5 comments about Cabin Pressure: One Man's Desperate Attempt to Recapture His Youth as a Camp Counselor.

1. Reviewed by Vicky Burkholder
   on 07/13/2008
   
   Who has not been to summer camp, even if only for a day? And as an adult, who has not sat in his or her industrial beige/grey cubicle on a clear, beautiful summer day and wished they were once again that carefree youngster jumping into a frigid lake or pounding initials into a piece of leather?
   
   Josh Wolk, a senior writer for Entertainment Weekly, decided to spend part of the summer before his wedding doing just that. He returned to his old haunt as a counselor, hoping to find his boyhood before stepping solidly into adulthood. His lighthearted look at the goings on at camp will keep you laughing. But, just as in life, all is not high-jinks and pratfalls. He is looking back at this from the perspective of twenty years beyond most of the people there. But he gives even the serious stuff a humorous edge.
   
   If you've ever been to summer camp, or even if you haven't, you'll enjoy this book. It's both funny and nostalgic, a perfect blend of entertainment. So grab your gorp and bug juice and come along for the ride. You'll be glad you did.



2. I am never at all sure why I like reading camp books. I hated the actual camp experience, due to overwhelming homesickness and general dislike of being in groups! But I love reading about camp, and this is probably the best book about it I've ever read. Josh Wolk spends the summer before getting married working as a counselor at the camp he attended for many summers as a boy. The best part of this book is that it really doesn't romantize the experience. Josh feels like a misfit much of the time, the 14 year old boys in his cabin can be very, very hard to deal with, the other counselor in the cabin doesn't pull his weight at all...but still, he has many moments of remembering what he loves about the camp. It sounds like a great camp. I have 13 and 10 year old boys, and I wish now that overnight camp wasn't out of our price range, as it sounds like it could be a wonderful experience.
   
   I hope Wolk writes more books. I'd love to hear about his life as a parent, as he seems like someone with real insights.



3. I take that title from a Frank Black song, which I think is a pretty accurate way of describing the nervous step you take into full-fledged adulthood. "Cabin Pressure" details Josh Wolk's step.
   
   I first took notice of Wolk through his terrific writing at "Entertainment Weekly." He wrote day-after commentary on the "Real World" that was so gut-bustingly hilarious my friends and I used to E-mail the highlights to each other. After a while, the writing was so good and the show so bad, we stopped watching the show and just read the wrap-ups.
   
   Wolk's best skill as a writer is his gift of observation. Give him any scenario and he can instantly break it down, expose each player's motivation, and end it all with a hilarious analogy.
   
   He brings that keen observation to "Cabin Pressure," his tale of heading back to camp as a counselor on the brink of his wedding day. Having remembered camp as a kind of innocent oasis, Josh wants to reexperience it one more time before he becomes, gulp, a husband and a father.
   
   Wolk fills us in on summer-camp life -- what he remembered from his day, what has changed, and what hasn't. The best part of the book is Wolk's interaction with the kids in his cabin. He does an amazing job of letting you know each one, whether they are charming, maddening, or depressingly and prematurely stressed-out and miserable.
   
   I don't necessarily think I bought into Josh's overall theme here -- this whole nostalgic innocence trip -- but it doesn't matter because "Cabin Pressure" is often hilarious and reading this book is like a well-spoken, really funny friend telling you his best summer-camp stories.
   
   The tone can shift from body-odor humor to some strong emotional connections with the boys, and all the while Wolk's razor-sharp observation and pitch-perfect punchlines remain.
   
   After reading Wolk in "Entertainment Weekly" all those years, and laughing my butt off, this book lives up to all of my expectations. Funny and insightful, "Cabin Pressure" is a wonderful debut book.



4. I enjoyed this book from line one. Josh Wolk is a wonderfully funny story teller. Even if you never spent any time in summer camp, you will love the stories and characters. I didn't want it to end!



