked to see some more coverage in that area, as there were many terrific stories from that era.

Having said all of this, I would still recommend this book as a strong source of OSU football history. I would only caution that the book does not always tell the full story, and therefore should not be referred to as a "complete" history of OSU football.

A great book filled with everything and everyone of Ohio State Football lore. I recommend Highly.

In the great state of Ohio, football is a year-round fixation. Especially for fanatics of the Ohio State Buckeyes, who measure each season's success with the ghosts of its legendary past. When not anticipating the current team's fortunes, they're busy mining for factual nuggets reaffirming the program's glory years.

Buckeye enthusiasts have struck gold with the latter. THE OFFICIAL OHIO STATE FOOTBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA is an informational jackpot, a whopping 683 pages of pure pigskin bliss, chronicling the entire history of one of sports most storied traditions. Either a lifelong follower or an Ohio State alumnus could architect such a massive undertaking; fortunately, it fell into the able hands of Jack Park, who is both, in addition to his duties as a commentator and columnist. With over four-hundred college football games to his credit--including nearly every OSU home contest since the late-1940's--he is simply the foremost authority on Buckeye football.

Unlike most proverbial encyclopedias with the A to Z format, this one is chronologically recorded, from their humble beginnings in 1890 through the modern-day mania of the 2000 campaign. Amazingly, not one season or game slips through the cracks; each one is vividly recalled with various accounts and statistics.

What really distinguishes the book from the typical almanac, though, is Park's inclusion of the many colorful anecdotes scattered throughout. Within the gray-shaded blocks lie some wonderful tales involving famous and little-known individuals whose passion and spirit have helped to shape the Buckeyes' saga as much as the many great coaches and All-American players. If the myriad of information isn't enough, the appendix offers twenty-four more pages of records and statistics, while the feast concludes with an alphabetical listing of every letterwinner in their illustrious 111-year history.

Bringing the sea of words and numbers to life are the visuals, beautifully arranged with scads of archived photos, newspaper headlines, game programs, and ticket stubs. Rather than clutter the path, they perfectly enhance its charm, balancing the formality of a textbook with the casualness of a scrapbook.

Park's warm but direct approach works effectively. Although his own experiences with OSU date more than a half-century, his reports on each season prior are equally as fresh and seamless, as though he were actually there. These recollections also subtly echo the sentiments of true Buckeye loyalists while still remaining neutral, a deft touch for a work of this type. That personal flair ensures that it's not just compiled by some factory or computer; it makes the whole experience less like a rigid research and more similar to a batch of stories told by a friendly old neighbor.

An essential bible for Buckeye nuts, THE OFFICIAL OHIO STATE FOOTBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA should be required reading for even the remote sports fan curious to gain insight into the history of a major collegiate athletic program, and in Ohio State University's, one of the nation's proudest.

In the great state of Ohio, football is a year-round fixation. Especially for fanatics of the Ohio State Buckeyes, who measure each season's success with the ghosts of its legendary past. When not anticipating the current team's fortunes, they're busy mining for factual nuggets reaffirming the program's glory years.

Buckeye enthusiasts have struck gold with the latter. THE OFFICIAL OHIO STATE FOOTBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA is an informational jackpot, a whopping 683 pages of pure pigskin bliss, chronicling the entire history of one of sports most storied traditions. Either a lifelong follower or an Ohio State alumnus could architect such a massive undertaking; fortunately, it fell into the able hands of Jack Park, who is both, in addition to his duties as a commentator and columnist. With over four-hundred college football games to his credit--including nearly every OSU home contest since the late-1940's--he is simply the foremost authority on Buckeye football.

Unlike most proverbial encyclopedias with the A to Z format, this one is chronologically recorded, from their humble beginnings in 1890 through the modern-day mania of the 2000 campaign. Amazingly, not one season or game slips through the cracks; each one is vividly recalled with various accounts and statistics.

