Leagues Books

First, the problems with the reprint of the best-seller that opened up a wealth of first-person accounts of those wild years with the Yankees:

* Sparky Lyle was not in favor of having the book reissued;
* There is not any new material and the typographical mistakes remain from the first edition;
* Unless you followed baseball in the 1970s or have an appreciation of baseball history, you may have trouble following the personalities and situations chronicled.

My rating is based on the controversy that exploded surrounding Lyle's candid accounts of the crazy 1978 season. Lyle does not shy away from the seemingly daily madness of The Boss, Reggie, Billy, and the closer wars of Goose and the co-author. It makes the stuff that swirled around the 2006 Yankees seem like agate type for the tabloids.

In the spring, Peter Golenbock was pushing the book pretty hard on local and national sports talk shows. I wish he would have done more than just put a nearly 30 year old sports book back in print.

But even the professional laziness of Golenbock cannot lesson the importance that book had in chronicling the Yankees and on Lyle's pitching career. The following season, Lyle was on the mound for the Texas Rangers.

Who knew that Sparky Lyle could be this funny? "The Bronx Zoo" is hilarious, but it's also a voyeuristic glimpse into the genuine, human world of baseball. Our sports figures are so lionized, it's easy to forget they are men with strange superstitions, nervous habits, and sometimes hysterical traits they try to hide when the eyes of the world are upon them.
Lyle writes with a surprisingly crisp and engaging style as he describes the behind the scenes chaos of the Yankees 1978 season. Here are the famed Yanks in all their human nature, sometimes ugly, sometimes odious, almost always entertaining.
Even casual baseball feels will get a sinful thrill out of viewing these superstars in the less than glorious world of the locker room. Baseball greats are humanized as Lyle tells the story of strange behavior with socks, devious practical jokes, and teammates struggling with language barriers.
As the Yankees go, so goes baseball, it sometimes seem. This is a book that will titillate fans of the game today even though the names have changed. And in a day when scandal and big money seem to be the themes of the sport, "The Bronx Zoo" is a refreshing reminder that the game is played by grown up boys and it is, after all, only a game.

Great inside info on a great season. I was surprised however at Sparky's constant complaints throughout the book. He keeps talking about all he wants to do is pitch, but spends the first half of the book complaining he is underpaid. Also talks about how he just wants the team to win, but at various points, refuses to go into games or leaves the team completely for a game. This is a good read and I would recommend it, but Sparky really moved down a notch or two in my eyes.

In this "diary" (what diary has a co-author?) of his season with the Yankees in 1978, Lyle reveals the tension and lunacy of that memorable year. Only problem is, Lyle's frequent whining about being put on the back burner for the younger, stronger, and better Goose Gossage gets tiresome after awhile. It almost made me want to put down the book. While his inside info is nice, he puts himself ahead of the team at times by leaving before a game ends. At times you felt bad for Sparky for being shunned, other times you want to slap him for being so selfish. At any rate, I'd recommend getting Roger Kahn's "October Men" as a reference for the 1978 Yankees before this one.

Though I grew up a total Yankee Hater (and was 15 yrs old when this season took place), the book ranks right up there with "Thin Ice - A Season in Hell with the New York Rangers" as a top quality read for a baseball focus. Probably the best thing about this book is how Golenbock and Lyle are able to put a real personal touch to some of the Yanks that played on that team that year. Nettles is a total cut-up, Munson is a real gamer, Jackson is a media hog, Billy Martin is part psychotic and part genius, and Ron Guidry is the quiet, yet dominating athlete that just goes out and does his job. Some of the more amusing antedotes are the ones involving Fritz Peterson in Lyle's earlier days, and Rawley Eastwick's escapades in the present day. Previous reviews talk about Lyle being "whiny", and I can agree with that perception. It's kind of hard to relate to someone complaining about his stature in life as a professional baseball player, when Joe Schmoe is out there trying to eeke out a living doing whatever. But I have to admit that if you had won a Cy Young the previous year before and all of a sudden was relegated to "mop-up" status, it would be a blow to one's pride. But the book does hit its mark on one thing . .the perception of George Steinbrenner is TOTALLY dead-on.

The first two pages were very bad, but it was all uphill from there. It got better and better as it went along, much like the Green Lantern part of this series, although the end of this was better than that. A faster than light universe wrecking serial killing super beast - how do you stop it, that is the problem. This novel cleverly involves his aunt Iris, the Justice League, and The Flash. It is really intriguing to see a writer delve at length into what he is thinking while superspeeding, which you can get in comics, but only in tiny, tiny parts.

Oh, and a new term for the geeks - cryptospeedsters, that was great.