5. Even though it's been 35 years since the first time I was a counselor, every year around Fathers Day I have the urge to grab my sleeping bag and head up to camp for staff orientation. This book reminded me of why that urge is still so strong - why I spent six summers of my life as summer camp staff, working 14 hours a day most days and making less than I could have working a virtually anywhere else.
   
   In the summer before he married and entered a new phase of life, the author chose to relive part of his childhood by becoming a camp counselor at the same camp he'd attended as an adolescent. Although older than the typical counselor and with a fiance waiting at home for him to finish his adventure, the authors experiences of feeling like he didn't quite fit in with the staff, his struggles with trying to stay upbeat after weeks of little sleep and hard physicial work and the silliness he shared with his campers mirror the experience of every counselor, whatever age. His story rang so true - although I worked at two coed YMCA camps rather than an all boys camp, the songs, jokes, activities and adolescent angst are universal.
   
   For those who were campers, it's a window into the mysterious life that counselors led. For those of us who staffed camps, it's a sometimes funny, sometimes touching reminder of why we chose spend our summers without creature comforts of home, making little money while living with other people's children.

3 comments about Great Jews In Sports.

1. THIS IS A GREAT COLLECTION OF STORIES COVERING JEWISH ATHLETES. FROM MARK SPITZ TO SANDY KOUFAX, EACH PERSON IS COVERED IN NICE DETAIL TELLING A BIT OF THEIR LIFE AND WHAT THEY CONTRIBUTED TO THEIR SPORT. I REALLY FOUND THIS ENTERTAINING AND INTERESTING. A RECOMMENDED READ.



2. I gave this as a Bat Mitzvah gift to a young woman who is into sports. Her mother reported that she really enjoyed it!



3. Outside the names of Sandy Koufax and Mark Spitz, it's hard to rattle off a list of great Jewish athletes. For me, this encyclopedia of Jewish athletes (complete with photos) offered encouragement in the field of athletics, and I think this can be a very empowering book for aspiring Jewish athletes in any sport. It's fun to flip each page and learn about another exciting career!

5 comments about Yogi: The Life and Times of an American Original.

1. Former feature writer for "Mirror" magazine Carlo DeVito presents Yogi: The Life & Times of an American Original, a solid biography of one of America's most successful sportsmen. the celebrated Yankee baseball team member Lawrence Peter Berra, a.k.a. "Yogi". The son of Italian immigrants, Yogi overcame his short height and taunting from his teammates, opponents, and the media to earn a phenomenal three MVP awards, ten World Series championships, and an assortment of catching records. Yogi's career in baseball didn't end with his retirement; he went on to manage a team from league of the World Series. He encountered famous people ranging from DiMaggio to Hemingway and Sinatra, inspired an enduringly popular cartoon character (Yogi Bear), and even enriched the American lexicon with an assortment of malapropisms. A handful of black-and-white photographs enrich this down-to-earth chronicle of one of baseball's most beloved celebrities.



2. There is, and always will be, only one Yogi. And thank heavens that he's still with us. The Hall of Fame Yankee catcher and everyman philosopher is brillently covered in this wonderful book. If you are a fan of baseball, the Yankees, or just love Yogi, you gotta have this one.



3. I have to admit some bias first. Yogi has been one of my favorite Yankees forever, I love baseball books and I know some of the people involved in this book. Nonetheless, this is a wonderful read, a trip from a St. Louis neighborhood to the big leagues, the Big Apple and a look at one of the biggest hearts in sportsdom. Though I've gotten the Yogi story in bits and pieces before, I still enjoyed reading it. As the man himself would say, "It's like deja vu all over again." If you love baseball, read this book!



4. I only knew Yogi as the cuddly master of the malaprop who had played some ball years ago. What I learned is that he's one of the most accomplished athletes in the history of sports - and a pretty shrwed businessman, too. A well written and ubiased bio that's must read for any baseball fan and recommended for anyone who wants to read the story of a guy who came from nothing to become an American legend.