What really distinguishes the book from the typical almanac, though, is Park's inclusion of the many colorful anecdotes scattered throughout. Within the gray-shaded blocks lie some wonderful tales involving famous and little-known individuals whose passion and spirit have helped to shape the Buckeyes' saga as much as the many great coaches and All-American players. If the myriad of information isn't enough, the appendix offers twenty-four more pages of records and statistics, while the feast concludes with an alphabetical listing of every letterwinner in their illustrious 111-year history.

Bringing the sea of words and numbers to life are the visuals, beautifully arranged with scads of archived photos, newspaper headlines, game programs, and ticket stubs. Rather than clutter the path, they perfectly enhance its charm, balancing the formality of a textbook with the casualness of a scrapbook.

Park's warm but direct approach works effectively. Although his own experiences with OSU date more than a half-century, his reports on each season prior are equally as fresh and seamless, as though he were actually there. These recollections also subtly echo the sentiments of true Buckeye loyalists while still remaining neutral, a deft touch for a work of this type. That personal flair ensures that it's not just compiled by some factory or computer; it makes the whole experience less like a rigid research and more similar to a batch of stories told by a friendly old neighbor.

An essential bible for Buckeye nuts, THE OFFICIAL OHIO STATE FOOTBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA should be required reading for even the remote sports fan curious to gain insight into the history of a major collegiate athletic program, and in Ohio State University's, one of the nation's proudest.

My husband Lance went to Ohio State and wathches football and follows his alma mater, of course. I bought one of these books for him and for his dad. Wow...I finally bought a gift they both like, which meant a lot to me.

He likes different parts about the book, especially reviewing the years from when he attended OSU up through the most recent football campaigns. His father most enjoyed reading the section on Paul Brown, whose success at Ohio State was just part of a great coaching career.

They both liked the abundant photos throughout the book. My husband gets into sports stats, and this book was full of information on the teams and the individual players and coaches.

They both liked reading about Woody Hayes, Ohio State's legendary coach. My husband, who was a journalist at OSU, said he was able to interview Woody twice and the famous coach was extremely cordial both times. Of course, my husband said he never had to interview Woody after an Ohio State defeat.

So thank you for helping me make this holiday season successful and memorable.

This fantastic workbook is a labor of love and full of great solutions to complex business problems using the arts to facilitate collaboration at work. I bought this book to learn how to begin to facilitate corporate workshops using the arts for The Bite-Size Arts Ensemble, an organization I have created devoted to entrepreneurial growth for artists. Not only will it provide a platform to build on, but it will serve as the model for using arts based learning as a change agent in organizational development. Don't let the price of this book stop you! Buy it.

This is a great resource. It's a great collection of exercises that draw upon a wide variety of arts modalities. Each exercise is described in enough detail to be able to easily implement them.

This book was one of the first and best to explore using arts-based techniques and processes to address organizational issues. The introduction is a superb distillation of some of the reasons why the arts work in the business context and the exercises themselves are generally well thought-out and easy to use - they should be, as they come from some of the leading practitioners in this ever-growing field. The book may be expensive, but it is worth every cent for any trainer or facilitator who wants to take a more creative approach to their work.

I have discovered the power and the simplicity in finding/applying a wide variety of experiencial excercises that spark creativity and imagination in groups. The beauty of this valuable workbook is that it unleashes our hidden potentialities. I have successfully used these activities in private business and in non profit organizations and in every ocassion the results have been the creation of high energy and relevant discoveries among participants.
Thank you Arthur and Linda for your valuable contribution.

Arthur VanGundy has already given us just about every conceivable aid to creative work--from "Brain Boosters" to "101 Games" and "101 Activities." Now with Linda Naiman he delivers the most comprehensive and accessible creativity and innovation resource for groups I've ever seen.

And it's about time someone got business people to start thinking like artists. Anyone in business creativity, ideation, and new-product development will find the VanGundy-Naiman approach not only inspiring and fun but incredibly effective.

