Tracks Books

This is a beautifully written and well-researched story, and to that extent it is a good book. Chuck and Mary Kastner are friends, and frequent visitors to our Bed & Breakfast, so I won't say any more about the book than "Buy it" you won't be disappointed!

The story on the other hand belongs not only to the book, but to American History. The racers formed a cross-section of American society, with some fascinating foreigners thrown in for good measure. The trials and tribulations of all the runners amazed me and their sheer persistence could not help but become fodder for the story. But more than that the story is of ordinary people whose characters and personalities were forever changed by their phenomenal efforts. When the leaders of the race cross into New York State, there is a gesture by the leading racer which brought tears to my eyes. I leave it to you to buy the book and read the story, and admire these Bunioneers.

Whether you're interested in running, history, or African American studies, you'll find this book fascinating. Well written and surprisingly well researched and referenced, Bunion Derby presents the story of the first footrace across the United States. Among the different elements of the footrace Kastner brings to life, the most intriguing is the story of Ed Gardner, an African American competitor from Seattle.
As ultra distance running becomes increasing popular in contemporary times, Bunion Derby reminds us that such feats of endurance and will have been part of the American fiber since well before the term 'ultramarathon' was heard of.

I found this book to be intriguing and inspirational. It is a book that anyone who is interested in the history of distance running should read. It tells the story of the 1928 footrace across the United States and the stories of the brave men who competed in the race. I couldn't put this book down. It was extremely well researched, and the stories of competitors were inspiring. I strongly recommend this book.

Ostensibly a book about running - it is concerned with the cross country foot race from Los Angeles to New York in 1928 - it is so much more. It is a slice of American history, our pride and our shame. Runners and walkers from all over the globe were competing for a $25,000 prize - a vast sum in those days. Many who entered did so for the money and what it might do for their families. It didn't matter that so many of these men lacked the training, the support people, and the proper attire for such an endeavor. C.C. Pyle, the promoter of the race, and all the attendant side show foolishness that capped most days of competition, promised food and housing along the way. (The eleven-foot tall coffee pot fastened on a truck chassis, a famous curiosity of the day, followed the racers and served the runners and staff 90 gallons of coffee a day).

The reality was this: The food Pyle provided was inadequate to such an arduous venture. Lodging was minimal - tents or boxcars barely serving to keep runners out of the worst of the weather. When one of the front runners persisted in publicly complaining about Pyle's lack of sufficient attention to the men, he received a telegram stating that his wife had died. She had, in fact, died several years earlier; the idea was that he would rush home and forget about the race.

The Black runners fared as well, or as poorly, as the rest of the pack until they ran smack into the Jim Crow South. There they were harassed and threatened. Their treatment was referred to by the international runners as "the most disgraceful thing they ever knew anything about."

Kastner has illuminated what was great and what was wrong with America as it was in 1928. Despite the scorching heat of the Mojave, the sleet, the wind, and the altitude of the mountains, the filthy, sweat-soaked clothing and ill-fitting shoes, and threats and humiliation aimed at the Black athletes, 55 men completed the 3,400-mile trek. These men rose to a challenge and would not be daunted. Why did so many put themselves through such an ordeal? As one racer put it, "Every man who finishes such a race is a winner. He has shown strength of heart and purpose, which should uplift him with pride and uplift his children after him."

The 1920's are famous for grandiose stunts and promotions. One of the most arduous was the great bunion derby of 1928. Brainchild of promoter Charles C. Pyle, this was a foot race from California to New York, spotlighting the newly laid Route 66. This grueling race attracted trained athletes from across the United States and beyond. But most participants were amateurs, ill-suited to the trial before them. They came for the glory, or the thrill, or perhaps the $25,000 prize. Of the 199 starters an ama zing 55 men completed the race.

Kastner's account follows African American, Ed Gardner, through the torturous ordeal. This is history that reads like a novel - absorbing and well-paced. Kastner brings into sharp focus the motivation, the perseverance, the will, the grit that made Gardner a hero of his day.

This is the only guide you will ever need to understanding how to put a business plan together and in so doing you gain invaluable lessons on what makes business tick, from a master. I have used this book in an earlier edition, as a blueprint to attract finance for 3 ventures so I can vouch for its easy style and elegant solutions. Highly recommended whether you're starting, running or turning around a business. If you are in business you need to read this book from cover to cover and you don't need to be Einstein to understand it.