5. ** BASEBALL HALL OF FAME ** 3 MVP AWARDS ** 21 WORLD SERIES (14 AS A PLAYER - 2 AS A MANAGER - 5 AS A COACH) ** 10 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AS A PLAYER - 3 AS A COACH ** 15 ALL STAR GAMES ** 285 LIFETIME AVERAGE ** 358 HOMERUNS ** 1,430 RUNS BATTED IN **
   
   That is YOGI BERRA!
   
   ** "NOBODY GOES THERE ANYMORE; IT'S TOO CROWDED!" ** "IT AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER." ** "ALWAYS GO TO OTHER PEOPLE'S FUNERALS; OTHERWISE THEY WON'T COME TO YOURS." ** "BASEBALL IS 90 PERCENT MENTAL THE OTHER HALF IS PHYSICAL."
   
   This also is YOGI BERRA!
   
   I am not a Yankee fan, but I am an "old-school" baseball fanatic. And any true "die-in-the-wool" baseball fan will enjoy this detailed recollection of when baseball truly was the "National Pastime". This biography covers Yogi and his family's life from the time his Italian parents landed on Ellis Island. It chronicles his growing up in a mostly Italian American neighborhood up on "The Hill" in St. Louis, where one of his best friends was a mediocre future Major Leaguer, who would hit it big in radio and TV Joe Garagiola. Joe's future success was neatly packaged around stories of his youthful days with Yogi on "The Hill". Yogi's Father Pietro was hard working, loving and a stern disciplinarian in the house. He thought playing baseball was a waste of time, and of course no way to make a living. Yogi's three older brothers, Anthony, Mike, and John, were all good baseball players and had been offered tryouts and contracts with professional teams. But Pietro would not hear of it and did not allow it. When Yogi was in the eighth grade he had no use for school and wanted to quit school and go after his dream of playing Major League baseball. Though Yogi feared his Father's wrath he confronted him with his desire and dream. It became a family war that eventually even included the family's priest. Pietro finally relented as long as Yogi got a regular job to contribute to the family's livelihood while he tried to get a baseball contract. Yogi sold newspapers, where his favorite customer was his baseball idol (And my mother's favorite player.) Joe "Ducky" Medwick. He also had a few factory jobs. Then he was signed by the New York Yankees, and the rest as they say is history. When he reached the big leagues, Joe DiMaggio was the undisputed leader of the team but within a few years as Joe's career came to an end the Yankee torch was passed from Joe to Yogi. A lot of baseball revisionists say it went from DiMaggio to Mantle but that isn't so. The history of uncrowned Yankee leadership actually went from Ruth to Gehrig to DiMaggio to Berra to Mantle. Yogi not only became known as one of the greatest clutch hitters in history, but he was also one of the greatest "bad ball" hitters in history, so it was extremely tough to pitch to him in crucial situations. His ten world championship rings as a player is unmatched in the annals of baseball history. One extremely sad part of this story is all the abuse Yogi took because of his looks and "supposed" lack of intellect. Yet he is probably the most successful Yankee in history after his playing days. This story also conjures up many of the old fan rivalries of the 40's and 50's between the Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers. Since the Dodgers and Yankees played each other seven times in the World Series during this period there is a lot of information about Yogi's competition with Roy Campanella, another catcher with 3 MVP's right across town in Brooklyn, and some wonderful quotes by Jackie Robinson as to Yogi's greatness. This story covers it all from Casey Stengel to Yogi's refusing to return to Yankee stadium for fourteen years after his firing by George Steinbrenner. Yogi was one hell of a ballplayer and reading about it was "LIKE DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN!"

5 comments about Adam Copeland On Edge.

1. This book has kept me glued from the beginning. With pictures to look at while reading the story, it helps keep my attention. Edge is so good at telling a story and keeping the reader glued until he finishes it. He's had many funny stories happen to him, so anyone looking for a good laugh should read this book.



2. In my personal opinion this AMAZING book was about "The best there is. The best there was. And the best there ever will be." This book was extremely entertaining.