This binderful of brilliance would be a bargain at $900.

This is one of the best wrestling books of all time and I rank it right up there at the top of my list of best wrestling books. Greg Oliver always delivers. He is well researched and he knows his stuff inside and out. I read this book cover to cover when I first got it and have read it several times since. I use it quite often as a reference book also.

If you love wrestling and want to read about the boys from the past and now and want to hear their stories in and out of the ring get this book... and anything else Greg Oliver and Steve Johnson put out.

Finally, someone has written a book that mentions the tag teams I grew up watching when the NWA was in full bloom: George Becker and Johnny Weaver; George and Sandy Scott; Rip Hawk and Swede Hansen; Aldo Bogni and Bronco Lubich; The Infernos and more. Up to now, I thought no one would ever acknowledge the excellent performances of these folks. If you feel the same way, buy this book - you won't be disappointed!

Colorful stories and a great look at the history of professional wrestling. The authors take you from the very beginning of "Australian Rules Tag" matches to modern day. I don't know how younger fans will appreciate this book but for anyone over 35 this book is a MUST READ. It can also be used as a reference when arguing with your buddies. The photos are a great throwback to a time when wrestling publicity pictures were black and white and reminded me of my childhood paying 50 cents for a glossy 8x10.

This is a good history of tags teams in wrestling. It gives a good account of in ring actions as well as the story behind the men. The only thing it lacks is more tag teams especially the last 10 years or so.

Greg Oliver & Steve Johnson did an outstanding job in writing The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams. No other wrestling history book ever has gone to the effort that these guys have. Ever tag team written about was either contacted an interviewed or if all the memebers were deceased at least a family member was tracked down and interviewed. Their rating system was well done and not without contraversy. Love or hate where they ranked your favorite tag team, they made you think about it and discussion amongst the wrestling community has been hot and heavy on this book. Great insight into many tag teams from years gone by the most fans either new little about or never heard of. They helped bring back memories of great teams like the Kangaroos, Kentuckians and The Infernos. Great photos a sprinkled throught. This is a must read for any wrestling fan of tag team wrestling. No other wrestling history book even comes close to covering tag team wrestling like this book.

the book was in great condition. and as a flyers fan, i am happy to have this book in my library.
thanks!

This book is probably the best history of the Flyers that you could find out there. Full Spectrum ranks right up there, but it doesn't have Mr. Heart's personality like SCORE! does. I'm gonna miss Gene.......

Having grown up a Flyers fan and hearing Gene Hart for many years, I loved this book. It's a great combination of how Gene became associated with the Flyers, as well as a timeline of the Flyers' history from the beginning up to the early 90's.

I first started listening to Gene Hart calling Flyers games in 1968. He was a wonderful announcer when the Flyers were mediocre and was absolutely superb when they were on top. I've heard a lot of sports broadcasting in a lot of cities around the country in the last 35 years and no one else in any sport approaches Gene's work. I was disappointed when he stopped announcing and deeply saddened with his passing last year. His book is every bit as fine as his radio and television work. Of the several Flyers books in print, his supasses the others in intimacy, first hand recollections and general nostalgic value. I sure miss Gene Hart, but this book and some tapes of television broadcasts he did are my most treasured sports memorabilia. He is a Hall of Famer and his writing belongs there too.

No one can tell a story the way Gene Hart did. He made you feel as though you were a part of every experience he retells in this book. Gene's love & passion for the game of hockey and the Philadelphia Flyers is clearly evident in this book. Gene not only chronicles the Flyers history from their entrance into the NHL, he also gives you a deep insight into the pride and character of a close knit group of players. We are all truly enriched by Gene's efforts.

The nun completely cracks me up! There were a few times while reading this gem when I thought I would die laughing!

A nun in the major leagues? No way! But Hanson makes it happen, and with hilarious results. The combination of burly athletes who aren't always on their best behavior, and a devout Catholic female who insists that they behave, is truly entertaining. I look forward to more books by this author.