An excellent book that takes you through start to finish on the operating principles of a business and the reasons behind each process. This provides a good framework for you to fashion what is appropriate for your business given the circumstances you are in at this point in time. The book is logically laid out, explained in simple language and very easy to apply in a practical business environment. This is the best book I have read on establishing a business plan that can either be highly operational, tactical or strategic in nature or have these elements combined in a manner that meets your current needs.

I think this is an excellent and practical introduction to writing business plan.

Peter

I find this book way superior to many other books on the subject. At the same time, it approaches business plans with small boxed anecdotes and an easy-going attitude (alla "...for dummies" but a far better level). Also differences between British and U.S. accounting terms are explained, giving the book a touch of international reach. At all times you have the feeling of being in company with a very talented and experienced author.

Written for serious professionals, and assumes a modicum of intelligence, out of all the books claiming to assist in designing a business plan, this is the only one that actually comes close to anything serious. Have a look at the sample pages to see what I mean.

It's a very complete book!! Very easy reading and a great way to check on all the aspects that you need to consider in order to decide whether you want to start your Real Estate career or not!!
I found it very motivating!!

This is a good book i'm in a position to make a career change and was interested in Real Estate Development. This book has been very informative I would recommend it.

Even though I have some experience in real estate..this book has really helped me to redirect my real estate career goals. Also I am convinced that it would help someone with no experience in the real estate field. Thank you for this book !!

I bought this book not knowing exactly what to expect. I ended up reading it in one sitting, and by the end, I felt like I had had personal conversations with members of every field of real estate, who all cared about my career, and wanted to give me good advice.

BS'D

If you are interested in real estate development this is the best starting point for you. Mr. Ross writes concise and retains the ability to keep the reader excited to turn to the next page. The Inside Track to Careers in Real Estate gives a realistic snapshot of the real estate market. Whether you are a student in high school, collage, or looking for a career move, this book will give you the information you will need to start off and excel in real estate development. Enjoy!

I have read three books about the Holocaust in the last several days, 2 that are exceptional, and one that was exploitative trash. The interesting aspect is that the two works that were so emotionally effective, works that left this reader feeling the weight and oppressive horror that is genocide were both novels. They were novels by an extraordinary writer and a survivor of the camps, Mr. Aharon Appelfeld. I do not know the numbers, but I would venture to guess that the non-fiction book which is commented on somewhere on my personal page, will outsell this work 100 to one, or maybe even a higher ratio. The non-fiction work is either the appendage to a lawsuit, or the bacillus that spawned it, either way its type of history is cheap opportunism. The fact the book is full of histrionics, incompetent business documentation, and shrill sound bytes, ensures it will sell. The issue it covers is valid; it's the Author's methods I take issue with.

"The Iron Tracks", is a terribly disturbing look at one man's life to avenge the death of his parents. It is a journey he set out on alone, and one he sees through to its conclusion, again on his own. Like his main character that also survived the camps the Author writes this book because serious subjects, horrifying subjects need to be documented repeatedly. And for those who ask how many books are enough, the answer is there will never be enough, enough of this type. As to the other I refer to the answer is in its specific case, one is too many. Releasing a book within 24 hours of a lawsuit against the company the book is about is the vilest sort of marketing there is, for remember this is about the murder of millions. This is not a topic that requires marketing, Madison Avenue manipulation, and greed to drive it. The horror of Genocide is absolute the evil is absolute. To speak or write of it brings the full weight to bear no enhancements are needed.

Erwin rides the same trains endlessly for decades in search of the man and his demise that he believes will end his decades of suffering and wandering. He constantly meets with other veterans of the war who believe that the Genocide was not only correct and justified, but also actually accomplished. He traces his self described oval with his annual stops, and how the oval is chipped away at as his sharing he is a Jew is freely confided with those who have welcomed him for decades, but now turn their backs without hesitation. In his decades long hunt he also retrieves the lost objects of Judaism, be they rare illuminated Haggadah, a mezuza, or a kiddush cup.

This is only the second work I have read by Mr. Appelfeld, but based on this and, "Katerina"; I intend to continue through his published works. The subject matter he has spent his career as a writer sharing with the world's readers is the type that appropriately leaves a reader emotionally exhausted, bearing a sense of futility, and trying to summon the question why, once again.

Read both Authors' work and decide for yourself.

