BOOKS THREAD

I finished "The Greatest Battle" yesterday. One of the best reads of my life. Crazy to think Germany was 25 miles away from seizing Moscow before Operation Barbarossa stalled and ultimately died. Hitler made the most fatal mistake of his life by delaying the start of the operation two months because he needed to retaliate against Greece and Yugoslavia. Those two months meant Germany would have to fight during the harsh Russian winter. It fucked up his entire attack, and it allowed Russia to eventually counterattack. The personal stories intertwined are poignant. What resolve the Muscovites had. I knew Russia was hit hard with casualties, but was shocked to read the number as 27 million. Great book.

Now I'm reading Bret Hart's autobiography "Hitman," which is 500 pages. Through the first 50 or so, and it is goddamn fantastic. He leaves no sunset flip unturned. He's a deep guy who doesn't waste a single word, and churns out some of the most raw and poignant sentences and graphs. The way he relates emotion reminds me of HST.

So far, these moments (among many in the first 50 pages) stand out:

"Out on the rocks, I made a pact with the full moon, asking God to watch over me as I decided to dedicate my life to this crazy profession."

"I soon got used to long drives, listening to music, singing, going from town to town, finding camaraderie in this strange mix of humanity. The bus would pull over in the middle of nowhere for a piss stop and that was a sight unto itself: Men of all different sizes and colors pissing at the side of the road while gazing up at the northern lights."

Right now I'm at the part where he's talked about Big Daddy Sylvester Ritter (who later became the Junkyard Dog), and a page later where he just met Jake "The Snake" Roberts and Jim Neidhart.

I love how he talks about Calgary (makes me think of our own Flasher) and his roadies across Canada. His artwork is quite impressive, too.

 

About halfway through Boys Will Be Boys.

As a lifelong Cowboys fan, I've found some surprising revelations, and Pearlman's writing is top-notch.

Have found two typos so far. But no biggy.

 

Just finished "For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Chicago" by Simon Baatz. I really enjoyed it - the first section, about Leopold and Loeb and the murder itself were fascinating. The middle section, about the attorneys, including Clarence Darrow, who won back his reputation with his defense of L&L was also interesting. If you like true crime books (as Loeb did), you should check this one out.

 

Thanks, Dyno. Just ordered it.

 

This case has fascinated me since I was a kid and saw the NY Times front-page description of this in their book of 20th century front pages.

I saw this book in B&N and gave it a more-than-cursory, but not totally deep read while waiting for Mrs. Birdscribe. I'm not sure from the kibbles and bits I read that it's anything new or different from Hal Higdon's definitive book on the Franks murder case: "The Crime of the Century."

Not that there could be much new info on an 84-year-old case, but I'm curious as to what Literate SportsJournalists.com Nation's take on this book is -- so I can determine if I need to buy a copy or not.

As I pointed out on another thread, this provided one of the greatest leads ever written: when Richard Loeb was murdered in prison in 1936 by a fellow inmate he allegedly came on to in the shower, Ed Lahey of the Chicago Daily News penned this classic:

"Despite his fine education, Richard Loeb today ended his sentence with a proposition."

 

Just finished "The Challenege" by Jonathan Mahler regarding the Hamdan case which ended up before the US Supreme Court. Excellent book which does a nice job presenting the case and the personalities involved. It may have been a little soon to write the book, but I really enjoyed the read.

 

Picked up a copy of 'Nixon Under the Bodhi Tree and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction' edited by Kate Wheeler. Got it at used an annual used book sale/fundraiser. Read it last weekend.
Loved it.

 

Sirs, Madames,

Read East of Eden on a roadie west last week. Read a lot of Steinbeck as a kid but not EoE. Not the greatest turn of phrase but that's what he is/was. Great yarn tho'.

Put me down for Yiddish and Wonder Boys on Chabon. Mysteries was okay and Adventures same.

Ferris's was just great.

Mr X,

I did a mag feature on the Harts in '92 (the cover foto of Hitman was taken from the shoot). We have the same book publisher and the editor of his book was my editor at the mag. I can't imagine that anyone would have a more interesting story to tell. His father bodyslammed me--and he was in his 70s at the time.

o-<

 

I'm receiving brilliance. A hundred pages in and it's exceeding expectations. This is the LeBron James of books. I predict Wally Lamb goes 3-for-3 in writing Oprah books.

 

If you're into the Supreme Court, you need to read Toobin's "The Nine" Webster. It mentions this case.

 

I liked "The Nine" better. I did think that it was rare for the lawyers in Mahler's book to open up so much with respect to their personal lives. Well, maybe not Swift (the JAG guy) who clearly likes his publicity. I'm also wondering if Katyal has a place in 44's administration.

 

I read "What Happened?" by Scott McClellan. It was a very interesting view of the Bush White House, and gives some good insights. My thought was that this may be the best view which has been or will be written about by an insider of this administration, since the other figures are not likely to be as forthcoming.

I just received a copy of "The Nine", and based on some previous posts, that will be my next book.