I loved this book. The author's got a great sense of humor that carries the story, even in the more serious parts. While it's not likely that we'll see a nun pitching in major league baseball anytime soon, Hanson did his homework and came up with a scenario that could happen: a woman knuckerballer playing major league baseball. Why not? The Spring Habit's got a strong storyline with real conflict. It combines religion and politics and America's favorite pastime. What's not to love?

The Spring Habit is an irreverent yet upbeat novel featuring a most unlikely heroine - a chaste and virtuous nun with a singularly amazing knuckleball. The big league Washington Memorials grudgingly accept her, yet as she strives to make headway in an all-male world, she develops a bond with the team's female beat reporter. With the World Series underway, tension promises to be high amid a gender-redefinition of pro sports!

This book is really a fun read. If you like baseball, it has enough baseball to keep you interested. If you don't like baseball, you'll still enjoy it. Hanson is a really fine writer and the story is funny and moving.

JONATHAN KNIGHT DOES A GREAT JOB TAKING US THRU SOME GREAT AND EXCITING YEARS DURING THE MID TO LATE 1980'S CLEVELAND BROWNS SEASONS. HE REALLY BRINGS BACK SOME GOOD AND NOT SO GOOD NOSTALGIC MOMENTS. WE START WITH THE DISASTEROUS 1984 SEASON WITH THE RELEASE OF GOOD GUY SAM RUTIGLIANO AS HEAD COACH AND IS REPLACED BY MARTY (SHOT AND A BEER) SCHOTTENHEIMER. FROM THERE THE BROWNS PEAK UNTIL 1986 WHEN THEY HAD THEIR BEST TEAM OF THIS ERA LOSE IN THE FAMOUS "THE DRIVE" GAME. FROM THERE THE BROWNS WENT DOWN HILL A BIT EACH YEAR BUT STILL REACHED THE PLAYOFFS. AS A RESULT OF BAD DRAFTING, IDIOTIC PLAYER JUDGEMENTS AND THE CONSTANT INTERFERENCE OF BIG MOUTH ART (THE LIAR AND BS'ER) MODELL THE TEAM WENT BELLY UP. WITH THE RELEASE OF BERNIE KOSAR THE ATTENDANCE WENT THRU THE BASEMENT. AND WITH THE HIRING OF BILL (PRE NEW ENGLAND) BILICHICK THE FANS STAYED AWAY IN GROVES. POOR ART, HE WANTED A NEW STADIUM BUT WANTED THE TAX PAYERS TO PAY FOR IT. NOT GETTING IT HE LEFT AND THE RAVENS WERE BORN. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR ALL BROWNS FANS. A GREAT READ.

Very well written account of a great era in Cleveland Sports history. I had moved back to town in the time frame and was so excited to have the Browns back in my life that strongly. A great group of guys. Really is a shame they were not able to take it to the next level, but in the end, truly, the experience is way more about the journey than the end result. To Earnest Byner.....a quote I once heard from Julius Erving after he had lost to Kareem and the Lakers for the second time and lost in the champioinship for the third time...."In order to be great, you have to DARE to be great, and I will continue to dare to be great." I think of that qoute when I think of his experience in those years.

I loved this book, I vaguely remember these Browns teams as I was only about 10 years old, but I knew how much they meant to people around me. Reading this enable me to learn how this team connected with the city and how much heartbreak there was. I couldn't pt the book down wanting to relive everybit of the history.

I purchased this book on a lark right when the 2006 football season began. As the Browns started their all-too-familiar path of on-field ineptitude and losing, I decided to pull this book out for a read.

Thank goodness I did, as it made me remember how good things used to be for those few years in the 1980s. The author did a great job of describing the games and providing insight as to what was going on within the team, organization and community at the time.

A wonderful read that took me mind away from another abysmal season and reminded me why I love this team.