Aharon Appelfeld is one of the world's greatest living novelists, and this novel demonstrates his many virtues. Like his previous works "The Age of Wonders" and "The Immortal Bartfuss" it is short, it concentrates on Holocaust survivors, and its style is sparse, elliptical. Erwin Siegelbaum is in late middle age and has spent decades riding the trains in Austria. He makes his living by finding Jewish memorobillia in the now Judenrein countryside and buying them from gentiles who cannot recognize their value. It is a depressing business, since the Austrian countryside is drab, ugly, and ungenerous, even without the vicious anti-Semitism that Siegelbaum encounters. One converted Jew wishes that it could be wiped away like Sodom and Gommorah, and Siegelbaum at the end of the novel wishes that he could burn one town down to the ground. At the same time he is searching for vengeance against the Nazi officer who murdered his parents.

The legitimacy of this quest is not questioned by Siegelbaum, but by the end it is clear that it is not a sufficient or adequate solution to Siegelbaum's miserable, loveless life. What, after all is it like to avenge one parents, not in the abstract, but one's own actual parents? As in his earlier novels, there is the inevitable sickening ambiguity. His parents, Communist organizers, were not cruel to him, and they made considerable sacrifices for their cause. But they were often naive about the Ruthenians they tried to organize, they attacked Jewish capitalists, and were of course compromised by the Stalinist nature of the party. Erwin's father shortchanged his education, because he saw a normal education as an evil bourgeois plot (a view, given the nature of authoritarian Europe in the 1930s, that is not entirely inaccurate). His mother is burdened by a world-weariness that drains life from her before her death in a camp. After the war Siegelbaum encounters his parent's former Communist comrades and in his wandering he experiences the dissolution and decay of their ideals. If he is trapped by the past, others cannot be bothered to remember it (he encounters a quarter-Jew who is surprised to find out that the Old Testament did not mention Jesus.)

And so Siegelbaum rides the trains, bribing the waiter to switch the radio to the classical music station. Zionism or Orthodoxy do not bring him comfort and solace("Religious Jews frighten me"); his connection to Judaism that forced upon him by history and inertia: "My memory is a powerful machine that stores and constantly discharges lost years and faces. In the past I believed that travel would blunt my memory; I was wrong. Over the years, I must admit, it has only grown stronger. Were it not for my memory, my life would be different--better I assume." Recently however "A glass of cognac, for instance, separates me from my memory for a while. I feel relief as if after a terrible toothache."

Siegelbaum's connections to women are brief: "Love for a station or two is love without pretense and soon forgotten. Any contact beyond that pollutes the emotions and threatens to leave behind recriminations. Women, I regret to say, don't understand this. They do themselves a disservice, and me too, of course." This passage perfectly captures a certain variation of masculine bad faith. There are many other finely observed passages, whose absence of metaphor or stylistic eccentricity more sharply reveal Appelfeld's psychological acuity: "At night, before going to sleep, [my mother] would read me poems by Heine. I doubt that I understood anything. But the sounds flowed softly into my ears. I would be cut loose from the waking world and slip into deep sleep. Even in difficult times, when she grew morose, swallowing drink after drink, she would pick up a book and read, like someone preparing for better times." There is the disconcerting atmosphere of the small town of Gruendorf: "There seems to be no air like Gruendorfýs, and during my first stays here I didnýt even realize why. But now I know: it is the subtle fragrance that rises from the poppies. An odorless smell, a smell that has no obvious sign, but that directly works on the nervous system. In the past I used to flee from the place immediately, but I soon learned that flight was no use." But perhaps the supreme value of Appelfeldýs message in his not his observation, but his restatement in a uniquely subtle and unmeretricious way of a vital truth. Sacrifice may be a sign of virtue, but suffering does not make one a better person. In few other authors work is it made clear that being a victim is not enough, one has still suffered but is not redeemed thereby. "If I had a different life, it wouldnýt be happy. As in all my clear and drawn-out nightmares. I saw the sea of darkness, and I knew that my deeds had neither dedication nor beauty. I had done everything out of compulsion, clumsily, and always too late."

Bizarre, disturbing, compelling--a unique voice.

Bismark once noted that "war is diplomacy by other means" but Applefeld would phrase that a bit differently, I believe. Something like "Peace is war on smaller scale", perhaps.

