5 comments about Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend.

1. The best ballplayer I ever saw play in person was Willie Mays. Not only was he a consummate athlete and center fielder, but he also took the time before the game to sign autographs for almost two hours.
   
   This biography suggests something of that person's essence and character.
   
   It is an enjoyable read and worth the time to read and savor, and to reread when the mood strikes.
   
   I enjoy books on Kindle (on my iPod Touch) but the reviews with 1-3 stars slamming the book because the publisher has opted to delay its availability on Kindle are a shame because they do nothing but lower the overall review average. When you take the time to read the comments made by people who actually READ the book, you'll find it worth your time and effort.



2. I've been saying for years that a decent Biography about "Baseball's Greatest Living Player" (even when Dimaggio was alive),needed to be written.
   We finally have it, factual and well written as well.
   This is the man that my idol Mickey Mantle said was the best he ever saw.
   I recommend this to any seriously objective baseball fan.



3. I am about half way through this book about Willie Mays, and so far, I have found it an enjoyable read. While it has a lot of stats, both Willie's and other players in the Giant organization at the time, it isn't boring. Since, I only knew about him as a baseball player, (I was a teenager back then) I am enjoying finding out more about his personality. This book is long overdue!



4. Excellent history of Willie, baseball, civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s. Well-written, a little repetitive but not too bad. Recommend for baseball fans of all ages.



5. The opportunity to review this book came shortly after nearly four feet of mid-February snow arrived in the mid Atlantic. What better way to fight off cabin fever and count down the days until spring training with a 560-page examination of one of baseball's most iconic players?
   
   The cover of James S. Hirsch's book contains an "authorized by Willie Mays" caption under the author's name. When I saw this, I was prepared for either an bowlderized "as told to" story, or worse, a glossy hagiography. To Hirsch's credit, this book is neither. Mays was not without flaws. And while this is clearly not an expose, they are not concealed in this book. His lack of financial discipline, his relationships O.J. Simpson and Barry Bonds, his physical reactions to the stresses of living in a the fishbowl of high expectations...any of these could have been ignored or glossed over, but they are not. The result is a great baseball biography.
   
   Willie Mays entered the major leagues at time of baseball transition: the game was moving west, moving south, moving to television and and rosters becoming more diverse as African Americans and Latinos arrived in greater numbers. He arrived via a path that took him variously through the Negro leagues and Birmingham's industrial teams, the product of an unconventional home life and blessed with enviable physical skills.
   
   What can we make of the portrait Hirsch paints? While Mays was clearly not perfect, he was also less flawed than many of his peers (from Mantle to Rose). He thrived in the spotlight of celebrity and high expectations on two coasts, and set an unequaled standard for center field play.
   
   Even if you think you know his story, this book is well worth the time to help fill in the blanks.

5 comments about Open: An Autobiography.

1. This is an amazing book that brings you into a journey of one of the greatest tennis player that ever played. This is something people can really relate to and understand how tough and lonely it can be as an athlete and famous celebrity. A very interesting book that you can't stop reading. Highly recommended and nothing beats amazon.



2. Most tennis lovers thought they knew Agassi. His works prove that we knew nothing at all! This was one of the most powerful insights to a person's life that I have read. He told the true, raw story of what it was like growing up as a child and becoming a tennis player. All the times we thought he was a spoiled brat or high on his own ego maybe we didn't know him at all. Please read about his life and how he changed it around.



3. I loved the kindle edition of this book. It discusses both the value and pitfalls of competition. Andre allowed us to see inside his soul. He explained the reasons behinnd many of his actions, both professional and personal.



4. On the day after I finished this 'brutally honest' book, I encountered the following passage from Robert Harris' The Ghost: A Novel. With some substitutions, it perfectly describes what makes 'Open' so compelling:
   
   -----------
   "Why don't we try to make this book unlike any other [sports] memoir that's ever been written? Why don't we try to tell the truth?"
   
   He laughed. "Now that would be a first."
   
   "I mean it. Let's tell people what it really feels like to be [Andre Agassi]. Not just the [sports] stuff -- any old bore can write about that. Let's stick to what no one except you knows - the day-to-day experience of actually [being the top-ranked tennis player in the world]. What do you feel like in the mornings? What are the strains? What's it like to be so cut off from ordinary life? What's it like to be hated?"
   
   "Thanks a lot."
   
   "What fascinates people isn't [sports] -- who cares about [sports]? What fascinates people is always people -- the detail of another person's life. But because the detail is naturally all so familiar to YOU, you can't sort out what it is the reader wants to know. It has to be drawn out of you. That's why you need [JR Moehringer]. This shouldn't be a book for [sports junkies]. This should be book for everyone."
   ------------
   
   That's this book. Even if you've never read a sports biography, read this book. Even if you don't care about tennis, read this book. Even if you think you didn't care about Andre Agassi, read this book.
   
   Andre Agassi looks at his life through collaborator JR Moehringer's Pulitzer Prize-winning lens and emerges with one of the finest memoirs on record.



5. I do not have enough superlatives in my vocabulary to adequately describe this book. Just looking at the dust jacket tells you that this memoir is aptly named. On the front cover, Andre meets your gaze directly with eyes that tell you that he is vulnerable and wanting to hold nothing back. The photo on the back shows a sad little boy keeping his eye on the ball, perfecting his backhand but hating and fearing the sport into which his father drafted him. In the 388 pages in between, Andre bares his soul. It's all there--the drug and alcohol abuse, the wear and tear on his body, his lack of a high school education, his victories and defeats, the lie that he concocted when he tested positive for crystal meth, the story of his hair falling out, on and on, related with almost perfect recall. Andre was much more candid than you would expect a celebrity to be, if perhaps a little too hard on himself. I only sensed that he held back in talking about his romantic life, not wanting to dish out the dirt on Brooke Shields and describing his current wife Steffi Graf in nothing but glowing terms. But you can hardly fault him for that, right? (No pun intended.) Andre's story "ends" well, although at age 36 in this book he is still far from his final chapter. He is happily married, with the proverbial boy and girl to raise, retired from tennis, and founder of an educational foundation for underprivileged children that funds a school in his name. And not until the very end do we find out that Andre paired his eidetic memory with the elegant wordsmithing of a supremely talented ghostwriter, J.R. Moehringer. He begins the book with a phrase that could just as easily conclude it: "I open my eyes and don't know where I am or who I am." While Andre's identity crisis is very real and perhaps the dominant theme of Open, by the book's conclusion the reader senses that he is well on his way to finding out and this gives me hope that he has at least one more book in him for us to look forward to. Game, set , and match--Agassi.