I love this book (as well as "The Kardiac Kids", also by this author). As someone born and raised in Cleveland, I've followed the Browns since the early seventies. The Schottenheimer era, along with the first year of Bud Carson's reign, contained some of the most exciting (and heartbreaking) Browns games I can remember. I still have a lot of VHS tapes of those games, which I occasionally get out to re-live the days when the Browns were a real contender.

Mr. Knight's book begins with the last part of Sam Rutigliano's reign as head coach, when the Kardiac Kids were becoming a memory and the team began to return to the losing ways of the mid seventies. We learn how Rutigliano was fired and replaced by Marty Schottenheimer and how the team acquired the players whose names would come to represent the newer, better Browns: Kosar, Slaughter, Dixon, Golic, Byner, and so many others.

There were a lot of classic games in the late eighties, and Knight takes us through all the important moments - the 1985 divisional playoff in Miami, the thrashing of the Bengals at Cincinatti in 1986, the Steelers games, the Oilers games, the great playoffs against the Jets in '86, the Colts in '87, the Bills in '89, and, of course, those nightmarish Broncos.

When the games are really big, Knight's coverage is quite in depth. For example, we read Nev Chandler's own words as he describes Kosar's touchdown pass to Brennan in the '86 AFC Championship for the radio audience: "... he's firing the home-run ball for Brennan... turns one way, turns another...HE'S GOT IT AT THE FIFTEEN! TEN! FIVE........" I still get excited at that! For a moment anyway, we were going to the Super Bowl!!

Besides the game action, we also learn a lot of what was going on behind the scenes - the death of Don Rogers, the issues that caused Schottenheimer to leave for Kansas City after the 1988 season, Kevin Mack's drug addiction, and how the bottom finally fell out in Carson's second year.

I can't praise this book highly enough for the true Browns fan. Pick it up and enjoy the great memories. It will help to hold you over till that sweet day when we finally, someday, get another contender in Cleveland. And when we do, I'll be cheering as loud as ever!

I was anticipating the publishing of this book as I have been familiar with Stein's work as the Dodgers' official team photographer. What you get in this book is a nice blend of posed shots along with never-before published shots of various game stills along with behind the scenes snaps. In addition, Crosby and D'Agostino enlist the help of the still living Brooklyn Dodgers (including Vin Sculley) to tell the reader what is really happening in the photo or why the photo was taken.

This is clearly not a rehash of old Dodgers lore or the same, well-published photographs...but an intimate family album of the Brooklyn Dodgers from '37-'57.

Forests have been felled with books written about the much beloved Brooklyn Dodgers. Roger Kahn, Carl Erskine, Red Barber, and numerous others have relished telling us what life was like with Brooklyn baseball, especially from the years 1947 through 1957. In addition, numerous authors have written about Jackie Robinson. However, author Dennis D'Agostino and Bonnie Crosby, daughter of Barney Stein, who was the official photographer of the Brooklyn Dodgers have put together several of Barney's photographs of his years in covering the Dodgers from 1937 through their last season of 1957 in Brooklyn. These are photos not seen before in other books, and numerous details are provided that the reader may otherwise overlook in the picture. I'm fortunate to have the book entitled "The Rhubarb Patch" published in 1954 with Barney Stein's photos and text by Red Barber, and this new effort is a treasure trove of photos from this historical era. One photo that has been often seen is of Jackie Robinson stealing home in the 1955 World Series on pages 90 and 91. The view we are given shows the entire dugout and many of the fans in the stands, several dressed in neckties and fedoras. The on-deck batter for the Dodgers, Frank Kellert, appears to have the best view of whether Robinson was safe or out. When asked for his opinion on the play Kellert drew the rath of Robinson by answering, "I thought he was out." Not mentioned in the caption, but seated in the front row of the stands is "The Big O", Dodgers' owner Walter O'Malley, nattily attired in suit and tie. I'm thankful I can remember the Dodgers of the 1950's, but whether you are old enough to do so or not, if you enjoy baseball history, I would highly recommend, yes, one more book on the Brooklyn Dodgers.