Intrinsically, this book is about the underlying and ancient hatreds and grievances that have dogged central Europe for more than a century and were in essence not changed a whit by the war itself.

Erwin Siegelbaum's parents were killed in the Holocaust, a fate he himself barely managed to avoid. Erwin's makes his living traveling throughout central Europe visiting local fairs and markets looking for unrecognized treasures of Jewish iconography, which he buy's on the cheap and resells to rich Jewish collectors at a premium. This keeps him constantly on the road pursuing his real occupation-looking for the man who he believes is responsible for his parent's deaths so as to extract revenge.

The book is full of irony-Erwin exploits his religion and his fellow Jews for his living to pursue an avocation not altogether consistent with his religion's message of tolerance and forgiveness. He is constantly mistaken for a non-Jew and subjected to rabid anti-Semitic rants of his other passengers whom he also tries to exploit to fine his nemesis. And so on.

Applefeld is an Israeli citizen who writes in Hebrew. Even translated, the pace and mannerisms of the translation yield a sense of authenticity and Old World feel to the text. His prose is concise and spare-yet emotional and evocative at the same time. It all adds up to a very unique and original writing voice.

This is not a happy book-it is stressful, haunting and depressing. It is also insightful and compelling reading. You will finish exhausted and emotionally drained. If that's your cup of tea, then this is your novel.

The translator did a remarkable job in capturing the mood of this novel. The reader is drawn into the sad, hazy and alienated world of Jewish Holocaust survivors in Europe after WWII - a world of memories, death and the insurmountable venom of anti-Semitism.

I've found that lately I've been reading many books in translation, something I've rarely done outside of school. But I've discovered that when I read something really well written in translation, the book is doubly good--not only does the author deserve credit, but the translator does as well.

I've also never read an Israeli novel, or at least not one originally written in Hebrew. Perhaps because Hebrew is such a phlegmy and un-poetic (at least in my experience) language and I never thought it would translate well. I was wrong. Given the right translator it all works out ok.

From what I've read, Appelfeld was a child during the Holocaust where he saw his mother killed. Following the war he emigrated to what was then Palestine. Since then he's written quite a few novels about the Holocaust, most--or perhaps all--written in Hebrew.

The "Iron Tracks" is the first-person story of a man who has traveled Austria by train for the last forty years, beginning shortly after the end of the war. He makes his living buying Jewish antiques cheap in one town and then selling them for profit to collectors on his circuit. He lives alone, staying at various inns, and keeps his travels to a yearly schedule. His parents were Jewish communists, both of whom were killed by a Nazi soldier. Every so often our narrator will stay with friends he met in the camps, all the while planning to murder the man who killed his parents.

It's a small novel--very quiet and subdued. The language is quite spare, the dialogue even more so. But it all works and makes sense in a very disturbing and profound way. The image of one man traveling in circles, picking up the remnants of a culture destroyed is haunting. And in the end Appelfeld makes his most profound statement: ...nothing changes.

This is an amazing novel--brilliant in its style and execution, equally brilliant in its purpose.

This is a book about dreaming. In native north american culture folks "dreamed" their lives. this is an excellent portrayal of this in (basically) present time case. This book conveys examples to some of the plights current youths face, having split up and mixed backrounds in native american heritage. But also the fading way of dreamers, people who IMAGINED life before letting it happen. Highly recommended if you have read anything about dreaming, also recommended if you know nothing about it but are open to the idea that reality is what you make it. A wonderful story stand-alone as well.

William Penn's novel Killing Time with Strangers, winner of an American Book Award for 2000, is not just exceptional literary craft, it's great fun. Penn seems to be saying some wonderful, optimistic things about the human condition, while poking fun at our preoccupation with the trivial and forcing us to consider basic questions, such as, what are we really doing here? Is life really just a matter of `this, then that?' Such questions are gently woven into a highly imaginative and extremely funny story. The novel shows us the LaRue family, and in particular, son Palimony Blue, whose tale is narrated by a weyekin, or Indian spirit guide, dreamed by his mother Mary. The story works on many different levels. Its structure is highly sophisticated yet unless you are examining it from the perspective of literary criticism (which you can -- this work has already received one prestigious award, and will no doubt be examined in college classrooms, if it isn't already) -- you just appreciate the ease with which it joins the stories of Pal's family, his mixblood Indian father, Indian mother, generations of native American ancestors, the story of Pal himself from infant to man, the women in Pal's life, the loves of his life (including his one true love, Amanda), ending with hope and promise in the birth of his own children. The book shows you, in splendid real-life color, the connections between all things. Before Pal is able to dream his true love, Amanda, he seeks, finds or thinks he finds, Love in a series of humorous and often lustful encounters along the way with many colorful 'strangers'. These characters make for a very entertaining story. And, unlike so many books thrown at us today by popular writers, where the characters are `born, drink coffee and die', and whose messages (if any) don't matter one whit to life or literature, this book offers in a new and imaginative way some reassuring messages: that love really makes a difference; and we can (and need to try) to hope and dream a better world. Along the way, Dreaming is an engine that propels us, and a vehicle to create our path and vision. And laughter is, still, wonderful medicine for what ails us.