5 comments about The Blind Side (Movie Tie-in Edition) (Movie Tie-in Editions).

1. Saw the movie, and found it heartwarming, but the book is another thing altogether. Just wonderful. Learned a great deal about football (The author wrote Moneyball, after all) and the human side of the story was much more richly developed.



2. A good follow-up to the movie, but sometimes a bit too detailed regarding football facts and figures.



3. Much better than the movie, although the book really showed how well Sandra Bullock played her character. The chapters on the history of the "west coast" offense and the left tackle were both interesting and well written. Michael Lewis also did a great job of showing all the circumstances Michael Oher had to overcome, not just poverty.



4. This book arrived in perfect brand new condition. I would rec'd this sellar with 5 stars.



5. I loved the movie, so bought the book. There is so much more in the book. Michael Lewis writes a very compelling book, and although the story line is not necessarily the sole thing in this book, it certainly drives it. There were many interesting stories about football that tied all the interesting facts together. I learned so much about the game, and no one would ever call me a huge fan. But I loved the book and went on to read "Moneyball", which is the author's non-fiction book on professional baseball.

5 comments about The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game.

1. I saw the movie way before i read the book, but i can assure you, if you like the movie you'll love the book, it has and air of remembering the game, and taking you to the moments that really change the game of football.



2. I thoroughly enjoyed the book (though as a woman I sometimes got bogged down in the history telling of some of the football stats) It was interestering to learn of some of the 'stars' of yesteryear and of past coaches.
   
   The storyline of what the Toueys did is remarkable and I've heard Leigh Ann wants to start some type of program for underprivileged black kids who need help with grades to stay in school. What a woman!!
   
   My one complaint is the cover....Michael Lewis name stands out much more than the title of the book..like he is selling his name over that of the book and of Michael Ohr...the cover on the paperback is much more appropriate. Hopefully, the cover on the hardback will be changed if the book sells enough copies.



3. Gave it as a gift but I'm sure it's a good book. Saw the movie.



4. The Blind Side is generally very well written, tremendously informative, and highly engaging. I learned a great deal about the evolution of the passing game, and very much enjoyed the tale of Michael Oher's rise. But the merits of the book will be obvious to any reader who has the slightest interest in football.
   
   Its defects may be a bit less apparent. In one passage, Michael Lewis says the following: "Memphis could make you wonder why anyone ever bothered to create laws segregating the races. More than a million people making many millions of individual choices generated an outcome not so different from a law forbidding black people and white people from mingling." Not only is this patently false, it's highly insulting. White supremacy and its corollaries--e.g., the economic and social subjugation of black people--were the law, not one-half of some controlled trial, and modern-day segregation is their legacy. So it's quite ignorant and hurtful to claim, especially so nonchalantly, that black people have chosen to wall themselves off in the poverty of western Memphis.
   
   Another problem with the Blind Side is that precious little of it is told from the subject's perspective--i.e., from Oher's point of view. I kept wanting to get an idea of his side of the story, but only toward the very end of the book do you get as much as an inkling as to how he was seeing things. Relatedly, only toward the very end of the book do you get a sense of how much and how hard Oher worked to improve his athletic skills before he moved into white Memphis. According to the Author's Note, Oher didn't open up to Lewis 'til fairly late in the game, so to speak, but that's no excuse for Lewis's failure to thoroughly incorporate Oher's perspective and detail his striving. Nor is there any excuse for Lewis's continuing to call Oher "Big Mike" even after noting that Oher hates that moniker.
   
   Also, Lewis falls all over himself lauding Ole Miss head coach Ed Orgeron's recruiting ability, but punts when it comes to explaining why that talent didn't result in success for the Rebels, who were awful under Orgeron's stewardship. Finally, and I realize this is pretty petty, but Lewis not only confuses ecto-, endo-, and mesomorphism, but doesn't realize that none of them really applies to Oher, or to offensive linemen in general.



5. The Blind Side weaves together the compelling story of a out-of-nowhere high school football star with the evolution of the game of football. The title comes from the nickname given to the area behind a quarterback who is setting up to pass. Defenses normally put their best pass rusher on this side to give him the added advantage of the qb not being able to see his approach. As football offenses became more and more pass-happy, the offensive tackle who protects the quarterback's "blind side" became critical. As a result this position has become one of the most highly paid in the NFL.
   
   Lewis traces this development while focusing on Michael Oher (pronounced "oar"), a high school phenom whose life story is, well, if the book were fiction, it would be panned as sheer fantasy.
   
   The title, The Blind Side, misleads the reader into thinking that the focus will be on the evolution of football. However, this is really very tangential to the Michael Oher story. As fascinating as that was, this reader came away somewhat pitying Oher, for the book lays open his life to a degree that no young adult should have to face. Imagine 300+ pages of the Duggar family shamelessly spilling their family time in full view. It may not be dirty laundry, but it way more information than the public needs about anyone, especially a young man trying to become an adult.
   
   Kudos to the Tuohys for their selfless giving. I suppose some are jaded about their wealth and resources, but the question comes to mind, "What can I do to help those less fortunate?" I wonder how successful their foundation for helping other inner-city kids has been. It seems to me that their own experience shows that it takes a family to raise a kid.
   
