1 comments about Ted Williams: Remembering the Splendid Splinter.

1. This book about Ted Williams is excellent. The articles written about Ted are from various sportwriters, not just one person. The views of many are all very favorable to Ted which confirms what an outstanding hitter he was. As it is pointed out in the book, many ballplayers have come and gone since Ted retired, and yet his .406 season long average in 1941 has stood the test of time. I would highly recommend this book to any baseball fan; but especially to Boston Red Sox fans, and fans who were fortunate to see Ted play.

No comments about Lou Gehrig: A Biography (Baseball's All-Time Greatest Hitters).

5 comments about Regions of the Heart: The Triumph and Tragedy of Alison Hargreaves (Adventure Press).

1. When I first read the description of this book, I was only slightly intrigued but since I was running out of Himalayan mountaineering reading material, I decided to give it a try. As a mother, my first impression of a woman with young children risking her life by climbing was negative. This was somewhat hypocritical for me since I believe that women should be given an equal chance, particularly in athletic pursuits, and, as the book points, many male mountaineers are fathers. After reading about her circumstances and what she went through in her marriage physically, mentally, and financially, I understood her drive and came to see that climbing had become a necessity for her financially. As a working mother, I completely sympathized with her pull to provide for her family and yet have the time to spend with her children. Only for a climber, the stakes are greater. This woman suffered so many tough breaks in her personal and climbing life, and was later vilified for being a reckless mother instead of being respected for her amazing performances. With so many accomplishments under her belt, I was surprised that I'd never heard of her before. While it wasn't the best book I've ever read, I did find it hard to put down.



2. This book does a good job of illustrating the tragedy inherent to competitive climbing. Hargreaves appears to have been a decent, determined, moderately talented climber, who pushed herself far beyond the point where she was actually enjoying the sport because of her need to make a living and her competitive surroundings. I usually dislike biographies, but found this one quite readable. While the authors do dumb down climbing terminology, they give evocative and gripping descriptions of the sport. This book saddened me, not only in its depiction of someone whose inspiration turned into her doom, but in its revelation of pervasive sexism in the way Hargreaves was viewed. While I don't think a woman who is still breast feeding should be free soloing, as she did (under the pressure of a relationship with an utter ne'er-do-well), the media suggestion that she was somehow a "bad mother" or "bad woman" because she climbed dangerous routes while having young children at home is preposterous. She was, in fact, financially supporting her children by doing so. This is an interesting book, worth reading.



3. Alison Hargreaves was probably one of the most enigmatic climbers of this century. Isolated from the mountaineering community at large for the better part of her career, it was not until she climbed Everest without support and without supplementary oxygen that she got the recognition she so craved. Her solo ascent of Everest without oxygen was the first ever such summit by a woman.

   Her need for that recognition was twofold. She seemed to lack personal self-esteem, as a result of her marriage to a man who was emotionally and physically abusive. She also seemed to have a lack of confidence, at times, in her innate ability as a climber, needing validation from the mountaineering community, a validation which seemed to be long in coming. Yet, it was only on the mountains that she felt in control, because her personal life was so out of control. Indecisive about what to do about her unhappy marriage, the mountains gave her hope that she would be able to secure herself and her children financially and free herself from the bondage of an unhappy union.

   When she triumphed on Everest, and her future as a climber of reknown seem assured, she almost immediately set out on expedition under pressure from her husband to summit K2, leaving behind her two beloved young children. While she ultimately met with success and reached the summit of K2, she descended head long into a storm with gale force winds. Sadly, she never got off the mountain, consigned to the environs of K2 for all time.

   Her death created a maelstrom of controversy at the time, over the idea of a mother with two small children having put herself so at risk of leaving them motherless. Sadly, it was women journalists who spearheaded this sentiment, threatening to destroy Ms. Hargreaves' reputation in death. This was clearly a double standard, as many who die while climbing are men who are fathers to small children. Yet, in death they are not pilloried for having left their children fatherless. Rather, they are often heralded for their daring and courage in attempting to scale new heights.