Also recommended (same author): This is the World (short stories): The Absence of Angels (novel); Feathering Custer (essays); All My Sins Are Relatives; As We Are Now (Editor, essays); The Telling of the World (Native American folk tales)

William Penn's novel "Killing Time with Strangers", winner of the American Book Award for 2000, is not just exceptional literary craft, it's great fun. Penn seems to be saying some wonderful, optimistic things about the human condition, while poking fun at our preoccupation with the trivial, and forcing us to consider basic questions, such as, what are we really doing here? Is life really just a matter of `this, then that?'

Such questions are gently threaded into a highly imaginative and extremely funny story. The novel shows us the LaRue family, and in particular, son Palimony Blue, whose tale is narrated by a weyekin, or Indian spirit guide, dreamed by his mother Mary. The story works on many different levels. Its structure is highly sophisticated yet unless you are examining it from the perspective of literary criticism (which you can -- this work has won one prestigious award already and will likely be examined in college classrooms, it's that good!) -- you just appreciate the ease with which it joins the stories of Pal's family, his mixblood Indian father, Indian mother, generations of native American ancestors, the story of Pal himself from infant to man, the women in Pal's life, the loves of his life (including his one true love, Amanda) and finally, the hope and promise of the future, the birth of Pal's children. The book shows you, in splendid real-life color, the connections between them all.

Before Pal is able to dream his true love, Amanda, he seeks, finds or thinks he finds, Love in a series of humorous and often lustful encounters along the way with many colorful "strangers". These characters make for a very entertaining story. And, unlike so many books thrown at us today by popular writers, where the characters are `born, drink coffee and die', and whose messages (if any) are momentous in the sense only of, 'of the moment', and don't really matter a whit to life or literature, this book offers in a new and imaginative way some enduring and reassuring messages: that love may really make, not just 'a' difference, but 'the' difference; and we can (and need to try) to hope and dream a better way in this world. Along the way, Dreaming is both an engine that propels us, and a powerful vehicle to create our path and vision. And laughter is, still, wonderful medicine for what ails us.

I was impressed by W.S. Penn's Killing Time with Strangers. I thought the author was witty, intellegent, and understanding. The characters in the book were well developed, as was the plot of the story. I would be forced to disagree with anyone who rated this book less than a 5, for I have not only bought this book for myself, but also for my friends and family as gifts. This book has everything, romance, adventure, and a part of all of us that connot be left out. The author has a unique understanding of humanity, and therefore, his story telling is enhanced. This book can be enjoyed by everyone, no matter what their character. I was so happy that this book won last year's American Book Award, (obviously this proves my point about this being a good book). After reading this book, I know you will rush out to buy all of W.S. Penn's books.I reccomend this book over all other books on this website. Thank you all for your time.

After reading this book, I think that Magical Realism, Native American style, may catch on as a distinct genre. The author, an "urban mixblood Nex Perce" is an English professor and it shows through in echoes from classical literature, but Penn also includes the classics of the Americas (such as the Popul Vuh) which makes this work unique and why I think that Penn may have opened up a whole new genre (if anybody can follow this act).

"Without storytelling, human beings don't exist" says Penn's narrator (a "Wyekin" or spirit guide, who, in his comic incopetence reminds me of Ed's Indian spirit guide in TV's "Northern Exposure").

This is the story of Palimony Blue Larue, son of Mary Blue and La Vent Larue, misnamed in the hospital becuase a nurse couldn't imagine anybody naming thier kid "Palomino" after a horse! So Pal goes through life trying to please and be liked as his father before him did, while his mother and her Weyekin spirit guide try to prevent him from making his father's mistakes and teach him how to dream his way out of the white world. His mother didn't want him in their world. Says Mary Blue, "I want him to envision and make a world of his own in which they are not foolish but all their knowledge and instinct don't matter because they don't have any effect."

