5 comments about Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy.

1. I HAVE READ MANY BOOKS ABOUT SANDY KOUFAX AND THIS ANOTHER THAT IS PRETTY GOOD. THE AUTHOR JANE LEAVY, DOES A GREAT JOB FOLLOWING HIS CAREER AND EARLY LIFE, BUT I FELT THERE WASN'T ENOUGH MATERIAL ABOUT HIS LIFE AFTER HIS CAREER ENDED IN 1966. SAND KOUFAX IS THE GREATEST PICHER I HAVE SEEN. I ALWAYS TRIED TO SEE HIM ON TV ON SATURDAY GAME OF THE WEEK, ALL STAR GAME OR WORLD SERIES. WE HAD NO CABLE OR SATELITE TV THEN. LOOK AT HIS STATS, AND YOU WILL SEE THAT HE JUST DOMINATED ALMOST EVERY GAME HE PITCHED. I FOUND IT VERY INTERSTING TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HIS RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND HIS FAILED MARRIAGES ALONG WITH THE HIGHLIGHTS OF HIS FABULOUS CAREER. I KNOW SANDY IS A VERY PRIVATE PERSON AND THAT MAYBE WHY THE READER DOESN'T GET MUCH INFO ABOUT HIS LATER LIFE. BUT ALL IN ALL I RECOMMEND THIS FOR ALL DODGER AND BASEBALL FANS.



2. I'm not a baseball, or even a sports fan, but a good biography is worth reading no matter how the subject spent his or her life. I was drawn to reading this because I happened to see Koufax pitch one of his last games. It was in Chicago, and he lost to the Cubs. I've seen maybe half a dozen pro baseball games, and that's the only one I remember at all. Leavy is a fine writer; her prose is energetic and highly readable. Any really good biography is also history, and she made the historical setting, of the days when Koufax was actively pitching, come alive. Baseball, like the rest of the world, has changed a lot in the last forty years, but if Koufax made an impression on me way back then, he must have been some phenomenon! A fine read from any angle.



3. This admirable biography mixes a little baseball history with its revealing insight into one of the game's greatest pitchers. Readers learn much about Sandy Koufax, from his Brooklyn childhood, to his college basketball days, to his modest-then-stellar career with the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers from 1955-1966. As these pages show, Koufax was highly intelligent player who marched to his own drum. He also emerged from several years as a struggling southpaw into the game's most dominant hurler. During the five seasons (1962-1966) that he dominated baseball Koufax sported a phenomenal 111-34 won-loss record and 1.95 ERA - far eclipsing the game's other top hurlers. Sadly, painful arthritis in his pitching arm led him to retire (at age 30) after the 1966 season, when his superb record (27-9, 1.73 ERA) helped lead his team to another pennant. As a Jewish player, Koufax endured occasional Anti-Semitic taunts, and he made headlines by electing not to pitch the opening game of the 1965 World Series due to a major Jewish holiday. Still, many teammates thought him quite cool, and Pirates slugger Willie Stargell said that hitting against Koufax was like trying to drink coffee with a fork.
   
   Author Jane Levy interviewed hundreds of teammates, friends, etc., in writing this book, although Koufax himself declined to participate. His absence leads to a slight feeling of incompleteness, but this remains a very interesting and revealing effort.



4. I'll agree with the author that Sandy was a terrific pitcher and an introvert in a sport where it seems like all the really big stars were all capitalizing on their fame. But the really great thing about the book were all the personal stories...between catcher and pitcher, Drysdale and Koufax, kids and coaches who grew up with Sandy, opposing players and managers who played against the Dodgers, etc.
   
   Certainly there was some myth-making going on...by the author as well as many of the teammates who played with Sandy. I think that's what happens when you meet up with an extraordinary talent who enjoys his privacy on his terms.
   
   Loved the little quotes by Ernie Banks and the one story when Mickey Mantle faced him in the world series. Baseball isn't just a fun game to play...it's the stories that are fun as well and this book tells them very well. You'll enjoy it.



5. I really do not know much about the history, stats, or events of baseball. This book was so much more than that. It makes you wish you had either known or met Mr. Koufax. This is a story that both men & women from all walks of life would love. It was a reminder that truly complex, compassionate,non-conforming men are out there. Who are not so much impressed by WHAT they do, but more about HOW they do it. Today's athlete would never make the choices and sacrifices that Mr. Koufax did. Sadly, those days are long gone.