   Even though Oher is now a Ratbird (a pox on their nest), I wish him success in his football career, except of course when playing the Browns.
   
   The football history was interesting but it is definitely not what one recalls when thinking about the book. It is well written and an enjoyable read.

1 comments about Harry the K: The Remarkable Life of Harry Kalas.

1. Many across the country may not know "Harry the K", but nonetheless, you need to read this book! You may start out not knowing who he was, and it pains me to use that in the past tense, but you likely knew his voice.
   
   This is a story about a solitary, humble man, whose tremendous kindnesses and generosity became legend to the millions who came to know him.
   
   People outside of the broadcasting reach of Philadelphia heard his Campbell Chunky Soup commercials, his Coors Light promotions and many, many others.
   
   He picked up the mantel when John Facenda, the man known as NFL Films' "Voice of God" left us. He did Notre Dame football and basketball. He was the voice of Westwood One's weekly NFL radio broadcast.
   
   But, to those of us in reach of the Philadelphia airwaves, Harry was for thirty-eight years our closest friend and the play-by-play announcer for the Phillies.
   
   At the end, as Mike Jack Schmidt said in his eloquent eulogy, "If you can look past Ben Franklin and William Penn, Harry Kalas might have been the greatest person to ever grace Philadelphia".
   
   I consider myself somewhat a student of history. Schmidt was right!
   
   This is a book that will interest you, captivate you, make you laugh, anger you and make you cry; the latter especially so if you are from Philadelphia or its surrounds. In fact, the final three chapters are absolutely heart-wrenching!
   
   This is not a book about baseball. It's not a book about Philadelphia. It is a very well researched and written book by Randy Miller about a wonderful, wonderful fun loving, good man, who had flaws like the rest of us. But, boy, what virtues! As for now, I'm "outta heeeeere!"

5 comments about Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman.

1. The author tells three stories. One is the story of Pat Tillman and another the systematic failures that led to his death and produced a cover up. The third story, the modern history of Afghanistan, is used to parallel the life of Pat Tillman. This timeline not needed by those apt to read this book. It appears, to this reader, as filler.
   
   Given Tillman's interest in philosophy and literature, the title is appropriate as well as chapter introductory quotes. You come to understand that Tillman is no ordinary jock, but an exceptional person with considerable depth.
   
   Dysfunctions in the prosecution of the GWOT have been described many works. Here, as in Operation Hotel California: The Clandestine War Inside Iraq, personnel at a remote location literally call the shots. Here, the brass at the FOB ordered a Humvee carcass to be towed over a mountain and a platoon to be divided. There are rules of engagement in which the individual's judgment on the ground is given very little weight. Why is it that the communications equipment, which should be state of the art (goodness, what did it cost?) doesn't work in battle? Each of these is an element that factored into the "friendly fire" death of Pat Tillman.
   
   While the dysfunctions are described, the book's most powerful indictment is on how the tragedies of war were distorted and fed to an uncritical press in order to build support for the war. The "perception management" of Jim Wilkinson successfully diverted attention from an incident resulting the 29 US deaths, 11 missing and 6 other captives by creating Jessica Lynch as a hero. The author describes this and how the Tillman tragedy was similarly managed at the highest levels. The Tillman story is more insidious because evidence was destroyed, witnesses ordered to silence (despite the presence of brother Kevin Tillman in their platoon) and reports delayed and otherwise manipulated.
   
   While the book is about other systemic problems, Chapter 19, on boot camp, is worthy of note. The description of the recruits is discouraging. This is not a cross section of Americans and clearly not like the universal commitment to WWII. The general recognition that Tillman is an exception, particularly for making a financial sacrifice, says something about the public's perception of this war. While it's the stuff of lore and jokes, what really is the purpose of "Clean your boots, scuff them up, clean them again because I said so"? Have the goals objectives and methods of boot camp been seriously evaluated in recent years? Tillman, who has had years of top notch athletic training and team work conditioning notes a lot of boot camp is "archaic, bizarre and counterproductive."
   
   In some areas the prose seems forced. Quotes from Abdul Ghani and Reka Cseresnyes strike me as too idiomatic for second language speakers. There is a lot of extraneous content. The final chapter's discussion of Nietzsche and the masculinity of western men struck me as just plain weird. While these flaws exist, there do not seem to be any problems with the research. This is an important work and should be widely read.



2. I was really looking forward to reading this book. When I finally got a copy and started on it not only did I find it slow moving and boring at best; the author puts a lot of energy into working his political opinions into the story. I really did not need a chapter on the 2000 election and how Gore really won; fact is I'm over that argument, it was ten years ago. You would think that the Bush administration personally killed Pat Tillman by reading this book. I have a lot of respect for Pat Tillman and all of our men and women that have died for our great county and I think it in poor taste to try and make a political statement (left or right)with someone else's death. I would not waste your time with this book.



3. As someone who could be described as a centrist, I was quite depressed, though not surprised, to see reviews here reflecting political bias from both sides. The true lesson of Pat Tillman is no side can own him - not the left, not the right. Pat Tillman was a complicated man that cannot be pigeon holed. For those who can get past their own politics, this is a fascinating story and I think everyone should know something about it. Who among us can say we approach his level of following his convictions? Some might say he is a tragic figure, because his own stubborn resolve to do the right thing led to his death, but what I took from this book was if there were more Pat Tillmans there would be less tragedies like that of Pat Tillman.
   
   We get enough politics and spin. Read this story and think about the man. When so many of us jump to knee jerk reactions over every issue, he questioned everything and everybody. His independence, intelligence, commitment and willingness to sacrifice and serve represents the kind of American we can all learn from.



