2 comments about Bright Path: Young Jim Thorpe.

1. In this children's book awash in soft, delicate colors on every page, the life of the world's greatest athlete of his time, Jim Thorpe, is unfolded.
   
   Beginning on his parents' Oklahoma farm, it tells of Bright Path's (Jim's Indian name) young life with his siblings, and continues through his unhappy school years. Jim was sent to boarding school for Indians to learn to live the white man's way, and it was during his later school years that Jim's natural athletic talent was discovered.
   
   The book continues with Jim's amazing feats at the 5th Olympic Games in Sweden in 1912 where he won two gold medals, one in the pentathlon and one in the decathlon, setting records that were not exceeded for twenty years.
   
   In his author's note in the back of book, Don Brown retells Thorpe's life, giving more detail about his family and sports careers after the Olympics. There are also references, a short bibliography and photographs of Jim Thorpe.
   
   Don Brown has written and illustrated many biographies for children. Bright Path is for pre-school children to third grade but will be enjoyed by older children, and with the biography added in the back, adults will also appreciate reading this tribute to Jim Thorpe.
   
   Armchair Interviews says: Well-told story of a wonderful athlete.



2. Author/Illustrator Don Brown captures the life of Native American athlete Jim Thorpe. You can't help but smile as Jim thanks the King of Sweden for declaring him the World's Greatest Athlete in the Olympic Games in 1912. A drawback is Brown's depiction of faces that portray the eyes as slits. This results in the characters appearing Asian. The Author's Note tells the sad story of Jim's confiscated medals and their return many years after his death.

3 comments about Divas Uncovered (WWE).

1. Who wouldn't want this book? If you're a WWE fan or not, 192 pages of great, glossy photos and witty, well written insights into some of the most gorgeous grappling gals in the ring today!! Another winner from Mike McAvennie, the lucky dawg!
   The book's not overpriced, the previous reviewer obviously wasn't shopping at Amazon! It's a snip at $19.80!
   A great gift for Xmas!



2. I found the photography wonderful and refreshingly different than the usual pin-up shots in other books. The design was terrific and I found myself quickly immersed in the book. It was an unexpected treat!



3. Being a fan of the WWE divas, I was really looking forward to this book. Unfortunately this is just an OVERPRICED version of the Divas magazine which comes out once a year. A number of the photos have been seen elsewhere and the cliched quotes like "It's what is inside a person that counts" really don't give us any new insight into what these incredible women are REALLY all about.
   If you DO feel the need to purchase this book, wait until it comes out in paperback. Definitely not worth 30 dollars!!

No comments about The Real Football Factories: Shocking True Stories from the World's Staunchest Football Fans.

No comments about Michael Ballack: The Biography.

2 comments about Still A Legend: The Story of Roger Maris.

1. You said he could have been as big as Mark McGuire? I do not thing Roger took steroids my friend!!!!!!!!!!!!



2. As a teenager at Busch Stadium I thrilled to watch Roger Maris play right field during two Cardinal championship seasons. In "Still A Legend" I was introduced to the man wearing number "9". In this work, Harvey Rosenfeld does a good job at projecting the whole Roger Maris. Comparable emphasis is given to Maris the baseball player, Maris the family man, Maris the son of Fargo and Maris the faithful Catholic.
   
   Roger Maris grew up an Fargo, North Dakota where he attended Catholic schools and met his wife, Pat, while developing into a great baseball star. After the minor leagues, Roger continued his march to stardom as a Cleveland Indian and a Kansas City Athletic. Even in Cleveland he was regarded as a surly loner.
   
   After his playing time in his adopted home of Kansas City, Roger was ready for the Yankee pinstripes but not for the glare of the New York press. Although he changed teams, Roger retained a privacy which would forever bar the press from his world and would limit his enjoyment of public adulation. The press would demonize Roger in his pursuit of Babe Ruth's record, while manufacturing the legend of a feud between himself and his roommate, Mickey Mantle.
   
   Throughout the ups and downs of his stormy and injury plagued career, Roger retained his love of baseball which was damped only during the most severe of the onslaughts by fans and media.
   