3. When I heard AC was releasing a biography, I was so excited that I bought it the first day it came out and read the entire book that same day! However, I was a little upset and felt cheated because he left so many details out, and the fact that he really did not go into depth and give his real feelings about anything! That is really a shame! I've only read the book once, and that's probably the only time I'll ever read it. If he writes another book, he probably shouldn't refer to it as a "biography" if he intends to write a book about practically nothing. So, I am giving it a rating of "one star."



4. With Adam "Edge" Copeland really being one of the last major stars to come into the WWE via the indy system that has actually succeeded in the WWE, this book is a great read. Unlike Mick Foley's Have A Nice Day, You can tell Edge had to struggle to get what he wanted out of life and dealt with set-back after set-back. Outside of one minor fact error (referring to a six man tag between Team ECK vs Too Cool at the wrong PPV event), Edge goes into detail about all the major events that helped shaped his career up till mid 2004



5. Awesome book, edge doesn't try to pass himself off as the greatest wrestler ever, just tells some rather humorous stories of how he got where he is today

No comments about Champ in the Corner: The Ray Arcel Story.

5 comments about Managing My Life: My Autobiography.

1. It's hard to feel how important decisions that would lead to important successes are being made by important manager unless someone has truly made it comes out and tells the story. Not many great achievers chose to tell their story, or if they do, it's not necessary movingly. Sir Alex Ferguson happens to be the most successful football manager over his 22 years with Manchester United does exaclty just that about the success story and its insights in his "Managing My Life".



2. This is the best sports book I have read. It is a great insight into arguably the best manager ever in the history of soccer. I always respected Sir Alex Ferguson anyway, but after reading this book, I even have more respect for his tactics and especially his ethical approach to life in general. Whether you are a soccer coach yourself, just a sports fan, or a business manager looking for insight into how to manage people better you will enjoy this book.



3. Being a soccer fan of the club Manchester United for 15 years, this book is truly a revealing account inside the mind of one of the greatest soccer managers of British Football.
   
   This autobiography shows how a seemingly ordinary man was able to achieve phenomenal success in his managerial career. Alex HATES to be on the losing side and this is a major motivation for him to achieve success constantly on the pitch and on his personal life.
   
   I would love to recommend this book to all Manchester United fans as well as sports psychologists and people working in a competitive environment. To achieve success (in whatever field), one MUST have confidence in his/her own ability and take on the world like a soldier on the battlefield. People with low self-esteem should read this book to bring out their own competitive nature.
   
   Finally,the statistics which show Alex Ferguson's playing and managerial record (at the end of the book) is indeed invaluable to the true soccer fan. This provides the "icing on the cake" for this honest work of brilliance by Ferguson.



4. Sir Alex is one of the 2 greatest managers in the history of MANCHESTER UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB and some might even day of English football all together but is it enough to make an intresting and informative book? I think not. As much as sir Alex is part of my life and my history as a United supporter, there are more intresting things than a Managers life.



5. having worked with sir alex i can say hes the best there is. players love working for him. he tells it how it is and is always fair.

5 comments about Angry White Pyjamas: A Scrawny Oxford Poet Takes Lessons From The Tokyo Riot Police.

1. Eye-opening. What the Japanese police practice seems more like Aikijutsu. The author and his gaijin classmates really deserve kudos for having stuck it out for the entire course.



2. This is a valuable book. Most books written about Martial Arts study are technique-centric, myth inspired anecdotes (usually third-hand legends) or philosophical contemplations of a self-styled modern-day samurai.
   
   Sprinkled throughout with the characteristically dry British humour, Twigger takes us on a very transparent personal account of his experience in Japan, as a young man in search of identity, masculinity, and adventure. It is then no surprise to learn he finds himself alongside others with similar aspirations, except, he finds the courage to join a 1-year gruelling course in elite Yoshinkan Aikido training. His ambition is rewarded, and as students, we can find re-assurance in the reality chronicled in this story.
   