"Flash - Stop Motion" is about The Flash, aka Wally West, who finds that his new enemy is actually faster than he is, and he is killing people in Keystone City who have the metagene that creates other Speedsters. OK, I admit that the story in and of itself was kind of weak, and I thought the prose was too thick. When it described the exact (theoretical) science behind Speedsters, Speedforce, and other speed associated skills, it bogged down in very boring detail. And trying to understand what Flash was doing when he was fighting Superluminoid on a certain speed level that is actually a different plane of existance was hard to imagine. But where it did sucssed was in detailing Wally and his feelings about himself, his powers, his place with the Justice League; mostly his feeligns of failing and inadequacy. Wally really comes off as a real man here, not a superbeing (like Superman) or superegotistic (Batman can be at times a little hard to bear). I like that he could share his enormous responsability with someone, like his wife. I learned a lot about Speedsters, and the previous Flashes (Barry Allen and Jay Garret). So, read this more for the character development, the action can be rough going.

Was it Wally West portrayed as a greater whiner than even in his most whiny days in the comics?

Was it the awful characterizations of the other JLA members, speaking and acting not at all like their comic (or cartoon) counterparts?

Was it the big deus ex machina at the end that helped defeat the villain, change DCU continuity, and resolve all of Wally's character woes?

Was it other odd continuity gaffes, like suggesting that Iris Allen has never actually met Batman?

Was it the Flash, in the very first sentence of the book, "flying" through the air at superspeed and duking it out with meteors?

I have no idea. But this is probably the weakest of the DC JLA novels I've read to date. Mark Schultz has written some good stuff in the past, but this isn't representative of it.

The Flash was the first of the every-man super-heroes (i.e. what if a regular guy had an accident and got super powers), which includes characters like Spider-Man. In this story Wally on an almost spiritual lever, like Luke Skywalker. The villain is a high-tech Frankensteinian creation of science gone awry. I hope that there will by more novels of the Flash as good as this one.

Were it not for the horrible ending, this book would have been a solid four stars.

Following up on Mythos, the Flash gets his solo effort in the JLA novels. The author does a good job focusing on the Flash without ignoring the other members, or going out of the way to remove them from the scene so the Flash can take center stage.

The Flash is nicely presented as a younger hero, very powerful yet insecure against the legends of the JLA, and the otherworldy antagonist is effectively creepy and interesting.

After building up the powers of this extra-dimensional SuperLuminal in anticipation of the final encounter the author does the unforgiveable. From out of nowhere another hero summons the Flash to Quantum-Paradise and gives him godlike powers, temporarily, and advice on how to defeat the entity as well as a healthy dose of quantum physics hand-waving to explain the powers of the Flash. Afterwards the new powers go away, and so does the convenient savior albeit with a "shock revelation"

So much promise with what had been a good character driven novel focusing on the Flash and his civilian and superhero life just thrown away by this Deus ex Machine ending.

A must read for all parents of prospective college goers. This book removes all the marketing ideas of what we have been led to perceive a college "should" be for our children. Very freeing. This book will pay for itself!

I agree with all the positive reviews of this book -- Mr. Mathews does a great job in convincing students and parents that all that glitters is not Ivy. In case you weren't sure, you can be happy and successful and not graduate from Harvard or Yale. The author includes several real life anecdotes and some statistics, and takes a good look at the admissions game. This is especially a must-read for overwrought parents and nervous students who face a lifetime of Prozac without an Ivy degree. Mr. Mathews does justice to the many other fine schools out there, many of whom offer comparable or superior academics. It isn't an indepth guide to particular colleges, and although Mr. Mathews offers pointers for the application process, it isn't a how-to guide for college admissions. I am puzzled, however. This is the second time a Harvard grad informed me that Harvard isn't the ticket I think it is. The first, an administrator of a private school, went so far as to suggest that a Harvard degree is a burden. Yet most of the administration at this school are Ivy. Mr. Mathews and his wife are both Harvard grads. His daughter attended one of the most prestigious private schools in the D.C. area, and his son, one of the most elite public high schools. So while I appreciate the reassurance that my public college degree isn't an impediment and that my public school son is on a fairly level playing field in the admissions process, I still don't quite believe it.

There certainly is life and there certainly are alternatives outside the Ivy League. You can get an Ivy League level of education plus so much more in the way of building leadership and character for your future life at a college like West Point, a college that, believe it or not, everyone has a good shot at getting into despite its reputation. You can learn the real story of the West Point way of education by reading "West Point: Thomas Jefferson: Character Leadership Education" by Remick.

Harvard Schmarvard is an excellent resource although it is not my favorite book on the college admissions process. The author, Jay Mathews, is funny and insightful, but doesn't always make the best case against brand name schools as his many stories of where students happily ended up include schools which really are pretty well-known powerhouses like Tufts, UCLA, or Columbia.

Here's where this book is indispensable: Wait-lists. If your student is wait-listed, things really don't look that rosy, but Mathews has some excellent advice on how to handle the ever increasing phenomenon and ways to get in that involve starting school during the summer or spring semesters instead of the fall. His information about how to analyze "college visit weekends" for admitted students and his advice to potential transfer students is also very good stuff. His position about the US News rankings seems very smart. He notes they can actually hurt students since they force colleges to panic about selectivity and yield, factors which can lead to wait-listing or rejecting strong candidates. In addition, Mathews' stories of students and parents he's known are excellent examples of what the college search can be like. Overall, this is a book I recommend picking up.