   This book wears its themes on its sleeve. The main themes are that Roger was not properly appreciated, his purported surliness was merely a justified demand for privacy and that he has been unjustly denied admission into the Hall Of Fame.
   
   Although written by an obvious fan, this book does not do justice to Roger Maris. Too often the story degenerates into a litany of quotes from Roger, his teammates, friends and detractors to be classified as good writing. The sections dealing with the media bias and the injustice of his exclusion from the Hall Of Fame run on too long. This book is more editorial than biography. Still, this book tells much about Roger Maris. It also tells us much about ourselves, the fans. Yankee fans booed the Roger Maris whom they regarded a surly usurper. By contrast, Cardinal fans loved Jolly Roger. This is in keeping with our reputation as the greatest fans in baseball. The story of how the Cardinals restored Roger's enjoyment of the game and delayed his retirement for two years confirm the stories I remember from the time. It is too bad that Roger did not become a Cardinal in 1960. He could have been as big as Mark McGwire.

2 comments about Heroes of Baseball: The Men Who Made It America's Favorite Game.

1. Never grow tired of reading about some of the men responsible to laying the foundation for baseball.



2. Right off the bat I'd like to say that if you're looking for a reviewer who knows their baseball through and through, I am not your woman. This review will not contain long lamentations over why Mr. Robert Lipsyte did not include such-n-such a player or harbor lengthy critiques of his encapsulations of certain games. I enjoy baseball, of course, but I've always spent more of my time watching minor league games than anything particularly major (Go, Saint Paul Saints!). As for individual players, the bulk of my knowledge, to be perfectly blunt, begins and ends with that episode of The Simpsons where Mr. Burns hires everyone from Daryl Strawberry to Don Mattingly to play in his softball league. In a way, I was a perfect test-subject for Lipsyte's intense and interesting look at what exactly constitutes a baseball "hero". I may not know much about the game, but I know my good non-fiction literature and this book definitely fits the description. Smarter than just a listing of baseball greats, Lipsyte takes the time to ask what it is that makes a hero and whether the men featured in this book deserve such an appellation, so that in bringing up such questions, this book stands apart.
   
   From A.G. Spalding to Randy Johnson, from 1869 to today, Robert Lipsyte states his goals for this book right from the start. Mentioning how contemporary baseball stars feel like close friends to us he goes on to say that, "After you read this book, I hope you'll also feel you know some of the older heroes of baseball who brought our game to life and kept it alive for us." And so we see baseball grow from its early beginnings as a male diversion to the powerhouse moneymaker it is today. Lipsyte covers the usual suspects (Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Lou Gehrig, etc.) while also sprinkling in a feeling for the times in which they lived. Illustrated by a vibrant design that makes use of copious amounts of colored and sepia-toned photographs, moments both heroic and shameful come to light here with varying results. What you end up with, then, is a complex encompassing of players of every shape and stripe that make up the wonderful game that is baseball.
   
   Part of what I liked about this book so much was the form of the narrative. Right from the start we learn a little about our author's youth, then we move on to some quick thoughts on what makes a baseball hero. Not long thereafter we zoom into the big names in the field and their accomplishments. Credit Lipsyte then with his broad characteristics of what a significant accomplishment might be. For example, in an act of respect for his child readers, Lipsyte explains what the reserve rule was and why Curt Flood was a hero to break it (and at his own expense at that). Plus the range of players Lipsyte is able to pull from is just incredible. He does a top notch job of diversifying the sport, even going so far as to look at where baseball may be going someday. What other book on the topic for kids would spend as much time examining baseball in Japan and stars like Ichiro Suzuki? Or predict something like, "Maybe the next monster talent in the outfield who will make things happen will come from China"? And then to wind down the book with a final look at the attributes that raise a ballplayer's status from star to hero alongside the photos of Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente, and Babe Ruth... well, I'm no sentimentalist, but Lipsyte's work on this book is a class act through and through.
   