   Twiggers personal accounts of his survival through an acceptance of: pain overcome by endurance, fear overcome by conditioning and fixation overcome by principle and finally, mastery attained by practice are all valid observations. It is good to see that someone has finally shown a degree of personal honesty in spelling this out. Most often, the candor on frustration, personal misgivings about effectiveness, anger etc. are not reflected by those who practice or aspire to master Aikido, their ego won't allow for this. Aikido, is not an art you can learn casually or quickly, most lessons come by way of painful failure and routine torture.
   
   This account of training most closely matches what I have learned of pre-war (WW2) training with the founder. One personal gripe that I have is related to the author's second-hand accounts related to the founder Morihei Ueshiba. If he finds speculation on marital fidelities and practices to increase sexual ki amusing, he should keep this to himself as it is shameful to insult someone in this manner, publicly and without basis. I respect that this is a memoir, and no doubt an artifact meant to amuse himself and others, however this added nothing to the story for me.
   
   I find the authors irreverance towards Japanese culture unique as well. In some ways I am glad he wasn't simply sipping the same Kool-Aid found in Japanophile dojo's. I think this adds to the authenticity.
   
   Last, I'm glad that the author spared us the non-sensical psuedo religious/mystical rants that many unfortunately spout about Aikido. Do your homework. The great masters of Aikido were flawed human beings, many of not most of them loved to fight and learned this art not in search of enlightenment, but because they needed to learn how to handle multiple attackers.



3. This book is hands down the best autobiographical material available on training in Asian martial arts. I love martial arts as both practice and history. I train in shotokan karate and am widely read in a variety of martial arts and in general Japanese history. I believe in honoring hierarchy and preserving tradition. But the, frankly, willful ignorance of the critical reviews here I have no respect for. Twigger's book is not only outstanding as literature, it is exceptionally non-judgemental. People who confuse personal observations and opinions as some kind of objective slander have simply fallen into the cult-like group-think displayed by so many western practitioners of Asian martial arts. It's pathetic, really.
   
   I guarantee you that if you are desperate for a work that combines real martial arts with real literature, this is the best and perhaps only book available to you.



4. This book gives me inspiration to continue practicing Aikido.
   The one of the best line in the book that I have read is:
   "The Japanese were more light hearted. For them aikido was a lifetime occupation; if you were too intense you wouldn't last it out".
   Aikido is a different martial arts. You think you knew something then suddenly you will realize that you haven't learn that much.
   And you still suck at it.
   Every time that this happens, I grab this book and just re-read it again.
   I have already read the book at least 5 times. And every time
   it gives me an energy to continue practicing this art of PEACE.



5. I've lived in Japan for 4 years now and sprained my knee in the dojo Robert writes about...if that's some badge of expertise. He gets a lot right in this book ... and maybe that's the problem. Just like the movie "Lost in Translation", he shares his unique views of a complicated nation. At one point, he even seems to admit the difficulty outsiders have when looking at Japan. Yet, that didn't seem to slow up his stereotyping.
   
   He denounces Japanese food, an amusing thing from a Brit. I've seen little evidence of English competency in cooking, yet the world seems enamoured with Japanese food.
   
   He knows two SGI folks in in his apartment complex - that relegates a very high-profile, worldwide organization (one with obvious flaws and great assets)to cult status. He never seems to get to the point of Yoshinkan Aikido - or did I miss it in his negativity. Yoshikan teaches the basics of Aikido better than anyone else. Whether you stay with them or not, you can learn so much from these folks.
   
   After reading the book, I'm lost at why someone with so much disdain for Japan was here. If Robert had lived in better circumstances, I'm sure his views of Japan would have been more positive. But, if Japan was half as screwed up as he claims, why be here?
   
   Again, there is merit in the book. Anyone considering practicing martial arts in Japan should read it first. Just remember - it's not a bible but an opinion. And, lesson number two, try to have another way to get by other than teaching English.
   
