BOOKS THREAD

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/6032.html

 

Just read "The Night of the Gun" by David Carr. A very interesting read and brutally honest. He's not without ego, although it is so in front of you, that you have to almost laugh it off.

 

Just picked up Gary Smith's Going Deep and see that The Best American Sports Writing 2008 has arrived in our Canadian chainstores. Also veteran Vancouver sports columnist Jim Taylor has a new book out about his 40 or so years in the business. Last week at a hospital sale I found of copy of The Best of Jim Coleman, which Taylor edited. It covers Coleman's work from 1939 to 1983 when he was one of Canada's best columnists. Plenty of good reading ahead as I also have The Best Sports Writing of Pat Jordan in my TBR stack. Right now I'm near the end of Fanatic 10 Things All Sports Fans Should Do Before They Die by SI's Joe Gorant. It's a fun read. Last night while the Cubbies were getting beat up by the Dodgers, I was reading his chapter about attending a game at Wrigley Field.

 

My old man was a huge fan of Coleman's and often talked about sharing a bottle of scotch with him at the airport when Coleman was going to cover the British Open and the old man was going back to Scotland for a vacation. Coleman's A Hoofprint On My Heart (probably long out of print) is one of the best books on horse racing I've read.

 

I'm not a mystery fan, so I've never read Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Gone, Baby, Gone).

But his new one, The Given Day, is a historical novel about Boston right after WWI and it's pretty good -- anarchists, police strikes, and Babe Ruth. Haven't finished it yet, but it's fast-paced, only slightly anachronistic in parts and paints a believable portrait of the city in that era.

 

Oh, man. That sounds right up my alley. Thanks, FTH.

 

Apparently you guys missed Moddy's and my comments a page back.

I finished it last week, and as always Lehane's sense of place is palpable, even in a historic setting. He skillfully weaves the story amidst the events of the day, thus creating a plethora of characters (more varied than any of his previous books).

 

I love Dennis Lehane. Read Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone and a couple of his other early books. Bought his new one for my dad, and figure I'll read it when he's done. He's the rare book writer who's gotten steadily better and deeper through his career.

 

Also reading this. I'm about 100 pages in, and I love what I've read so far.

 

Agreed, his books keep growing in new directions, and his short story collection, "Coronado," was excellent. I believe one of the stories is being made into a movie, and Scorsese is doing "Shutter Island."