   Obviously an eyebrow or two will be raised in terms of the inclusion of Ty Cobb. Even I in my state of perpetual baseball ignorance know that Cobb was a bad bad man. Why celebrate him here? Lipsyte credits Cobb with not being a great person but rather a "great player". At one point he goes so far as to even say of our heroes that, "Some are the players who, with skill and intensity, show us how the game was made to be played (like Ty Cobb)." Which naturally begs the question of whether or not this means that the game is meant to be played down, dirty, mean, and with spikes aimed squarely at the fellows covering the bases. Lipsyte obviously stands by his choice, and that actually makes the book more interesting. If a baseball player is a nasty piece of work, can they still be a "hero" of the game? I guess that may all depend on which team you're rooting for, eh?
   
   The text is punctuated regularly by sidebars that effectively break apart the narrative with a variety of fun facts. One, for example, might give a list of various baseball nicknames and where they came from. Another is entitled, "Records That Will Never Be Broken". I was particularly amused by a section that covered Lipsyte's favorite baseball movies. Some may be a tad old for the child audiences he's recommending them to ("Bull Durham", for example) and "Damn Yankees" is nowhere in sight. Which, in retrospect, is probably a good thing. By the way, is it true that no baseball cards come with gum anymore? And why was Lawrence Peter Berra nicknamed "Yogi"? As you can see, some panels inspire more questions than they answer.
   
   So do people like Mark McGwire, Ty Cobb, and Pete Rose belong in a book like this? You be the judge. Lipsyte's style is endearing partly because he doesn't tell young baseball fans what to think. They can accept or deny these weak men as they lay. Heck, there's even a sidebar entitled, "Pete Rose: You Decide" that puts the facts of the matter before the child reader. As I mentioned before, I'm not a baseball fanatic myself so there could well be facts and opinions missing from Lipsyte's view of some of the events recorded in this book for all I know. Yet somehow, I think this is a lovely piece of work. It hangs together well as a whole, is filled to brimming with superb photographs from every era, contains a great "Further Reading" Bibliography so important in a children's book, has great websites listed, an Index, a Timeline on the front AND back endpapers, and even a Glossary of Terms. Fill in Lisyte's range and great writing and you've got yourself a non-fiction hit on your hands. Great for rookies like myself.

5 comments about Maybe It Should Have Been a Three Iron: My Year as Caddie for the World's 438th Best Golfer.

1. I thought I was going to read about golf..Wrong..I am not interested to hear Mr Donegan's opinion's on world leaders.. Unfortunately I purchased it at an airport so can't return it and get my money back..



2. This is a very intelligent and witty book that all of us who understand golf's struggles must surely appreciate. But beyond a golfer's perspective, this should also be enjoyed as a story about any passion in life that proves to be extremely challenging or unattainable, and the humor of brushing aside all obstacles and pressing forward no matter how ridiculous the circumstances become.
   
   True, this isn't a book about Tiger Woods or Madonna or Bill Clinton, so if you are looking for pop culture, you'll need to look elsewhere. But if you are someone who cheers for the underdog and if you also like golf stories from an insider's point of view, I don't think you will be disappointed!



3. but this one is readable if only because it is a take on the Euro tour. It takes you to golfing venues and places that others dont. If you want a book about a player you know or courses and tournaments you are familiar with, then this is not your book. That, however, is the redeeming factor of this book. It does get dry because of that though, as it does the usual, painful breakdown of all of Ross Drummond's (Ross who?...exactly)shots and putts. This of course it what drops its rating down. A book like this on Tiger might rate 5 stars as we would all like to hear the inside scoop from his caddy. Where it does excel is with Donegan's wit, humor and exploits. When their relationship starts to sour Donegan takes more of an interest in his social life, and in places like Morocco you know it will get interesting. Chapter seven on his experience in Rabat is pretty dang funny.



4. Period. And I have read them all.



5. I read this book because I loved Donegan's other book 'No News At Throat Lake', which was both moving and hilarious.

   I don't play golf but know enough about it to enjoy the humor in this book, which kept me amused while I traveled around Ireland for three weeks. Donegan has a great ability to capture well the itinerant lifestyle of the B-grade pro-golfer, the emotional ups and downs of losing more than winning, the little triumphs and pleasures of golf, and the mental stamina needed to be a pro-golfer.

   I recommend this book to golfers as well as anyone who just wants a very funny read.