   This book chronicles Ms. Hargreaves' life and her love of climbing. It attempts to paint a balanced portrait of a woman so little known to the world at large, but who made mountaineering history just before her death. It explores her personal life, not only as a wife and mother, but as a person for whom climbing was her life's blood. The author attempts to understand her approach to climbing, as well as her exploits, and ground them in the context out of which they arose. It is the story of an ordinary woman who just before her death made herself extraordinary. Although the author recounts Ms. Hargreaves' life in a somewhat prosaic manner, it is definitely a book well worth reading.




4. An excellent psychological profile!



5. An honest, decent book about a British woman mountaineer (killed in 1995 in a storm after summiting K2 without supplemental oxygen) whose failings and unhappiness at low altitude contrasted sharply with her successes and bravery at altitude. Hargreaves' personal and financial suffering, particularly her bad marriage to a sick, lazy man, seemed the result of all-too-human bad judgment on the ground. Although the authors clearly understand climbing and the forces that drive people to climb, I felt the authors focused too much on Hargreaves' bad personal life and not enough on the technical aspects of climbing, which I had expected to read when I bought the book. The authors have dumbed-down their accounts of climbing to reach a broader audience. However, their treatment of the colorful history of climbing, particularly in Great Britain and the Alps, was well done. I did note several glaring, but probably minor, factual errors. All in all, a decent read about an interesting person who perhaps sought to achieve in climbing all that she lacked in her personal life.

No comments about Shane Warne: Portrait of a Flawed Genius.

No comments about Fitness Stars of Pro Football: Featuring Profiles of Deion Sanders, Shannon Sharpe, Darrell Green, and Wayne Chrebet (Legends of Health & Fitness Series).

2 comments about Stirling Moss: The Authorised Biography.

1. I bought this book at London some weeks a go. It's good book for those of you interested in this racing legend and that racing age (which I love, by the way). It's quite detailed, because it covers his racing career and some aspects of his personal life either.
   
   I'm not agree with the previous review in the point that, in my opinion, the book doesn't have so much pictures. It's the typical 'all text' book with some pages with pics that illustrate the full book. If I'm not wrong it doesn't have more than 10 of these pages with B&W pictures. The rest is plain text.
   
   So a good and entertaining read. May be a bit too expensive for a paperback book, but always good for racing fans :)



2. I began to follow auto racing shortly after the 1962 accident at Goodwood that ended Moss's racing career, so I cannot say that I was ever a fan of Moss, only an admirer after-the-fact (as I also was of the German driver, Count Wolfgang von Trips). And I must admit I'm a sucker for just about any book about the pre-1970s era of Grand Prix racing.
   
   This large, coffee-table-sized book tells Moss's story from beginning to end, not with an abundance of text, but with an abundance of photos, both black-and-white and color. Yes, there is text, but it is anecdotal rather than exhaustive or exhausting, and it does tell all we need to know about Moss's background, philosophy, personality, racing achievements, accidents, personal life, romances, and business activities.
   
   There are many, many photos of Moss at all stages of his career, with particular attention paid to the Goodwood accident that nearly took his life, an accident that has always been shrouded in mystery and controversy. And - for the first time - some hitherto unpublished documents provide insight into what really happened on that gray day. And there is also another look at the infamous Le Mans crash that took the lives of Pierre Levegh and dozens of spectators.
   
   My only complaint - and it is perhaps an inappropriate complaint regarding a book about Moss - is that there is too much Moss and too little of the other drivers who graced that bygone era. I would have liked to see more of Hawthorn and Fangio and Brooks and Schell and Bonnier and von Trips (althought we do see a photo insert of Trips' devastating crash at Monza). It was an era of great names and great faces and great personalities, and I would have liked the photographer's lens to range just a little bit wider.
   
   But that is a mere quibble, and I can still recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Moss or a fan of the pre-comercialized world of GP racing. In a few more years, there won't be many who will remember what it was like.

No comments about The Fragile Champion: Doris Brown Who Always Ran the Extra Mile.

2 comments about Pete Rose: Baseball's All-Time Hit King.

1. Great book! The author really captures the Pete Rose story in depth. I highly recommend this book!



2. This Book should of not been published he is a no good person dont waste your money on this book buy something else with your well spent money!!!!!!!!! But if you are a Baseball fan then your going to buy this book....

No comments about In BOD We Trust: Brian O'Driscoll: The Biography of Ireland's Greatest Rugby Hero.

No comments about The David Beckham Story.