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5 comments about Memories: The Autobiography of Ralph Emery.

1. I have had little respect for Emery since I've heard and read about how rude he was to Gram Parsons in a interview in the 60's, which carried over to the way Gram Parsons was treated when he performed on The Grand Old Opry. It shows just how narrow and closeminded he could be toward a new talent trying to make it, who didn't meet his criteria. Like he is one to judge talent. Gram Parsons was a great talent, and his music still carries. He really didn't need a nod from Emery, of all people. By the way, Gram's Nubie suit hangs in the Country Music Hall Of Fame after all. He loved county music.



2. i believe ralph dug deep to be truthful about himself. what some see as conceit, i see as insecurity, a very deep insecurity. Embrassed by a drunken father (it takes a lot of guts for a child-adult to admit their father was a town drunk) that has to be so hurtful. Overly concerned about his looks in a most negative way, the only happiness in his young life was when he lived with his maternal grandparents Fuqua. He presents himself in an honest way. I enjoyed reading about his guest on his raido talk show.........good book.



3. One only has to read this hodge podge of vignettes from one of the most self-serving, conceited individuals in country music to realize that Skeeter Davis told the truth about him in her autobiography. This man is arrogant and prejudiced in every sense of the words. Hillbilly music put your name of the map Mr. Emery......and the same people you met on your way up are the same ones you will meet on your way down. Shame on you and your bigoted, one sided views!



4. maybe i'm naive but i think Ralph Emery is first and foremost a broadcaster. he did interviews and played country songs for most of his radio career (dating from the mid '50s to the early '90s). His broadcasting skills border on the "tough" talking style of Mike Wallace. Emery clearly stated that he wanted to bring 'style' or 'respect' to the genre, commenting that in urban America country music is seen as "redneck" music for the un-educated. Emery's vision, from what i've read, was to showcase country singers as witty and topical/informed as the pop artists seemed to be. Emery, as he should be, prides himself on his Mike Wallace style. He talks about his short stints as gospel and rock stations before migrating to country stations. This doesn't indicate that Emery isn't a country music fan. it shows that Emery was a BROADCASTER first...one that would take the work anywhere it was available. his on-air presence obviously galvanized his listeners because he stuck with the country format throughout his career and on into television. This book is called Memories. It's an autobiography of Ralph Emery and the celebrities/artists he's been associated with. Everything in the book are 'memories' from Ralph. His child-hood upbringing and his insecurities are in the beginning chapters. His opinion of ex-wife Skeeter Davis is in no way less harsh than her opinions of him that i've heard her say on numerous occasions on the Opry. The little typ-o's from the book brought up by the other reviewer, saying Fan Fair is in July and not June or when Keith Whitley won or didn't win an award, seem petty when looking at the book's overall purpose. i will admit that Ralph can be a bit jaded, which some take as "arrogant". You must understand that in Ralph's profession he has to put up with a lot of BS from his bosses, advertisers, record labels, critics, etc. A person who has to deal with that, at the same time doing a job they love to do, it tends to dampen the 'mood' a little bit. As a result, a person becomes depressed or jaded because of all the crap they have to put up with simply for an interview to get set up. In Emery's case, he hated record labels that over-hyped their artists. On his shows, a listener got to hear a country singer "up close" with all that industry hype stripped from them. He wouldn't allow the artist he interviewed to hold the airwaves hostage with an on-slaught of promotion of their new album or single. Instead, Ralph would promote the product periodically throughout an interview but that was it. the remainder of the interview was Ralph talking to the guest about their private life or their experiences on the road or making an album...never taking it to level 2, always keeping the flow of the conversation 'loose' where it never turned into hyping. if some find this style of "no BS" professionalism arrogant, well, i feel sorry for you. i give it 4 stars because the segment on the great Ray Stevens could've been longer and more in-depth because Ralph is the only one who actually knows legitimate Ray Stevens stories.



5. Back when The Nashville Network cable channel was new and still country, "Nashville Now" was its flagship program. Host Ralph Emery seemed like a friendly, easy going member of the extended family. In this collection of "Memories" (most of which are the memories of what other people did) he comes across as arrogant, self-serving, and somewhat bitter.