5 comments about Pele, My Life and the Beautiful Game.

1. I read this book as a kid in Nigeria...Pele's legend cannot be imitated or duplicated...his feats are simply majestic...very humble, classy superstar who never let the accolades get to him..97 goals for Brazil and 1283 club goals is ridiculous! People dont even score 300 goals anymore..You would think that by playing 1300 games, he'd break down at some point...the book was a great read...get his new one "PELE" (autobio)!



2. This is an exceptionally detailed biography. The statistical chart at the back of all the games he played in was a very pleasant surprise. The only things missing was some tactical diagrams and a map of Brazil. Every chapter added colorful insight into his life-Ch's-2,6,8-facts of life, 9-Pele in love and 17. He also gave the reader the fine nuances of the "beautiful game." Chapters-1,3-5,10,12,14-1,000 goal,15-16,18,19-20-Cosmos years. I found chapters 7-race relations in Brazil,11-the trainor, and 13-Santos years to be the most interesting. Lastly, I could not agree more with Pele's distaste for defensive Football on 310-11.



3. It's fortunate for the soccer-fan readers that the author focuses his writing on what happens on soccer field. I don't really care that much about his company, although it helps to understand the author's personalities as a whole.
   
   It would be even better if the author describe how he thought of scoring those famous goals (even just say subcouciously I scored).
   Some diagrams would help too.



4. 
   I was too young to see Pele while he still was an active footballer, but growing up in a football loving home I've been fed with the legend of this fantastic athlete. My Dad always told me about the greatness of Pele, and I always felt that I lost our "arguments" about whether "my generations" superstar Maradona or "his generations" star Pele actually was the Greatest One.
   
   I bought this book to find out more about the legendary Pele. Wow, wasn't this a great book? When understanding what impact this man had on the beautiful game it's easy to see how he can be recognized as the Greatest. He wasn't only an extremely talented athlete; he was also a man with a wonderful heart and who had his morals in order. I'm sure you find a picture of Pele in the dictionary if you look up the word "sportsmanship".
   
   I think this well written book is a worthy tribute to this great athlete. It tells us the this to-good-to-be-true motivational story about a man with an extreme talent that goes all the way from poverty thru a triumphant career all the way to the top of the beautiful game...and he do so with style!
   
   HIGHLY RECOMMENDED



5. Few athletes have captured the world's collective admiration and respect as Edson Arantes do Nascimento. Known affectionately to his family as Dico, but to the rest of us as Pele', his influence far exceeded his tremendous exploits on the soccer field. He is one of the most recognized people in the world.
   
   This well-written, extremely detailed, and intriguing autobiography takes us deeply into Pele's world. He describes in great detail his impoverished youth in Bauru, his rapid ascent into the Brazilian National Team, his stellar years at Santos Football Club, and finally, his desire to bring soccer to the skeptical masses in North America. But throughout it all, we see his humility. "I only wanted to be as good as my father, Dodinho."
   
   I had the opportunity to play soccer with a Brazilian who played with Pele' at Santos. My friend was very young at the time, and told me that Pele' treated him very well. "He was well-liked by everyone, and always helpful to his teammates. You never knew he was the best player in the world. He acted just like a regular guy."
   
   Out of his many feats (playing in the World Cup final at the age of 17, the only three time winner of the World Cup, scoring almost 1300 goals), one stands out. Pele' is perhaps the only athlete to ever stop a war. During the Biafran Civil War in Nigeria, a three day truce was called to watch him play two exhibition games.
   
   Pele' was declared a national treasure by his native Brazil. But for the millions of us who had the privilege to see him play, he was our treasure as well.
   
   Thank you for the opportunity to review this excellent book.

No comments about Sidney Crosby, 2nd Edition: A Hockey Story.

1 comments about Wayne Gretzky: The Making of the Great One.

1. An easy to read and interesting account of Gretzky's career. He is truly a hero and this book really tries to capture his spirit. This book is appropriate for hockey lovers of all ages - I bought it for my 11 year old son and found myself enjoying it immensely. The photos are fantastic and there are many of them. This book is great for any hockey player or coach and ours is kept on our coffee table.