However, Mathews occasionally gives some odd advice. He suggests that visiting colleges in a student's junior year isn't a good idea because the schools will be too busy worrying about seniors. I can understand waiting to interview until senior year, but just about every other resource will tell you that students need to begin visiting colleges by, at the latest, the second semester of their junior year or they may face a bit of a time crunch. Mathews also suggests buying "all the textbooks" of the classes that interest you at a prospective college. What?! I can see that it would help to review the texts to see if the school chooses books that are compelling reading, but who has that kind of money? Mathews also claims to favor big state schools, which also flies in the face of what many of the other college experts say. Mathews cites the numerous activities, the top-flight professors that rival Ivy League offerings and the ability to choose and switch around many different majors. I feel he's neglecting facts that others frequently bring up. Competition for leadership positions in extracurricular activities is often very intense at big state schools, the top-flight professors are often too busy with research and graduate students to be available to undergraduates, and layers of bureaucracy can make it very difficult to switch majors or take classes outside of one's field of study. It's interesting to note that in his list of one hundred schools he thinks are worth giving a good look, the vast majority of them are small. I only saw three that were over 15,000 students and a total of five over 7,000. Also, I feel Mathews book is geared to families that don't need much information about financial aid, so if that's not true for you, you'll need another resource.

I did say this book is worth getting, but if you buy only one book to guide you through the admissions process, right now my recommendation would be Fiske's Guide to Getting Into the Right College. Its information is very clearly and intelligently written, especially their portion about financial aid, and I feel the advice it offers is generally the wisest. Still, the Fiske book (not to be confused with the Fiske Guide To Colleges - also very good) does not discuss individual schools to any real degree. In this case, I'm still not sure Harvard Schmarvard would be my first pick even though he discusses a hundred underrated schools as his blurbs about each are usually too brief. Many schools on his list are actually quite well-regarded, such as Bates, Bard, Kenyon, Macalester, Davidson and Grinnell so information about them is readily available in other guidebooks. For a better look at underrated schools, I would suggest Loren Pope's Colleges That Change Lives. Even though Pope's book is a bit dated, Mathews reconfirms Pope's choices by including most of the same schools including Rhodes, Goucher, Austin College, Eckerd, Hendrix and Millsaps, but the reviews in Pope's book are much more thorough.

David CollegePlanGuy@aol.com

If this was written by a Harvard-reject, credibility would be the central issue. This author, however, received his undergraduate and graduate degree from Harvard and is one of the few insiders who is qualified to reveal the secret: Harvard, etal are great institutions because of the kids they get and not what they do for the kids.

This is an important book for kids and parents of children who are considering the highly selective schools, particularly those with the out-sized reputations.

For a Philly Hockey fan and fan of the overall game, Jonesy is an amazing read. Great stories with insight into the game that most of us never get to see. I laughed outloud more than a dozen times. I literally couldn't put it down. That is the best compliment you can give any book.

"Jonesy" is an entertaining story. The biggest problem with it is that is could have been written better by an 8th grader. There are more than just grammatical errors; some sentences flat out don't make sense as written. I was stunned that a published work could be such a mess (didn't anyone edit this?!) Oh well, if you can get past all that and enjoy hockey, you will enjoy the book.

First, this was a great read. I enjoyed it a lot despite thinking back to the Caps postseason woes under Terry Murray and Schoenfeld when Keith was there. Let me say he was one of the most clutch Caps ever, one of my favorites and I was ticked they dealt him for Chris Simon and Curtis Leschysin (spelling?), who was in town a minute and a half. I was never really a Chris Simon fan when he was here.

Three of Keith's stories I loved: I'll try not to tell too much as I don't want to spoil them.

The grueling skating regimen after Caps practice during the '92 playoffs, with Keith getting ticked that the Caps were beating the Pens and that meant more skating. High fiving Steve Konowalchuk when the Caps were losing so the skating would end.

Handling his own contract negotiations with GM David Poile and bringing the empty briefcase to the meetings. I kept thinking of the Animal House scene where one of the Delta's points to his briefcase and smiles before the student body hearing.

The Anson Carter stick story.

I also liked the John Poor story at the end.

Great job. Sure there was an error ir two in there but I got the gist of what Keith was trying to tell us. Excellent read!

As a WMU alum (class of '94) and hockey fan, I had the good fortune to have great seats for pretty much every home game for Jones during his junior & senior years in college. He impressed me as a player then. Given that connection, and hearing through John Buccigross' column that the proceeds for this book would go to charity, I pre-ordered this and read it immediately upon receiving it.

The life and career of Jones are told through his unique voice throughout. This makes for very easy reading - if it seems aimed at a slightly younger-than-adult audience - and the 200 or so pages, much like Keith's career, go by far too quickly.

Passages are both hilarious and touching.

Highly recommended!

I liked this book. It's not horribly well written but it was enjoyable for the price.