   He makes insidious allegations against ex-wife Skeeter Davis, and while there are two sides to every story, her tale is not needed for this version to sound dubious on its own merits. Among the anecdotes he includes are juicy vignettes about many country singers. Some such as Merle Haggard's lamentation seems like they were obviously intended to have been kept off the record.

   Perhaps the book's biggest drawback is that it lends credence to the long whispered rumor that Ralph Emery was never a true country fan. In it he refers to the late Keith Whitley as having won the CMA Horizon award the year before he died. In reality, he was nominated but lost. The supposed epitome of country radio also states that Nashville's annual thank you party Fan Fair is held every year in early July, but it is actually held in early June. These embarrassing misstatements suggest that the editors were also not well versed in country music info.

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5 comments about Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography (Thorndike Press Large Print Paperback Series).

1. Kelly's books, whether you like her or not, can be taken to the bank. You know they are true, no matter how salacious (which means most of them) otherwise she would end up tied into a thousand libel law suits -- and yet she has not.
   
   The same is true for his one. She mines the alley-ways of Washington, and drains the swamps of her close "tell-all" friends and family to come up with the goods on the "made in Hollywood plastic doll" called Nancy Reagan. Too bad Kelly had to become an institution in and of her self. If we had anything other than a "limp-wristed" press, we would not have to rely on the likes of Kelly to give us the "true skinny" on what's happening in the "Lincoln bedroom" and its environs.
   
   This 600-page tale has more than just the ring of truth. Even without hearing her voice, we all knew that Nancy was a flawed personality in the classic way of American flaws; the kind that makes her blend-in and makes her become all but invisible to the typical majority American public. She possessed a kind of "dainty and flighty empty persona" that goes down well with being a "washed-out ex-starlet" and a conservative Republicanism (or is this redundant?).
   
   But inviting Frank Sinatra in through the backdoor of the White House for private lunches when "Old Ronny boy" was away? This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "when the Cats away, the mouse will come out to play."
   
   And this is just the most salacious of a whole feast of salacious fare. Her firing of Donald Regan, for instance, was a Machiavellian work of art. It proves that Nancy knew how to protect and run interference for her "golden goose." Her consultation and faith in the prediction of psychics bordered on lunacy: Don't these people ever read books? And also, I thought that the Reagan's were religious? How do they pull it off, conning the American people so easily with their facades and "public show faces?"
   
   Nancy's deep insecurities grew out of her troubled childhood and erratic upbringing. However, throughout her life it was all covered-over by a patina of faux style and grace, that got her a long way in our empty culture. There is something mildly vulgar about having leaders as intellectually empty as the Reagans running our country. But Kelly did her job well.
   
   Three stars.



2. Whenever I see a biography that is unauthorized, that usually means two things...the subject had aboslutely no input into it and thus cannot refute or put into perspective on tidbits given to the writers by (usually) disgruntle sources, and the book itself is going to trash the subject (Madonna Unauthorized by Christopher Andersen comes to mind).
   
   In any case, I do have to admit the Kitty Kelley did her research into Nancy Reagan. Straight from the mouths of her children, step-children, relatives, colleauges, fellow Hollywood starlets (and from Nancy herself, thanks to her own gossipy book "My Turn"), Kelley chronicled Mrs. Reagan's beginnings as a Hollywood starlet to her tenure as America's first unofficial "petticoat president".
   
   The tone of Kelley's approach was cast when the book began with Kelley claiming she ran into a wall of silence while researching the book (well, she still did find plenty of people to open their trap), and the book opens with how everything on Nancy's birth certificate was manufactured other than her race and gender.
   
   Yes, you can tell by now, that Mrs. Reagan's dirty laundry is going to be exposed to the world. I particularly take interest on the chapter dealing with Nancy's years in Hollywood, where it is chronicled that she got parts in movies by ingratiating herself with the higher-ups; as if everybody else in Hollywood was not ambitious as well.
   
   In all, Nancy Reagan is portrayed as an ambitious woman who placed her career and place in society by sacrificing her relationship with her family and children; like men hasn't been doing that for years. It is again, a case where a woman who has sights for higher heights is put down for her ambitions (not to say that tact and diplomacy are not virtues, something Mrs. Reagan, according to the book, seems to lack).
   