This must have been the spirit that prompted the famous Ghost Dance.

Pal's mother, Mary Blue, is the spider woman on the set, goddess of wisdom and time, endlessly beading and feeding strangers and friends the way Penelope did - or one of the Fates. She has "...years of her Dreamer's practice at harmony, at the balance that comes from not judging until it's time and even when it became time, ususally not judging the person but maybe the results, and not harshly, which came full circle from the balance achieved by not judging, but putting the thing itself in perspective, by connecting it to five hundred years of human activity and thought, by seeing that very little about real human beings really changes. Once you realize that, once you learn to dream, which helps to create that realization, you gain humor - sometimes, outright laughter - but always the humor that is the resilience of survival."

How much of this is like the Australian aboriginal dreamtime, I wonder?

Pal gradually catches on, but with his own spin. His yellow butterflies become post-it notes by which he dreams his ideal woman, Amanda, into existence. But Amanda does declare towards the end of the book that "I'm real." Not something Pal dreamed. "Dreaming is an imaginative act. But it's very real," he says. "Like telling stories. The Navajo beleive that by articulating something, putting it into words, you actually make it exist. You bring it into being. Dreaming's like that. It makes things exist by imagining them with power. It makes them exist by imagining a world in which they mean a lot."

Pal's epiphany comes when he burns his post-it notes and says they're "dead lectures...names and dates and questions that have to mean what people have already decided they have to mean. Not a single hidden meaning in one of them. Nothing that lets you glimpse the other side of things or look for what's behind or between the words, like stories."

Besides the classical references, there are echoes of other authors in this work - Erdrich and Silko, Anaya and even Alexie - but Penn still has his own voice. He could have used a better editor who would have weeded out sentences such as, "Odd how they don't want their listeners to take part in how their stories make the world, though, isn't it?" which is simplistic at best and patronizing at worst. And you have to connect the dots and pay attention or else you have to go back and check the author's definition of terms. But it's worth it for the world view.

I'm making this work sound like a literary exercise - which it isn't. It's an entertaining story, but you have to pay attention or miss the point. You have to read it to the end to get to the beginning. So it's not light reading. But again, it's worth it.

pamhan99@aol.com

It took me until 2003 to read this book. As the book says Lil E. Tee had a dime store pedigree and I figured that being the case this book could not be that good. Boy was I wrong. Eisenberg researched this Lil E. Tee's story thoroughly. He loads the book with detail yet it reads like a novel. It is a fascinating creation. I could not put it down.

I purchased this book on a whim, let it sit around for a while, and randomly picked it up on my way to bed, thinking that I would read a little bit and then quickly fall asleep. Little did I know that I would be up all night, my usually short attention span completely riveted, as time flew by. This book provides a wealth of information about Lil E Tee's origin, racing career, and the people around him.

Even though I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the author had a tendency to introduce characters out of sequence. For example, sometimes background information would be provided on a person who was not involved in the progression of the story until several chapters later. By breaking up the sequence in this manner, the flow of the story was impaired and choppy. The author's sentence structure also tended to be loose and brief. Also this oversimplification made reading the story easier and faster, I did feel like the book was written for a younger audience.

Again, the subject matter was facsinating and the author obviously did a lot of work to uncover a wealth of information on the life of a relatively obscure racehorse. If you're interested in racing trivia, or are simply looking for a captivating sports story, then this book should cater to you!

As one of millions who was caught up in "Arazi" fever following his stunning Breeders' Cup Juvenile win, this book provides a fascinating look at a horse which most people totally over looked.

In May 1992, I sat down to watch the Kentucky Derby expecting to watch the coronation of a horse named Arazi as the best horse since Secretariat. However, a horse I had never heard of before, Lil E. Tee, pulled a shocking upset of Arazi and won the Run for the Roses. After Lil E. Tee failed to win the Preakness Stakes, he was forgotten in my mind. That was until I picked up this book.

