BOOKS THREAD

I just finished "Next Man Up." Not his best work, but it was fairly nice to have some access to an NFL team. It was pretty good, but nothing special ... a far cry from "The Last Amateurs" or "A Season On The Brink."

Thanks for feedback on "Last Dance." ... I've read too much Feinstein to pass on this one.

 

"Last Dance" definitely didn't feature the usual amount of Feinstein research. It's more of a collection of anecdotes about the sport that he has stored up over the years, mixed in with some interviews with some past and present participants.

It's not great work, but it's pretty entertaining in its own way -- kind of like sitting around the dinner table for a couple of hours, hearing stories.

 

I think Feinstein is at his best when it comes to golf. "Open" and "A Good Walk Spoiled" are my two favorites. I think he gets a little too reverential towards the coaches when it comes to college basketball (except, of course, for "Brink") so I tend to stay away from those.

 

"Homeboy" by Seth Morgan. His love of language is amazing. "Donemewrongdrops on her cheeks."

 

I'm sure somebody has mentioned this on here, but I didn't feel like digging through all of it.

Just finished Steve Martin's second book and loved it. Both "Shopgirl" and "The Pleasure of My Own Company" were wonderfully written and enjoyable to read.

Not at all what you'd expect from Steve Martin and very much worth the short amount of time it takes to read them.

 

Tug McGraw's autobiography made me laugh and cry. I did a lot of both through the whole book.

 

First off, he produces reams of copy quickly. As noted by Martin above, "Last Dance" is really a collection of stories he'd compiled over the years that he didn't have an outlet for otherwise, so he just put them together in this book.

 

anyone read Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals" yet? I'm about to rip out a back muscle picking it up off the coffee table start it and seeing if it's worth a two-month's chiropractor billl my time?

I enjoy reading good history and hoping it lives up to all its Pulitzer-winning hype.

 

Sirs, Madames,

Read "Moscow Circles" by Venedict Erofeev in one sitting (at the reference library because it's out of print and unavailable). A drunk who has never seen the Kremlin and can't find it on the train line. (Piss) stream of (semi-consciousness). Original edition was a press run of one that was passed reader to reader. Both its story and publishing history hit too close to home. (Try finding your way on a Moscow subway.)

Your Humble Proletariat Tool, etc

 

I *loved* Shopgirl and thought the movie didn't do it justice, even though it, too, was really good.

My next book is "The Colony" about the leper colony on Molokai. I'm finishing up BASW 2005 right now. Good stuff.

 

I have to finish Fever Pitch by Wednesday night in order to lead a book discussion at my library. I am not looking forward to it only because just one person is going to show up. Maybe two. About 40 pages in, so far I'm not loving the book. It's mildly amusing.

Am I going to hate the next two days or love them?