4. Jon Krakauer has made a good living illuminating the lives of compelling madmen who pursue their dreams to fatal extremes. Along the way we've learned some good lessons: 1) Don't climb Mt. Everest in a storm (Into Thin Air), 2) Carry more than a sack of rice if you tackle the Alaskan wilderness (Into the Wild), and 3) the marriage of multiple women is something to be approached in serial, not in parallel (Under the Banner of Heaven). All well and good, and usually told in arresting prose by Krakauer. But in seeking to add one more cautionary lesson to the list --don't be a soldier unless you're willing to get shot-- Krakauer has finally missed his mark in Where Men Win Glory.
   
   For starters, the narrative flow is jarring and disjointed. Alternating between the convoluted twists of Afghan political history and Pat Tillman's suburban childhood in California creates a vertiginous read that never really settles into a coherent pattern. The book is interspersed with long entries from Tillman's journals, and while he seems like a nice enough guy it's a bit like stumbling upon the diary of a hugely self-absorbed, angst-ridden high school kid. You almost expect to see scrawled pictures of naked women in the margins. It doesn't make you want to like Tillman more.
   
   The language of the book itself simply isn't as evocative as the Krakauer's past writings. Given the terrain where Tillman fought and died, and given the author's demonstrated ability to capture with words the features and power of nature, I was surprised that the prose was fairly flat and uninspiring.
   
   And finally --and this is the part I hated about the book-- Krakauer's unrelenting anti-Bush bias was distracting and and so strident that it marginalized the author's credibility. Krakauer tries to convince us of the illegitimacy of the Bush presidency (let's all spend several pages reading a conspiracy theorist's retelling of the 2000 election), the illegitimacy of the Iraq war (because apparently Krakauer must have known at the time there were no weapons of mass destruction but neglected to inform the world), and the byzantine cover-up of Pat Tillman's death by his fellow soldiers (that was admitted to within weeks after the death).
   
   We get it, Jon. You don't like George Bush. Hey, I voted for Obama. But, then how do you reconcile your unadulterated admiration for Pat Tillman, who voluntarily chose to take up arms in Bush's war? Square that circle, Jon, and you might have an interesting read after all. Keep spouting your narrow-minded vitriol, and you will keep getting two stars in my reviews.



5. I've loved every book Jon Krakauer has written, so I was waiting for this one with a great deal of anticipation. I'm glad he didn't disappoint me!
   
   Truthfully, I didn't really know that much about Pat Tillman except for the bare essentials: he was a good football player who, in the wake of 9/11, decided to join the military, and was killed by friendly fire a few years later. I certainly made assumptions about him as a person based on those simple facts, which this book proved were completely incorrect. But while this book tells Pat's story, it doesn't present him as a totally infallible or perfect person, which I appreciate. Certainly, reading about the events that led to Tillman's death and the cover-up that followed made me really angry and a bit surprised that none of this really came to public light. But I also know that there probably is some bias on Krakauer's part that factored into the telling of some of the story. This is a tremendously gripping book, although the background into the history of the Afghan/Iraqi conflicts was a little too dry for me. But Krakauer has brought another tragic story to life.

4 comments about Jerry West: The Life and Legend of a Basketball Icon.

1. On rare occasions, the right person is at the right place in the right time to carry out an extraordinary task. When Roland Lazenby set out to write a biography on Jerry West, that was one of those special moments.
   
   For starters, Lazenby is one of the best sportswriters in the business. Of all the many books written about the Chicago Bulls dynasty, his masterpiece "Blood on the Horns" sits above all the others (even ahead of Sam Smith's "The Jordan Rules.") He also wrote THE book on the history of the Lakers franchise, "The Lakers" and then followed it up with the bigger more impressive tome "The Show." He's one of the very few writers who doesn't fall under the spell of basketball demigods, such as Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson, and do their bidding. He does his homework and reports the facts and puts them out there.
   
   Second, he's a Lakers fan. I did not know this for some time, because he has written on many teams and written multiple books on the Bulls. Writing about what you love versus what you know has got to energize a writer, and you can see it here. To borrow a phrase quoted by those associated with West, how can you NOT be jazzed to write about "Jerry F***ing West?" The man IS the Lakers. He played 14 years, coached 2 years, scouted for the team, and served in various front office roles, including General Manager for 20 years. He built the 1980s and the early 2000s dynasty. This book radiates energy, and I imagine it was extremely difficult to craft this out, balancing love and fairness, rounding out the character and keeping the story pushing forward while covering such an extensive career.
   
   The third reason has to do with West himself. The advantage of the autobiography is that the person telling the story knows more about himself than anyone. When you read a biography about a great person in history, there is a certain amount of guesswork, albeit educated. For instance, no one REALLY knows what George Washington was feeling during certain times. We can read his letters, but without talking to him directly, we don't know the full truth. At the same time, the disadvantage of the autobiography is that people value themselves probably more highly than they ought. No one wants to look like the bad guy or the screw up, so some points are glossed over or rationalized, even if it's a case of the person convincing himself that this revised history is the truth. To see this point illustrated, read Pete Maravich's autobiography "Heir to a Dream" and then read Mark Kriegel's excellent biography "Pistol." An outside observer is often more brutally honest about the subject than the subject. Besides this book and Kriegel's the other biography that really stands out is Robert Cherry's biography about Wilt Chamberlain, "Wilt: Larger than Life." The advantage Lazenby has over Cherry and Kriegel is that Jerry West is still alive, whereas Maravich and Chamberlain had passed away, so he was able to interview West himself. Furthermore, West is 71 years old, so he has a sense of perspective and is more likely to be honest looking back in retrospect to past relationships and performances, unlike a biography written about a 32 year old player in the prime of his career.
   