I am not typically drawn to romance novels but must comment that this short is worth pursuing! The characters are well developed in a short time and relating to them was easy. Rayne is outlined as the temptation that no woman can resist despite the expected ramifications and Chris is the epitome of a once-bitten-twice-shy gal looking for love but scared to death of finding it...a perfect combination to build some interesting scenarios. I quickly became immersed in the storyline and would welcome the opportunity to read more - this short was simply not enough!

Though there are a few new angles, this excerpt does not break any romantic ground. The heroine is being stalked, her wacky best friend is protective, the hero is a standard alpha male. None of this means, however, that the manuscript is not a fun read. It absolutely is.

I was drawn in immediately, because Christa is a female athlete - and not a WNBA star, a semi-professional softball catcher. That in itself is a nice, different note. Though she's got a tomboy shell, she's also sweetly vulnerable - I adored the scene in the bathroom where she describes her post-game appearance, hair wings and all. Though he's not different, Rayne is sold well as a hero, and he was gently protective and flirtatious without being obnoxiously macho. I was completely sold on her attraction to him.

The PW review makes me leery of how the story will continue, but I can't judge that, because I haven't read it. I can only say that there's no reason I wouldn't give this a chance, based on the sold beginning.

I enjoyed this read. Caught my interest, with an easy to read style of writing. I particularly like the characters. The hero and heroine feel plausable and likeable and I would enjoy getting to know them. Rayne sounds like the man of my dreams and it is nice to live in the fantasy of a book such as this one after a busy day. It is great to hear about places and locations I know. I don't usually read romance novels but this romance suspense novel would change my mind and be on my list of books to read. This writer is talented and if it is not published here, someone will discover her and I will watch for and look forward to her books. She is definitely an author to watch.

Found it to be a great read so far! Fingers crossed Rayne turns out to be the 'knight in shining armour' we all crave. Appreciated the suggestion that it is okay for even a strong women to crave the need for somebody to lean on in times of crisis. Good role model for younger ladies to pick up on. I like the earthy feel of this book, very relatable, enjoyed the sporty theme. I feel compelled to read on!!....Look forward to reading the 'Extra Innings' to this short exerpt.

This author did a good job of moving the story along but the conversation was pretty boring at times. Here supposedly is a very independent woman, who knows how to do a lot of things well, but she acts like a schoolgirl around this man she's known for two years. AND why do all the male love interests in this type of genre have to be 'gorgeous'? Why can't they be attractive or just average looking men with charisma? And if Rayne already has a reputation of being a womanizer why would she want to chance even having a relationship with someone who's probably going to break her heart. Especially since she alludes to the fact she's already had that happen. Someone Rayne's age usually won't change their habits. The author may explain that in the rest of the novel, but Rayne needed a little more fleshing out besides the comment about the notches on his bedpost. Just becos someone is gorgeous isn't any reason to fall for them. Gorgeous people a lot of times are very self centered and vain. The stalking aspect opens doors to make this an interesting novel with a little work.

Trial, like a battle, is a zero-sum game. I thought the author could walk on water until Bush v. Gore. David Boies likes dice throwing, and compares it to litigation. Actually, he feels that analogies to war are overdone.

Deposing Bill Gates in United States v. Microsoft was an opportunity to use the e-mail of the CEO and others in the company against the defendant. The trial of Microsoft had been dubbed the trial of the decade. After the Microsoft trial, Boies embarked upon a suit against Roche, BASF, Rhone-Polenc and others for price-fixing in the vitamin market. The case settled for more than the estimated overcharges.

The auction house business used to be cozy. In 1983 Alfred Taubman purchased Sotheby's. In the late 1990's price-fixing resulted in law suits against Christie's and Sotheby's. There was a run of class-action law suits and, in a bidding processs devised by the court, Boies and his firm became the lead attorneys. The cases settled. It is claimed that litigation may resemble the game Bridge, but negotiation to settle resembles Poker.

When Boies entered the Bush v. Gore matter, Warren Christopher was in charge. A number of days were spent in Florida and the Florida courts. Initially there was jubilation because a recount of the undercounting state-wide was to be commenced. Then Boies learned that the U.S. Supreme Court had stopped the count from going on just prior to the scheduled December 11th hearing before it. The Court failed to show the restraint it had for two hundred years in Bush v. Gore. Justices Kennedy and O'Connor discovered a problem with the Florida procedure on Equal Protection grounds.

Boies's recital of some of the notable cases in his career is never dull.

David Boies is a true legal superstar and deservedly so. He is probably best known for arguing the losing side in Bush v. Gore to the U.S. Supreme Court. The book is a cross section of what the author believes to be some of his most interesting cases and many of them are. The book is readily accessible to the lay reader. Boies goes out of his way to explain even the simplest and most obvious points of law so that no one need be left behind. His rise to stardom is all the more extraordinary considering he was dyslexic. He glosses over his two failed marriages and we get to meet all the members of his extended family. But what I found curiously missing is David Boies, the man. He is very careful to hide his feelings about virtually everything except for a couple of lawyers. He is an observor of his actions, rather than a participant. His eye is incisive and he misses nothing. But where is he? He never tells you how he feels (sad, angry, happy). It's as if he left a holographic David Boies for you to look at to fool you into thinking it is the real thing. Surely the book is a fascinating look inside one of our great legal minds and well worth reading, but when I finished, I had no idea of what David Boies is really like.