John Eisenberg's story of Lil E. Tee is one of the most fascinating horse racing stories you will ever read. A horse with suspect breeding, chronic colic problems, bad legs and who changed hands several times (including once for a mere $3,000) went on to win the Kentucky Derby over several royally-bred colts plus the so-called unbeatable Arazi. He also gave an accomplished jockey, Pat Day, his first (and so far, only) Kentucky Derby winner, when Day himself thought Lil E. Tee was one of his worst Derby mounts ever.

John Eisenberg has provided a well-researched tale of the life of Lil E. Tee prior to the Derby. Interviews have been conducted with pretty much all of the principles of his story and those tales have been woven into an entertaining story that reads almost like fiction.

"The Longest Shot" isn't quite the masterpiece of Laura Hillenbrand's "Seabiscuit", but I think that this book might have great potential as a movie, because it really is a true equine "Rocky"!

I thoroughly enjoyed The Longest Shot. I found it at my local library but have since purchased a copy for my growing horse library. I've been a horse nut my whole life but had not been following racing too closely. However, reading this book rekindled my interest. The author weaves the story of the horse and his people. There was always someone who believed in the horse and his career continued. The trainer, Lynn Whiting, and the jockey, Pat Day are particularly interesting as they help this horse towards the top of the equine world. One does not have to be an expert in the racing world to enjoy the book, but at the same time it does not speak down to the reader. I have recommended the book to my family members who have accompanied me on my adventures to Kentucky to visit Lil E Tee. A very well written book which will bring tears to your eyes as you realize that the horse and his connections will actually WIN the Kentucky Derby. An excellent sports book. As well written as a John Feinstein book. Read it!

Originally purchased to build a grainary, I have read and reread many sections on fuel, etc. and am thinking of a whole new layout to add much more. This is a priceless reference to have on you bench when not only designing and planning a layout, but to detail what you've got. I recommend highly.

This is one of the best railroad books I own. It covers several of the most used railroad industries and no only explains how to use them in a model railroad, but explains how each work and what type of cars to use (and for what era). I thought the book would be good for information on industries for a model railroad, but found it to be a very interesting and educational book about how each industry works. I goes over meat packing and livestock shipping, explains how crude oil is refined into various produts, types and uses for coal, just to name a few. Even if you are not planning a model, this book is a great aid for those who are interested is what those industries along the railroad really do. I would class this book as a must have.

Very informative book that I have found very helpful I am starting my very first model railroad and this book has helped me to understand exactly what and how these industries worked and what type of boxcars,tankcars,auto carriers etc. started and the improvments made over time I found this book to be very in depth on these industries without boring me.
I also found this to be a great read

I work in the video game industry and am working on a game that has a railroad level in it. These model railroad books are the perfect reference! The whole book is filled with great ideas and each idea is supported with real photographs. A+ One of the best
"reference" books I've ever purchased!

Railroad modelers get involved in because they like trains. They try to make their layouts as realistic as possible in terms of appearance and operation. They generally do a fair job on the "train" end of things but the scheme can often fall apart when it comes to the industries served by the trains. Many of us don't have a clue as to how these industries operate or how those operations are dependent upon rail service. This book addresses that big problem and does so very well.

The book consists of several chapters, each devoted to a particular industry. Within those chapters, the industry is explained in terms of getting the raw materials and shipping the finished products. This helps to design realistic layouts. Each chapter has a bit of space devoted to the types of rolling stock used by each industry and further explains the changes that occurred over historical time.

The Chapter are organized thus:

Grain: Grain elevators, flour and feed mills, rail operations.
Petroleum: Modeling oil refineries and fuel dealers
Coal Mining: shaft mines, open pit mines and railroad coal operations
Automotive: Manufacturing plants, transloading centers and auto parts traffic
Produce: Packing houses, produce markets and refrigerator car traffic
Livestock: Modeling stockyards, packing companies and branch houses

Each of these chapters is well written and organized. I am very happy to learn that another volume is on its way.

I've been running for a few years to keep the fat off my hips and was pleased to stumble across this great running guide. I must say that i had been doing quite a bit wrong. Now that i've read this book, I've lost even more weight and am just lucky that the writer didn't charge by the pound.

I've been running for only a year, but have really improved since adopting the advice contained in this book. It is also reasonably priced. I recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their running experience.

This book was my first running book. For $10 it is a great buy. It is full of information, especially training tips for a marathon. It doesn't have much on injuries or nutrition but it is only a small book. I recommend it...