   Finally, and probably most importantly, former Lakers General Manager Pete Newell said to understand Jerry West, you have to understand West, you have understand West Virginia. Lazenby, a West Virginia native, understands West Virginia. He spends significant time explaining the background of West Virginia, including the settling and conflict dating back to the French and Indian War, along with the exploitation of the land, resources, and people by large mining corporations. And beyond understanding the land and the people of the state as a whole, Lazenby also sets the background to West's upbringing. You have to understand his parents to understand why he is such a perfectionist. To understand his parents, you have to understand his grandparents. Lazenby goes into detail on this, along with some even more distant relatives. He spends three chapters setting up back story before we even get to West playing basketball in high school. In doing so, you really get into the mind of West and although he is a hard man to understand - namely his nervous energy, and inability to be sit back and take satisfaction in the fruit of his work - you still see WHY he is the way he is. And that is why this book is so special. Most books are more interested in the events rather than the "whys". Lazenby answers both.
   
   You also get to see West's view on this relationships with key people in his career: Fred Schaus, Elgin Baylor, Jack Kent Cooke, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry Buss, and Phil Jackson.
   
   The one question I always wondered was knowing West's perfectionist attitude and his wont for reliving the failures to win the championship in 6 meetings with the Celtics (along with past failures in college) and subjecting himself to misery, when the Lakers finally won the title in 1972, West went through a shooting slump in the finals and conference finals. I always wondered how he dealt with winning the finals, yet performing at a sub-standard level. Had I met West, I would never have asked him this. After all, when you stand before "Jerry F***ing West", you are in the presence of royalty, so how could you do anything except heap praise? Yet Lazenby does address this issue in detail - proving why he is one of the best at what he does. He's a fan, yet he's fair.
   
   When I finished this book, I knew more about the subject matter than I did in any other sports book, and probably more than any other historical character. This is not just a good sports book, this is a textbook example of how to write a biography. This can proudly take its place alongside David McCollough's biography on John Adams and Edmund Morris' "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" on the bookshelf, both of which won the Pulitzer Prize, but have nothing on this book. This is the best 3-dimensional analysis of a character in any biography I have come across, and I have read many: sports and non-sports.
   
   I own and have read so many basketball books that I created a website for my books with book reviews. I rate my books from 1-5 stars. I have often wondered which 5-star rated book was the best, and I had never been able to pick one out that stood above the rest - until now. This book stands out so far above the rest, that I had to create a new rating: 6-stars. The master sports author who created two previous brilliant works has created his magnum opus.



2. Having been a Laker fan since the early 70's, I couldn't wait to read about my all-time favorite Laker. The author does an excellent job following the life and career of Jerry West. Starting with his childhood in the Depression, this is the time in his life where his "perfectionism" began. With hard work and the demands of his mother, Jerry would carry this burden through-out his entire life. Looking back over the years, Jerry said he had no idea why he played so hard except he was desperate to please his mother, to make up for the great loss she had suffered due to the death of his brother, David. During his college years, Jerry encounters "Hot Rod Hundley"(from West Virginia and future Laker) and Oscar Robertson. The 60's were especially difficult due to the constant losing to the Boston Celtics. During the '72 season the Lakers finally hit pay-dirt with a World Championship and a record 33 game winning streak. After his career was over, Jerry would be the Lakers' general manager and be involved with the organization he loved. I enjoyed most of the book, but found myself saddened with the fact of the underlining events that haunted this super-star. The demand for perfection is impossible to endure yet essential to greatness, basketball's select few---this is Jerry West. Jerry once said certain players, the elite, have a little extra "dust sprinkles" on them at birth---this is Jerry West. The image and character of Jerry West is what being a professional is all about. Maybe that is why Jerry's silhouette is the logo for the NBA. Would also recommend Wilt: Larger Than Life and Chick: His Unpublished Memoirs and the Memories of Those Who Loved Him as companion reading.



3. Jerry West is one of the most important figures in NBA history, and in this great biography, Roland Lazenby chronicles the life of the man who led the Los Angeles Lakers to numerous Finals appearances and NBA championships as a player and general manager.
   
   The book begins by tracing West's lineage to the eighteenth century, provides a vivid picture of West's childhood in mid-20th century West Virginia, and recalls many of the trials his family had at that time. The book describes how West learned the game of basketball, and traces his playing days at East Bank High, at West Virginia University, and on the 1960 gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team.
   
   West is most famous for his playing career with the Lakers, and much of the book covers those 14 seasons, including the inner workings of the Laker squad and West's famous playoff battles with the Boston Celtics. The author discusses how the same perfectionism that caused West to work so hard at the game and achieve such success had its negative aspects.
   
   Lazenby documents West's post-playing days as a coach and general manager, and discloses some of the issues that led to West's departure from the team in 2000. This very well-researched book is made even better by the many interviews the author was able to obtain that yielded many fresh insights about West's career. This volume would be enjoyed by anyone keenly interested in NBA history.



4. It's been over thirty-five years since all-time great Jerry West retired from the NBA so it's a daunting task to attempt his biography in a way that will seem fresh and meaningful to longtime Jerry West fans... but author Roland Lazenby succeeded in just such a quest. The author has done yeomen's work in combining archival historical articles, books and interviews... along with recent interviews with former teammates... associates... family members... and probably most impressive of all... former fiery members of competitive teams. I was raised to believe the greatest compliments a ballplayer could receive were from his peers... both teammates and competitors. An example of such haloed praise for West was proffered by Boston Celtic Tom Heinsohn who played... coached... or announced the six straight NBA championship series that West's Lakers lost to the hated Celtics: "WEST AND (TEAMMATE ELGIN) BAYLOR WERE TWO OF THE FIVE GREATEST PLAYERS EVER." Despite the fact that Jerry West finally got his elusive championship as a player by defeating the New York Knicks in 1972... a season that included *THE GREATEST CONSECUTIVE GAME WINNING STREAK BY ANY PROFESSIONAL TEAM IN ANY MAJOR SPORT IN HISTORY (33-STRAIGHT-GAMES)... Jerry's career both in college as an All-American at West Virginia and as a FOURTEEN-TIME-ALL-STAR for the Los Angeles Lakers... will be remembered by Jerry... as well as by those close to him... by the self-imposed anguish that was his daily life. He... like his Mother... was a perfectionist... and a single loss would nag at him inconsolably for months. It's this festering self-doubt and loathing that led some close to him to observe that despite all he accomplished in his career "HE NEVER SEEMED TO FIND ANY JOY IN IT." This self-imposed psychosis is probably the most amazing thing that a reader who is otherwise overly familiar with Jerry West's accomplishments will take away from this book. Hot Rod Hundley who preceded Jerry as a West Virginia All-American... and also preceded West as a first round selection by the Lakers so aptly said: "WEST ACCOMPLISHED TEN TIMES AS MUCH AS I DID IN MY CAREER, BUT HE'S ABOUT A TENTH AS HAPPY AS I AM."
   