It's hard to imagine that a non-lawyer might enjoy reading about a conspiracy to fix the price of vitamins or the fees charged by auction houses, but I certainly did. Boise is able to distill complicated legal issues into easily understandable terms. The cases range from the above antitrust issues to the more famous Microsoft case to a horrific custody battle to the Bush v. Gore recount fiasco. Boise approaches all with a sense of humor and a clarity of prose.

That having been said, I really felt this book needed some basic editing help. Boise uses footnotes incessantly for things that could and should be included in the text. He also references cases that aren't discussed in the book and then alludes to them in the afterward. Someone should have told him to take those references out --- they make the book a little confusing.

Finally, Boise's ego certainly isn't small. He thinks much of himself, and he probably is entitled to. The first couple of chapters, however, about his rise through the ranks of lawyers to the star he is today, can sometimes be a little much.

I would say perhaps the best reason to read this book is for an inside look at Bush v. Gore. Boies doesn't talk much about hanging chads. He does look carefully at the legal issues -- rather than the more catchy but ill-defined issue of "fairness" -- involved in the Florida recount, and coherently explains why the Gore campaign and the legal team proceeded as they did. Frankly, I wish Boies had written a whole book on this -- it is clearly the best section.

In sorting out the various element that contributed to Boeis's distinguished career as a lawyer who gave pride and grace to his profession, I could come up with few, based on his narration of and his broadcasted trials:

1- As a middle class young student, growing up in a racist society in the 1960, he sensed the common suffering as a young parent of two kids, with little resources, with those that confront black Americans. Poverty knows no skin color. Yet, his white skin enabled him to secure modest residence in Chicago after verifying that his wife was also not of the colored race. "Does it matter?" he never got an answer to his question from the nosy residential agent who decided his fate, then. The mere instinct of asking such a question in 1959 when racism was the norm in the American society, shows how liberal young Boeis was for his generation.

2- His financial struggle to raise family and go to school had ruined his first marriage and left him a wounded man. The woman who helped him succeed left him with his two kids. That loss seemed to throw him into a forbidden love with the wife of his evidence professor, which ended by his transfer from Chicago to Yale. His second marriage led him to work in New York, after graduation from law school. Yet, for the same reason of occupational dedication, it ended and a third marriage emerged in Washington DC. It was clear that he learned by mixing with ordinary people and shared their suffering and struggle for survival. His personal struggle went along with his developing clarity, simplicity, and accuracy in his legal reasoning.

3- His adventurous ordeal with the Guatemalan millionaire's ransom sheds more light on his rigorous calculating mind. His two divorces, growing up poor, gambling interests, and mixing with rich and diverse cultures in major American cities and institutions, were all put in action in his playful and foxy litigation with dangerous, arrogant, and powerful opponent, in foreign and lawless country. Though Boeis admits his mistakes in indulging in a lawsuit that burdened his relationship with his family, his profession, and his employer, yet his mind was unsettled. Whether enough justice could be bought by everyone? Or standing to those who subvert justice at the expense of indigent citizens is worth fighting for? He opted to deliver justice and would repeat the same "mistake" in US v. Microsoft and Bush v. Gore. His recognition that lawyers to parties should not act as judges did not quench his zeal for out-of-reach justice.

4- Boies' Guatemalan adventure also demonstrates his stubborn steadfastness that accompanied him since youth and cost him two marriages, yet let to successful profession. His empathy with Mary and her two kids let him overlook the notorious deeds of her callous ex-husband. After trapping a criminal into a federal prison, Boeis ventured into freeing him despite his long and heinous mischiefs. Boies went on to praise the courage of the FBI, criticize few corrupt judges and lawyers, yet forgot his own indulgence in releasing a criminal to freedom for the sake of his millions. The son and daughter of Joey would have better life without his psychotic influence, Mr. Boies!

5- Almost every legal argument he confronted has been approached as a mathematical problem. Boies outlines all possible options to which his arguments could lead to, along with all feasible approaches to each option. That basic logical organization enables him to prepare for fights he never fought and win fights by virtue of his convincing reasoning. His unique and individual stand on principals distinguishes him over the majority of lawyers. Boies acts as an activist for reform and democracy when many lawyers aimed for secure financial winning. He confesses that had not he been a lawyer, he might have been a teacher of History. Making history was his drive to regulate software industry, health care cost, and democratic representation of powerless voters.