This book helped me train for my first marathon in 1997... and several after. It provides three suggested-training schedules, depending on goals and training level, for 10K & marathons. Easy to follow, easy to read. Excellent starting point for new runners. Have read other books by "more famous" authors, but none of their suggested training schedules gave me the confidence I obtained by using this book. (Qualified for Boston every time!!) Future editions could be improved by adding a chapter on recovery following the marathon.

I picked up this book on a whim, and have found it to be the most helpful, inspirational book on running ever. I am 3 months pregnant and the information for pregnant women was unparalleled. I highly recommend this book for anyone though. The information is useful, the book is concise and the tone is enjoyable. Two thumbs up!

Better than expected with quotes and daily reminders of why we started to run and what motivates us to continue.

The daily readings are well written, appropriate, inspirational and at times informative. This is a great way to start off your day whether you are running that day or not.

The Runner's Book of Daily Inspiration:A Year of Motivation, Revelation, and Instruction is most likely the best investment I have ever made. Last year, I made a resoltion to myself to get in shape, eat healthy, and basically be a fit person inside and out. This is not a very easy resolution to fulfill, as I soon found out. It was my plan to run at least 3 times a week, and supplement it with another form of aerobic exercise. Very quickly, I lost my motivation, and was not living up to my expectations. I came upon this book soon afterwards, and tried to regain my motivation. After restarting my exercise program along with reading this book, I am now running every day of the week, rain or shine, hot or cold, I run through it all, all due this very book. If you buy one book in your life, buy Catcher in the Rye. But if you buy two, buy this one too!

This book was given to me as a gift. Being a "novice runner" of two years, I found this book to be very motivational. It is very intuitive on the thoughts of runners and some of the obstacles runners may encounter and how to get beyond those barriers. I have thought it such an excellent book that I am suprised it is not readily stocked and available for 24 hour shipping, especially during the holiday season. You know us last minute shoppers. Great gift idea for the novice or avid runner in your life if you can find a copy of it in time.

I read this book every day and love it! Kevin Nelson gives practical, fun and whimsical advice to people who love (or want to love) to run.

It's tough to find a running book that isn't just a rehash of the same old stuff. This excellent guide is very technical in places, but full of new information that you haven't heard a hundred times. Recommended.

I'm a serious athlete and train people professionlly (as a career) and this book does what it claims... it takes the latest and greatest information on running and endurance training in general and puts it all under one title in an easy to digest format. Train smarter, not harder. Buy this book!

I just finished reading The Cutting-Edge Runner. This is one of the few running books that I read from cover to cover. Many of the books out there fill half the pages with running plans, this book focuses on providing great useful content. I'm training for the Richmond Marathon, and have already incorporated a few of Matt's suggestions into my program. The book is truely on the cutting edge, Matt provides the latest concepts on how to run faster, longer and healthier.

I used to do triathlons, but now I figure I'm primarily a runner. I just turned forty, and I am on a quest to get my 5k time from the 19 minute range down to 18 minutes. I figure if I can do that I'll start winning or placing in my new age category; that's my way of dealing with middle age and mid-life crises and so on.

I typically read a couple running books a month, looking for ways to improve, and this book really stands out. The author cites numerous studies and relates his personal experience in incorporating new discoveries into his training. If you subscribe to Runners World, you're probably familiar with most of these advances, but it's all thoughtfully considered here in a way that lends itself to reading cover to cover.

This is an absolutely amazing, and probably most cutting-edge book on running you can find on today's book market (summer 2006), and a large part of its appeal is the fact that the content and the author's numerous recommendations are based on recent, serious, and carefully analyzed research.

This means, alas, that the book is VERY technical, and often assumes that the reader will understand without further need for explanations some fairly arcane terminology in the areas of sports medicine, biomechanics, and physiology. Admittedly, the author makes a good-faith effort to explain some of the more complex issues, but sometimes even that is not quite enough for this reader.

Although it will be a good, informative, and worthwhile read for all those interested in running, the recommendations and advice will be of use mostly to (and are almost exclusively directed at) serious, competitive, and very experienced runners.

I have to admit that since I focus on running as only a small part of a basic general fitness program, i.e., I have completely NO interest in running competitively, or in training for a marathon :) - most of this info. is not for me. Still, for those more focused on running competitively, it is probably a very valuable, cutting-edge read.

I hope that at some point the author will take the time and write a book based on the same well-informed sources, but directed at a more casual runner, and general reader without sports-medicine background like me.