   There are plenty of unmatched statistics such as during the six NBA finals series against the Celtics in 1962,63,65,66,68, and 69... he averaged 31,29,34,35,32, and 38. In the 1964-65 six game Western Conference playoff series with the Bullets, "WEST AVERAGED 46.3 POINTS PER GAME, A RECORD THAT HAS WITHSTOOD THE TEST OF EVEN MICHAEL JORDAN'S BEST." Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan wrote: "NO CELTIC OPPONENT HAS EVER HAD MORE FANS WISHING HE WOULD SWITCH UNIFORMS, AND THAT INCLUDES MICHAEL JORDAN."
   
   *JERRY WEST WAS NAMED THE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER OF THE 1969 NBA CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES... THE ONLY TIME IN LEAGUE HISTORY THAT THE MVP CAME FROM THE LOSING TEAM!*
   
   The reader will hear no holds barred comments from West regarding such luminaries as Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Jack Kent Cooke, Jerry Buss, Fred Schaus, Phil Jackson... and many others. You will learn... or be reminded that West is probably the most loved and respected player to ever come from the state of West Virginia... in fact the author who is also from West Virginia says that his Father worshipped Jerry West. "I OFTEN TELL PEOPLE THAT THERE WERE TWO PICTURES ON THE WALL OF OUR HOME WHEN I WAS A BOY. ONE WAS OF JESUS. THE OTHER WAS OF JERRY WEST. THE PICTURE OF JESUS, I TELL PEOPLE, WAS HUNG HIGHER THAN THE PICTURE OF JERRY, BUT ONLY BY ABOUT AN INCH OR TWO."
   
   The only part of this book from my perspective that was not five star quality was approximately thirty-odd pages near the beginning of the book that went into the history of West Virginia as far back as the 1700's. Perhaps I... like many other potential readers was simply chomping at the bit to immediately get to the main subject... my childhood hero Jerry West. I grew up in Los Angeles while West was playing for the Lakers. I wore his number 44 on my high school team... my junior college team... and on my military team. I practiced day and night imitating Jerry's unstoppable jump shot until mine was one and the same.
   
   In my house... Jerry's picture was higher on the wall than any other.

5 comments about When the Game Was Ours.

1. Very interesting reading about the events and behind the scenes stories of two great athletes. Brought back memories of the excitement of some of the games and tournaments. Good to read about the human side of people that we only normally see in the spotlight.



2. now first of all i still enjoy the nba,however mainly for players, now when these guys laced them up it was must see tv. that to me in the 80's was the last golden era of nba basketball. Magic and Bird brought the league back. i remember watch a few nba finals on tape delay and personally the past few finals could have been that way for, that is another subject for another day. Bird and Magic were like a tv show that went to the big screen and took the creativity even further. watching the lakers and celtics battle in june was always must see tv.
   
   the chess match of speed versus slowed down and styles made each one of these men compelling on the basketball court.
   
   i highly enjoyed the book and i never tire from reading about them. they are two of the all time greats and they both forever changed the game as we know it.



3. Being a HUGE Larry Bird fan, this was a MUST HAVE book for me.(I have about EVERY book written about Larry Bird or with him in it). Living in Indiana, I had the opportunity to "follow" Larry thru out his complete basketball career. I had the opportunity to meet John Havlicek in 1968 and (then) became a Celtics fan. I was in "7th Heaven" when Larry was drafted by by them in 1978. I also attended Larry's Annual Golf Classic (down in Terre Haute) for 10 years in a row. Each year having the opportunity to talk with Larry for a little while EACH year. In August , 2000 my son and I got to PLAY 18 holes of golf WITH Larry ! What a thrill ! Larry is a PERFECT Gentleman and a real pleasure to know. I would really like to MEET Magic so I could "complete" my quest to have met the 2 GREASTEST Basketball Players of ALL time. The book,When The Game Was Ours, was a very intresting story of two of the greastest, most competitive players we will ever know.And yes, Larry was enrolled for 24 days at IU , but NEVER stepped foot on the Assembly Hall FLOOR. That "may" have been one of the BEST things to ever happen to Larry , given Bobby Knight's fierce temperment.All in all, a GREAT book !



4. I was living in Milwaukee during the start of the Johnson/Bird era and I got to see a number of Lakers and Celtics games. The Bucks were an excellent team as well in the late 70's and early 80's and I truly enjoyed the quality of play in the NBA back then. There was no question that Bird and Magic were in a class by themselves and the NBA benefitted from their style of play. Things have changed since then and I haven't watched an NBA game since Michael Jordan retired for the last time from the Bulls. The brief looks I had while switching channels reinforced my opinion that the NBA game has deteriorated from the standards I had been accustomed to. After reading "When the Games was Ours" I was reminded of those previous high standards. This book brought back a ton of good memories and a lot of additional background about the two players and their teammates.
   
   The book begins with Larry and Earvin in college and their head-on collision at the NCAA championship. We follow their intense rivalry into the NBA and as the author documents their influence on the game. Throughout the book we get constant reminders of their rivalry, respect, and eventual friendship. Some of their comments on each other are downright touching especially considering their determination to beat each other. Author Jack MacMullan covers more than just the games they played. Much is written about the major events in their lives outside the NBA; Barcelona Olympics, coaching jobs, Magic's HIV contraction and his subsequent attempts to return to the NBA, and more. As the book nears the end, we are reminded of their absence from the NBA and the league's not so gradual decline.
   