I thought I had seen just about every shot of the "Boys of Summer" but boy was I wrong. The book had some fabulous and nostalgic photos of my childhood heroes. Well written and enjoyable reading added to the wonderful photos. A must for every Brooklyn Dodger fan

Having only been told of the folklore of the Brooklyn Dodgers from my father, it was a real treat to see new photos of a golden age of baseball. This book captures the essense of baseball in Brooklyn and the love affair of the fans and the players. My Dad's favorite player was Don Newcombe, and there he was putting on his uniform at Ebbet's Field with a huge smile. This book gave me a connection to Brooklyn I only heard from the stories of my father. After reading and viewing these photos I felt like I was part of Happy Feltons Knothole Gang....What a treat and I believe for Brooklyn Dodgers fans a Treasure!

Thank heaven for Barney Stein, the five foot tall giant of a man whose personal rallying cry of "Uno mas! One more!" allowed for the creation of THROUGH A BLUE LENS, a "family album" of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Barney was the team's official photographer from 1937 to 1957. Indefatigable in composing the best shots (he is said to have climbed the old dirigible mooring mast on the Empire State Building for a panoramic shot, and climbed the north tower of the then-under-construction Triborough Bridge for much the same reason), each of Barney's photographs tells a complete story.

Posed shots are here as well as in the old Dodger Yearbooks that Barney contributed so richly to. Action shots of crucial and not-so-crucial moments on the field pepper this book. What sets THROUGH A BLUE LENS so far apart are the informal and candid shots of the team going about the everyday business of Dodger baseball. Barney's quick eye captured the fun and the excitement and the team's Love of The Game, and captured the unique personalities of each individual Dodger. He also captured Ebbets Field at its best and in its sad death throes, the true end of an era in Brooklyn.

Did I say thank heaven for Barney Stein? Well then, thank heaven for his daughter, Bonnie Crosby, who has managed to preserve so many of her father's never-before-seen creations. Doubtless many of Barney's photographs are gone forever, and THROUGH A BLUE LENS is too short at 162 pages, but this wonderful coffee table edition is a must have for the dedicated Brooklyn Dodger fan.

Great book. Useful and informative. I enjoyed the theme of lighthearted fun since it was backed up with useful information. A valuable resource for anyone thinking of taking tmie off (hard to do), and even more so for anyone thinking of taking time off and staying put (even harder to do). Pick up this book for now and the future as it is a great reminder about what's important in life...

A fun, adventurous, humorous & practical guide for the uninhibited!

O.K., so I would probably fall into the middle bell curve of the population that endures their specific work life to support their real life. For those that are in this category (and worse) then there are some useful morsels in this book that might help to lift your spirits or even inspire some adventurous life outside the box. Some previous negative reviews struck me as coming from souls that are rigidly programmed and if that describes yourself, then be forewarned, this book is not about coloring within the lines. After all, if you are not happy with the present picture, then why would you continue to live by the same set of constraints?

Great book helped me tremendously in keeping a positive perspective on my Time Off as I look for the next Career Adventure. I love that most of the research has been completed and now I just have to decide day by day how I make my part of the world better for me and all around me at a budget of course. Anybody who has time off right now should pick up this book and see what ideas they can explore. All I can Say is get out there and have a cheap and meaningful adventure. YAY!

Relax! You're a smart, talented individual. How do you think you got your last job? Now, stop and think... how often do I get time off? Never is right. So, if you find yourself out of work (like I did) don't stress. Pick up a copy of this book and spend a few days in the park. You'll be surprised by all your options -- these guys have done all the work for you! And if you're stuck in a grind of a job, give some serious thought about taking some "Time Off" yourself. They'll get by without you, and you just might gain a fresh persepctive on what's really important to you in YOUR life -- remember, you only have one... don't waste it!