6- The simplicity of his reasoning could not be attributed to study alone. In many of his arguments, he adapts to unpredictable responses and arrives to his ultimate goal. In the asbestos case against Grace, he admits that both the court and his opponent failed to catch him leading during direct examination. He had unintentionally improvised his leading questioning to get his witness to open up against his reservation. In the US v. Microsoft, Boeis shows brilliant technical skills unexpected from a non-technical professional. While Gates accused him by being unable to pass high school physics, Boeis quashed the tricks of the top experts of Microsoft when they attempted to fool the court by claiming that Windows and IE are inseparable. The arrogance and shallow mindedness of the software gurus led them to underestimate the diverse interests and skills of an uncanny lawyer.

7- In addition to his growing up among common people and sharing their struggle for making ends meet, his gambling and travel hobbies have enriched his quick problem solving ability. Associating with people at the top of their professional careers, combined with his keen ability to listen and observe, has contributed to priming his deftness. He does not shy from describing himself as an "experienced examiner", which he is.

8- His ultimate secret may be his ability to clearly discern the basic logical blocs of an argument and tie them quickly and neatly within larger frameworks. Few times, he admits exhaustion after examining hard-to-admit witnesses. Yet, he realizes that those tough fighters always admit to more information after embarrassment than they set off to do. On the quality of justice and judges, Boies presents a realistic narration of corrupt as well as honest judges. Consistently, he claims that judges always attempt to be fair even when they sometimes act with exaggerated toughness.

Mohamed F. El-Hewie
Author of
Essentials of Weightlifting and Strength Training

I was impressed by David Boies during the 2000 Election crisis, especially after reading a Time magazine article on him. When I saw this book, I was immediately interested, but I was apprehensive since I am not a lawyer and I was afraid it would be bogged down in legalese and I wouldn't understand the book. I decided to take a chance, especially because there was a chapter on the Yankees versus Major League Baseball. It turns out that I understood everything Boies wrote. That's because Boies writes very clearly and for everyone, not just lawyers. He explains the details in the cases that are important to understand, the fundamental arguments of both sides, not just the side he was representing, all in an enjoyable way. I found myself even enjoying the chapters on cases I wasn't immediately drawn to, such as "Fixing the Price of Health" (on price fixing in vitamins), and "The Auction House Scandal". Boies also recounts two of his most famous cases: the Microsoft case and Bush vs Gore. I definitely recommend this book.

Any baseball fan will surely appreciate the baseball history in this short novel. The focus of the story is deaf pitcher, Luther "Dummy" Taylor, his teammates of the 1900-1911 New York Giants, famous coach John McGraw and the baseball culture of Cuba. There is a double dose of culture in this book with early 20th century American culture and Cuban culture of the same time period. But especially appealing is the baseball writing in this book. What is it that draws people to baseball? As this book shows, the game attracts fans from varying cultures, with varying economic backgrounds. There is nothing overly exciting about the game of baseball when compared to other sports such as soccer, basketball, hockey and football which is packed with action and thrilling moments. Baseball has two things that make it unique to contemporary sports today- the history, and the pace. No other sport (in America) has been so intertwined with culture over such a long period of time. The fan enjoys the history, both culturally and statistically. Also, baseball has the advantage of pace. Most sports are controlled by time while baseball is controlled by the game itself. Not only is baseball a sport that has captured the hearts of many fans, but literature which centers around this game has the same drawing power, the same lure.

The story itself is interesting, following the dreams of a deaf, veteran baseball player trying to get back into the bigs. But the story goes deeper than that though as Dummy Taylor and the Giants travel to Cuba to play against Cuban all star teams. The main character is an underdog who is easy to get behind and cheer for. The live baseball games described in the novel are written well, and very easy to imagine. But as the story gets away from the baseball games and the baseball culture, the story suffers. The author tries to tie Dummy's family troubles into the story but does so unsuccessfully. Overall the book was great.

This novel is good summer fun. Don't mistake Havana Heat for The Great Baseball Novel (like The Brothers K). This is an above average feel-good formula story.

My only complaint about Darryl Brock is that he doesn't write enough! What a great book! I loved If I Never Get Back and I loved Havana Heat. What a wonderful story about baseball, Cuba, and Luther Taylor. C

I noticed that while reading the other reviews, they were all people who had read this author before or love baseball. I am writing this review from the view of a Deaf person. In the first chapter, the author opens up with a scene at a Deaf school. For those of you who don't know, the Deaf school is a sense of pride in the Deaf community and the author seemed to have an awareness of that. Luther "Dummy" Tayler (all players who were Deaf back in the early 1900s were called "Dummy" - so don't take offense) used different means of communication throughout the book. He always seemed more comfortable with those who signed. His wife is Deaf, which is another culture instance within the Deaf community - marrying other Deaf people due to communication issues. This book also shows that Deaf people are actually quite smart (which is opposite the nickname, "Dummy"). This book was not written by a Deaf author, but he was well-informed and it is worth reading! Enjoy!