   "When the Game was Ours" is a story of two men whose quest for excellence elevated all their teammates to new heights. It's a story of two men who understood each other as only they could. Opposites in many ways, they were united in their determination to win. In telling their story, "When the Game was Ours" reads like a continuous fast break. There is an energy to this book that most sports books only strive for. Even in print Magic Johnson and Larry Bird leave the others behind.



5. When the Game was Ours by Jackie Macmullan is a great sports book. We follow the exploits of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson from high school days up until current times. I am assuming that most folks reading this understand that Bird and Johnson were two of the greatest NBA players ever. They both had outstanding college careers, and the rivalry between the two basically started with the NCAA championship game of 1979 when Magic's Michigan State team beat Bird's Indiana State team to win what is now thought of by millions as March Madness.
   
   The two men came from similar backgrounds, were bitter rivals for years, and gradually developed a respect for each other's talents that grew into a great friendship. We follow Bird through his days as a Boston Celtic and Magic through his time with the Los Angeles Lakers. The several championship series between the two teams were particularly interesting to read about. We also learn about Magic's announcement that he was HIV-positive and the resulting fallout among the other NBA players as well as the general public. I found the behind the scenes information to be particularly interesting. The author gives us a real feel for what it must be like to be part of a professional basketball team.
   
   I highly recommend When the Game was Ours to all basketball and sports fans and also to anyone who has a surface familiarity with Bird and Magic but wants to know more about the two. A very entertaining book to read.

5 comments about Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster.

1. I was looking forward to reading Into Thin Air, I love mountaineering and Mt. Everest, and the life & death struggles that come with it, and nothing like sad tragedy to make me feel...alive and thankful.
   I read this book in 2 days, but went from enthralled with the mountain drama to disappointed with Mr. Krakauer's growingly evident biases.
   
   I wish he could have been more objective, and less self-serving.
   Once I sensed his own selfishness coming through the accounts of this journey, the book and his writing turned me off, completely.



2. Krakauer's account of this tragic episode is very personal and compelling. I found the book hard to put down and was gripped by the human element that slowly and inescapably evolved into disaster. It's a book that you will think of long afterward and wonder about the "what-ifs." It's on my top ten list - I give it 5 stars.



3. Firstly I'd like to put forth my mountaineering credentials: They are absolutely non existent. Beyond knowing that mountain climbing involves ... well climbing mountains and vague ideas of ice axes, crampons and the like I've never climbed something higher than incidental slopes while bushwalking. But let me just say that while this book is largely uncluttered by technical jargon and stops well short of expanding upon the minutia of what happened on Mt Everest in 1996 this book is one heck of a read. Literally I devoured the thing. And then turned around and practically re-read it twice within the span of one week.
   
   Now the prose isn't going to win a Pulitzer. That isn't a criticism by the way, just a statement of fact. But what Mr Krakauer has managed to achieve here is to impart the feel of things, that indefinable X factor, and managed to convey it to the mountaineering layman such as myself. The author explains enough of the technical aspects to let the newcomer understand some of the pitfalls of such high altitude escapades and his personal knowledge and involvement in the events at hand allows him to impart real tension and first person drama to proceedings. Of course, I suppose some will find this very aspect somewhat damaging to the project - after all after such an event a person is going to have some issues trying to lay forth with the clearest account, but it's my gut instinct that unless you are after a dry-as-a-desert report style tome then this is pretty much your book for getting a handle on the low down of what went down during a harrowing few days at the top of the world.
   
   Topped off with some colour plates (at least in my edition) this book captured my imagination mainly due to the subject matter at hand but also the authors brisk style and his on-hand observations of the issues that affected both the ascent and the descent and the fact that the author is himself a climber means he doesn't fall into the trap of armchair moralising about in some sort of detached way. While he offers theories and suppositions he usually points out areas where he is using conjecture and all up... oh I'm sick of typing - just buy the book and enjoy a great yarn that never lets you forget that these were real people fighting for their lives.
   
   
   P.S - this is a product where you can sort of tell its quality by the level of criticism levelled at it. Go and read some of the one star reviews and they'll almost certainly make you want to buy this such are their pithy nature.



4. The pervasive biting cold that comes with extreme mountaineering cannot be escaped as the reader -- even knowing the tragic outcome -- greedily turns page after page to find out what happens next.
   
   Jon Krakauer's account of lives lost on the flanks of Mount Everest (which stands 29,028 feet high -- a number permanently etched into the reader's cortex) is no enticing travel brochure. Nearly every chapter is filled with some description of blood, vomit, pain, blindness, cold, frostbite. And there are new ailments specific to high-altitude life for the reader to absorb, ailments that deprive the brain of oxygen so severely that lucid thoughts and solid decisions become the exception rather than the norm.
   
   The description of Krakauer's time spent on the summit are particularly affecting. He does not write of glory or grandeur. He briefly mentions the peak (prayer flags, the Tibetan landscape below) and his actions (four snapshots of fellow climbers). And that's about it. This is not a book about being at the top of the world. This is a book about getting there. And even more importantly, about getting back.



5. If Krakauer's intention was to kill all of our romantic ideas about mountain climbing with this book, he undoubtedly succeeded. Whatever idealistic notions of bravery, athleticism, adventure, and brotherhood I had about this "sport", are now gone forever.
   
   What Krakauer delivers instead is a very tough picture of people who are ready to risk their lives and lives of those around them (guides, Sherpas, rescue workers) for the purpose of satisfying some masochistic macho aspirations of theirs or, even worse, to get some cheap fame. I now know that there is no sportsmanship or athleticism or fitness about these trips to the top of Everest. People kill their brain cells, they freeze off their body parts, they lose eye sight, they die, all for the privilege of standing on the top of the world for a few seconds. I never understood this achievement before, I understand it even less now, knowing the costs of it. Even more, what kind of an achievement it is, if everything is done for you - Sherpas build your camps, make your food, carry your baggage (including laptops, TVs, gourmet foods, and magazines), fix ropes for you to hang on, even haul you to the top if needed?
   