   There is a Notes section at the rear of the book that detailed all the sources Kelley compiled from that make up each chapter, and almost every one included a little expose on Nancy that otherwise didn't quite fit in the book proper (yes when you thought there isn't more to read!).
   
   One more observation, the book also tell of Nancy's agressive pursuit of Ronald Reagan. Given his recent passing and Mrs. Reagan emotionally farewell to her husband, I can only say she really loved that man.



3. I think this is fair to say that Reagan was so far-gone most of his second term that I'm sympathetic for Mrs. Reagan! And probably grateful now.. better Mrs. Reagan telling the president what to say than Carl Rove and V Pres Cheney!
   
   When I read this when it first came out, it was a bit upsetting, but now as I look back those days were a lot more pleasant than now. Though I would never have voted for Reagan under any circumstance, I am a LOT more appreciative now!
   
   READ it.. but forgive their foibles.



4. I avoided reading Kitty Kelly's books for many years, not because I felt they might not be interesting but because I considered it unseemly to go rummaging around in the closets of other people's pasts. I finally broke down, however, and read this one. As a matter of fact I made it all the way through. I wonder if anyone else has ever been able to do that. Thank Heaven it was only 528 pages. Half that number would have been sufficient and surely would have buried Nancy Reagan at least up to her ears.
   
   The book, although probably correct in many particulars, perhaps most or even all, and quite interesting at times is simply too long and very much too one-sided. Early on, I grew weary of the constant piling on, but I soldiered on and actually finished it. Others don't have to make that choice. But, if you hold Nancy Reagan in low esteem and would like to know her every fault, this is the book for you. If you feel otherwise about Nancy, you would be well advised to confine yourself to page 358.



5. If you love gossip, you will love this book. Kitty Kelley does a great job of telling all the dirt she can dig up on Nancy Reagan and our former president, Ronald. Now, how much can you take to heart and accept as truth? That would be difficult to tell. Kelley gives great references, but the problem is that she has found people who have an axe to grind and she lets them grind away! I am certain that the former first family were not perfect. Some of the things we read about are likely true, but overall, they did a fantastic job. We really don't need to know all of their dirty laundry. When I read about the family struggles that were experienced between the Reagan's and their kids, I was disappointed. But, I never expected them to be perfect parents. I was very disappointed in the actions of the children as well. I read about Nancy's great desire for wealth, expensive clothes, etc. She and Ronald Reagan were criticized for gaining much wealth after the presidency by "using" their position. I could not help but laugh and think about how Kitty Kelley makes her wealth. Writing Gossip is real honorable. She certainly cashed in on Reagan's presidency, but she criticises Ronnie and Nancy for accepting speaking engagements, book offers, gifts, etc. Kelley was totally negative, taking most of her quotes from people who were angry with the Reagans. Why did she not spend more time interviewing the people who were close to the Reagans. She talked about, "the Girls," but failed to include what they thought of Nancy. Instead of digging up the gossip, she should try giving a balanced report of things in the future. There are many who loved this first family greatly and many of them were very close to the true situation. I guess Kitty is afraid that the truth would not sell. If all of this is really true about Nancy, I deeply piti her. Kitty has certainly only given us one side of the story.

5 comments about My Life As a Dog.

1. If you loved Eddie on the TV show "Frasier" or if you just love Jack Russell Terriers in general, then you will love this book. I have read it several times and still enjoy it each time. This book makes you smile, laugh and cry all at the same time! This book has even given me a better insight on my Jack Russell Terrier, Suzy!!! Great book!!!



2. I expected more from this book and thought Moose would be a fascinating character. It was an "okay" book but I wouldn't recommend. I would have liked more depth to the story.



3. I love this book I have read it so many times. I just can't get enough of this book. It is such a good little story. I am still reading it again in my 8th grade class and i still love it.



4. What a joy and relief this adorable, witty book is during these trying times! Anyone who loves Moose on Frasier will just not be able to get enough of this delightful tome, which continues the show's wit onto the printed page. I was simply enchanted from cover to cover. Truly!



5. This book had me rolling on the floor! It is wonderful to know that a dog with such a difficult beginning can become the star he is today. Ms. Decagny had her work cut out for her when taking Moose on, and it seems her work has paid off. The little Moose-isms in the book alone make it worth reading. Fabulous book.