Good baseball novels transcend the sport itself and reveal understandings of how the game mirrors and develops our national character. Additionally, our best sports novelists encourage us to broaden our historical imaginations and inspire us to show empathy for conflicted characters who encounter both athletic and personal crises. Darryl Brock's convincing "Havana Heat" ably captures baseball's enduring importance as a metaphor for our national experience and deftly explores the influences of frustrated ambition, unvarnished competition and crippling racism in the sport itself. Though set in the early days of the twentieth century, the novel maintains a timelessness through its conflicted, but admirable protagonist.

The baseball described in "Heat" is meticulously accurate, yet the novel's rather formulaic melodramatic structure is not its dominant strength. Instead, Brock's vivid characterizations and his passioate commitment to historical accuracy are the hallmarks of this strong novel. Focusing on the attempted comeback of former New York Giant hurler Luther "Dummy" Taylor and the obstacles confronting a renewal of his career erected by the irascible, intemperate and tyrannical manager, John McGraw, the novel reveals the internal tensions and ambivalences Lu experiences during a 1911 barnstorming tour in Cuba. Taylor learns, at times reluctantly and painfully, that a person's worth is determined by much more than his win-loss record, that development of character and hope are more vital than prolonging a moribund career, that the satisfactions of teaching far outweigh the evanscent thrills of victory. Ultimately, Brock's greatest virtue as a novelist is his knack for using the action of the game and fluidity of the sport as representations of the human capacity for growth, self-forgiveness and redemption.

And that's not all. Brock writes with a refined and welcomed advocacy for the hearing impaired. Even though deaf players in the dead-ball era were invariably called "Dummy," at least they were in the big leagues. Where are the hearing impaired role models today in the national sport? The author's eloquent description of signing speaks directly to how much Brock believes sports novelists can write about much more than the game: "People who feel sorry for deaf folks don't have it quite right. Sign is a rich language...it also makes for a special kind of closeness. For one thing, you have to pay closer attention to others when you can't hear their words. You come to know them in ways that are direct and intimate."

Finally, Brock pays painstaking attention to detail. His historical descriptions of the atrocities a Kansas regiment committed while fighting against the revolutionary insurgents in the Philippines and his deft inclusion of reconcentration camps in rural Cuba by the Spanish (which left a heritage of bitterness and racial division) are but two examples of how hard the author worked to create a sense of authenticity. "Havana Heat"'s melodramatic structure is the only weakness in an otherwise compelling and convincing novel.

Lincoln has written a very good book. He has interviewed many coaches, especially coaches at Dartmouth. For the record, John Lyons and Pat O'Leary have both been fired (the latter by the new returning coach Teevens, and later filed an age discrimination suit, which was thrown out). May be if Lyons had landed Slaughter, he may have saved his job, and Slaughter would not have ended his career as a backup secondary and kick returner at UCLA. Lincoln offers a valuable insight into elite schools and recruiting. This book should be read together with John T. Reed's 70+ page essay on his son's experiences with Ivy football recruiting (available on the internet, type in "John T. Reed Dan Reed Columbia" in google). Reed makes specific comments about the level of play in Ivy football (pretty good), and the down side to coaches pressuring players to commit during recruiting visits (Lincoln's book offers coaches' perspective).

Capsule summary:

Strengths: Clean crisp style, easy to read, good use of quotes from coaches, wide research, good forward by Fiedler. Do not be turned off by the name Nomad Press, which I had not heard of before.

Weaknesses: no index, organization could be tightened up here and there (but not too bad). Additional perspective of players would have offered a counterbalance to extensive interviews with coaches.

If you have a high school aged son or daughter who hopes to be an Ivy League athlete, this book is a must read.

My daughter, after reading Chris' book, learned what motivates the coaches and how to approach them in a straight-forward and ethical way. At the same time she was able to take control of the process and ultimately achieve her desired outcome, a scholarship offer from Stanford and a "Likely Letter" from her first choice, Dartmouth. She couldn't have done this without this resource.

I have a high school senior son who is looking to participate in college sports after graduation and I was looking for a book that would help provide some understanding of the whole Ivy recruiting process. This book provided great insight into the Ivy recruiting process from both the college coaches and administrators perspective. It provides the insight though true experiences of athletes, coaches and administrators. It also sheds light on the conflicts within the Ivy League about the process.

An excellent book for high school students and their parents interested in Ivy League and even NESCAC schools and how sports recruiting at those schools works. I learned about "likely letters", "supports" and other details that are otherwise difficult to learn, even from the coaches.

My only reservation is that with Harvard's recent decision to stop early admissions, and I assume others will follow, the book will need updating to reflect the changes in sports recruiting due to this.

A great learning tool for anyone connected with a high school athlete looking to play sports in college. Unfortunately, I read this too late to help. Just witnessed first hand a scenario whereby a "solid commitment" did not materialize at an Ivy - putting a student athlete in a very precarious spot. To the reviewer claiming that Lincoln was "creating a controversy and scandal that does not exist", I can personally tell you that Lincoln is right on the mark. I have already re-read the book and advocate that all who are ever thinking about entering the recruiting process should take detailed notes.