   But enough of ranting, time to talk about the book itself. I think Krakauer is a great non-fiction writer who manages to suck you into any story. Same goes for "Into Thin Air." It is a compelling book, more interesting in the latter part than in the beginning (once you pass 150-page mark, the book is virtually unputdownable). I personally would have preferred him to talk more about the trip and its difficulties rather than recounting everyone's back stories, but in the end, I have to admit, it adds certain relatability to the narrative. I also was afraid that he would spend a lot of time assigning blame to various players (including himself), but was pleased to see that he had learned from his "Outsider" article and came to the right conclusion that the Everest disaster was nobody's fault.
   
   Overall, a very interesting and in many ways eye-opening story, which in spite of being beyond my scope of interest, managed to hold my attention.

5 comments about It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life.

1. STRENGTHS:
   
   Hard cover withstands most crashes.
   
   Quality paper repells bicycle grease better than most.
   
   Just fits in my CamelBak M.U.L.E.
   
   The ink doesn't run after riding in a typhoon, though it takes a long time to dry out the book.
   
   The ink smells of adrenaline.
   
   WEAKNESSES:
   
   Heavier than a paperback, making hill climbs more difficult.
   
   Dark blue cover is hard to see during a night ride--requiring the addition of reflective stickers or a flashing light for safety.
   
   "Hey! This book really ISN'T about the bike. Dammit!!"
   
   SIMILAR PRODUCTS USED:
   
   I graduated from an ivy league college, so I've read a couple of thousand books both for study and enjoyment. I could probably wear the maillot jaune in the Tour de Waterstone's, but I can only think of five books out of all of those that I enjoyed as much as this one.
   
   I am also an avid cyclist of both road and mountain bikes.
   
   REVIEW:
   
   For one thing, this book is SO GOOD despite that the writing doesn't come across as the work of a professional writer. Sally Jenkins managed to maintain Lance Armstrong's voice on the page, so that it mostly reads like a very long e-mail or conversation over beer with Lance Armstrong himself. You would never get this kind of personal-style expression and energy out a person in an interview, giving me the feeling that this really is a book BY Lance Armstrong with significant guidance and help by Sallie Jenkins. The ink smells of adrenaline.
   
   A couple of the chapters do read like professional writing, but it's not overdone and strengthens the readability and enjoyment of the book.
   
   I can only think of one chapter--which was entirely about the bike--that started to get boring because it was full of Lance Armstrong just blowing his own horn. On the other hand, it was kind of Mohammad Ali, "Fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee" of him, and showed the real mind of a competitive athlete. All of us who have competed in a hardcore sport on a national or international level have that attitude about ourselves, and it just serves to show that Lance Armstrong is/was no different. It served to connect all of us jerks to the one we admire the most, to evaluate our attitudes and then get a lesson from Lance Armstrong's experience of fighting for his life and his humanity rather than just fighting to win more.
   
   What makes this book really great is that it seems like it's several books, but they're all tied together well. Yeah, it is about the bike at some points, about the Tour at others, about racing, cancer, and his mother--but it's not a jumble of these things. Nor is it some junkie book about a person who just happened to catch national attention, like The Amy Fischer Story or whatever crap is out there about Tonya Harding or some of our instantly famous heros who cash in on that first fifteen minutes of fame. It's not understated, and not overstated.
   
   Will people who are not athletes or related in some way to serious athletes enjoy this book? I have no idea. Maybe they can't relate, maybe they'll like it for some other reason, but for us titans out there--in sports or business or whatever--this is a great read.
   
   What the Book of Five Rings is to teaching people how to be more competitive, this book is to teaching competitive people to be more human.
   
   BOTTOM LINE: I had to stop myself from reading this book all in one day and managed to pace myself out to five days. I'm a rather careful reader, but this was one of those books that I couldn't put down--which is unusual for me.



2. well worth a read although its a little disappointing to see that by the time i finished the book he had already left his wife (a long time before).



3. Lance Armstrong had all of the experiences and had developed all of the tools to become a great athlete and full blown narcissist. Had cancer not intervened, his views of himself and of the role of those around him might have become even more aggrandized than they did in real life.
   
   His loving and lovely wife we can see was the ultimate support mechanism, very little is spoken of what he gave to her other than the once in a lifetime chance to be with him
   
   There is a good story about dealing with cancer and how it has the potential to change one but in his case not enough.
   
   The history of the last decade has confirmed what the book foretold



4. Sorry but I agree with Badger Bob. This is a "I love Lance" book written by Lance. And a recurring problem in autobios by unexperienced writers. I have read many auto bios and I was half expecting this to be one of those greats. The Book should NOT have been titled as such. Mr. Armstrong, it took 159 pages of patience for you to crack a smile of humility, you had a chance to make this an inspirational book like "Born to Run" (some great moments). I thought It's Not About The Bike meant you ride with spirit with a certain grace. I half expected to admire cycling more as I'm an avid road cyclist. But it became repetitive. This may have to do with the fact you probably haven't read much great literature, Athlete's are busy, and rarely focus on matters of self discovery and spirituality. I hope in many years when the fame fades away and you discover yourself, THE great Lance Armstrong, who is not a cyclist but like you said, Cancer survivor, human being, and father figure, you can share words of wisdom when u finally get back on that bike at 50 yrs old and although it hurts you ride everyday like a child on his first trainer with a free spirit.



5. This book will motivate you no matter who you are or waht you do. Whether you are an athlete, student or just want to be a better person this book will make you want to do it better. Filled with inspiration, motivation and a little drama and comedy this book will work for anyone. Great read.