As a member of the Junior League and a collector of Junior League cookbooks, I have to say that this book is one of the best I have ever seen or used. While some of the receipes may be a little time intensive, they are worth it! The chicken pecan quiche and the spicy spinich pinwheels are to die for! You will not be disappointed with this book!

Compiled by members of The Junior League Of Atlanta, True Grits: Tall Tales And Recipes From The New South presents a culinary wealth of delicious home-style cooking ranging from traditional faire such as Fried Chicken and Buttermilk Biscuits, to original, mouth-watering offerings such as Pan-Seared Crab Cakes with Lemon Linguini; Kiwifruit Frozen Yogurt; Peanut Butter Chocolate Drops; and more. Helpful hints and enjoyable anecdotal tales in the margins add a friendly and enjoyable touch to this excellent and savory recipe guide.

I expected some simpler Southern cooking because of the title. The recipes might have came from California instead from Atlanta. No thanks, this isn't Southern fixin's.

The first recipe I tried from this book was the "controversial" Coca Cola Cake-& it was indeed a flop! In researching other versions of this recipe I found that for the icing, this recipe calls for 3/4 cup of cola whereas most others call for approx. 3 tablespoons! No wonder mine looked lake a "floating isle"! Now I'm not sure I trust the other recipes!

Jr. League cookbooks have come a long way since the first little spiral-bound paper products of some 40 or 50 years ago. I don't know if the Atlanta Jr. League was the first to come up with the cookbook moneymaker project, but I do know their cookbooks have been much respected over the years -- venerated, even.

In this one, though, they've outdone themselves. Even if the recipes were awful (and they're not), there's still enough entertainment in this book to make it worthy of the price. And that's not counting the gorgeous illustrations that place it firmly in coffeetable display status.

It's the stories by famous Georgia writers that kick this volume into the stratosphere of pleasure.
Ferrol Sams's double-take as he watches Katie Couric brave a glass of horse's milk on the Today Show, for example, is bound to split a stitch or two.
Then there's the late Lewis Grizzard on his prowess at the grill. "I come from a long line of outdoor grillers," he says, "My Uncle Jerome still holds the American record for consecutive days grilling out, 178."
Reconstructed Yankee Bill Diehl holds forth on how he came to love the South. He quotes his mentor, Ralph Gill of the Atlanta Constitution, "We must work to make a better North, South, West or New England, because in so doing we make a better America."
The inimitable Anne Rivers Siddons holds forth on the difficulties of finding a bowl of real Southern grits while on book tour in the great Fly-Over Land.
Stuart Woods, Eugenia Price, and Valerie Richards Jackson are just a few of the star-studded literary lights who shine in these pages. What a great idea to showcase Georgia's finest literary talents along with its best culinary talents!

I'll vouch for the recipes, too. I've been married to a full-fledged (and also reconstructed) Yankee for more years that you can count on all the digits of several people and when his side of the family came to visit recently, of course they expected Southern food from the only bona-fide Southerner in the family. So I served Crème Fraiche Biscuits with Chevre and Country Ham Butter, Spicy Grits Casserole and German Pancake with Peach Compote when they converged on me for a reunion brunch. They loved the food, asked for recipes and when I showed them the cookbook, they enthused over that, too!

Every recipe I've tried from TRUE GRITS has been delicious and has garnered raves from my family and friends. Therefore, I can unequivocally give it the highest recommendation from a cook's point of view as well as from one who values -- indeed, treasures -- a good read.

I bought this book for my boyfriend who wants to tour all the baseball stadiums. This book is a must for anyone traveling to an away game!!

I wanted to find a book that would help me plan a vacation to ball parks up east this summer. This book will do the job nicely. I have my trip planned out now, but find myself scanning through the parks I have already attended wanting to know more about what I missed. I even find myself reading up on the history of each team. The only thing I found missing this year (2008) was that the Nationals Ball Park is not included. Well, I hope they update this soon.

I got this book for Christmas and it helped me through the long cold offseason! Josh and Kevin painstakingly researched all the stadiums including great seating suggestions, history of team and stadium, trivia and just great in-depth information.

The book is as much about the area around the park in the city and a great love of baseball and humorous anecdotes.

Very enjoyable for those that love baseball and ballparks. I am excited to get to some new parks and compare my opinions this season!

After skimming through this book and finding out a lot of interested information, the most suprising was the trashing of the famous Dodger Dog hot dog these guys made.

Folks, if you're heading to Dodger stadium (and I am by no means a Dodger fan), I reccommend 3 dodger dogs, or 2 foot longs if you're feeling sassy.

The Fenway Frank and the DD are probably the two most talked about dogs in the MLB, and I've had both - the Dodger Dog blows the Fenway Frank right out of the water.

I love how they put comedy in with the facts of the stadiums. They do a good job of reviewing area restaraunts and stadium foods. How much could you guys watch the game when you were testing out all the foods in the stadium! The MLB should have given them the rights to put the Seating Charts in the book. You Need to buy This Book!