   Bryant

5 comments about Faith in the Game: Lessons on Football, Work, and Life.

1. Faith in the Game by Tom Osborne covers the coaching career of Tom Osborne. He does this with the perspective of a Christian, which I enjoyed. But, I found that the middle of the book became somewhat dry and repetitive when discussing the legal troubles of the players. But I thought the overall message of the book was good. In comparison to other books about coaching and mentoring such as "Season of Life" I found Faith in the Game to be average.



2. I bought this book because I wanted to find out more about how Dr. Osborne managed to win 3 National Championships in a four year period.

   What surprised me was the incredible business value of the book, especially chapter 5 on Goal Setting. His process for setting and acheiving goals is simple, easy to implement and it works!
   I keep buying it and sending it to managers and business executives I work with, it is a great foundation for anyone serious about growing their ability to be more productive and to acheive more.

   Great book!




3. Tom Osborne is one of the most successful college football coaches in history. His book is a wonderful treatise on how coaches and people can improve their lives and chances of success by simply preaching and practicing the basic values of our society. This book is a breath of fresh air in an increasingly fragmented and confused society.

   It is noteworthy that Tom Osborne's success is particularly remarkable because he never had the advantages of recruiting from a deep talent pool in Nebraska, and many of his players came from high school programs where 8 man football was common. Osborne overcame these obstacles with basic hard work, religious faith, and teamwork.

   This is a great book for any coach, manager, or parent. Highly recommmended. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because the book is relatively short, and I would've loved to read on for several more chapters.




4. The premise of Faith In the Game is simple: It's a conservative primer for life.

   Now, whether you agree with everything within or not is your call, but Osborne successfully states his cases while interweaving stories of his own football team over the years. His transition from society to football is pretty effortless, quite frankly, and the book serves as a nice, non-confrontational entry into conservative living and philosophy. For all those people out there who are fed up with the liberal world -- and I am not one of them, mind you -- I'd suggest this book a thousand times over before I'd let them within 20 miles of Ann Coulter's rants.

   Unlike Coulter and other conservative zealots, Osborne starts at the ground level of living -- for the coach, it's character -- and builds from there. In other words, the book is more a plan than an argument. And plans are generally quite a bit more persuasive.

   Osborne always worked in the here and now, so this is not much of a grand memoir. He's still into trying to turn it all around. Frankly, I think some of these societal problems are beyond his grasp -- Osborne is too kind and sympathetic to consider our society as anything more than a collection of misguided folks, it seems -- but you won't find a lot of sports coaches who have actually considered these issues the way Osborne has.

   Faith in the Game is the work of a thoughtful man.




5. This is a neat book. It is fascinating, it has scores of information about how the Huskers built their program, and it is written in exactly the right amount of detail, including the technical details.

   If you are a coach in any sport, if you are a Husker fan, or if you are a Tom Osborne fan, this book is a good read. It is also an excellent gift. It is one of the five best sports books I have read in the last few years. You can't miss with Faith in the Game.

5 comments about I Never Had It Made: An Autobiography of Jackie Robinson.

1. A very positive role model for our youth (and adults!) Jackie Robinson was courageous man. I learned about the barriers and obstacles he faced as well as all African-Americans faced during this era. And still face today.



2. I read this book when I did a research paper on Jackie Robinson in 11th grade English class back in 2003. It was a great autobiography and I couldn't put the book down. Not only tells the story of the man as a baseball player, but it tells how he struggled being a "black man in a white world." If you are interested in baseball, civil rights, or even just want to read a good book and learn more about the time, I highly recommend this book.



3. This was just dynamite. Jackie holds nothing back. I've read a lot of baseball books, and I've read a lot of autobiographies. This was hands-down the best, period! If you only want to read about his baseball accomplishments, go elsewhere. He covers his entire life, and there was a lot more than just baseball. The incidents from other episodes of his life serve to quantify what an advocate he was, and how difficult it was to take the abuse heaped upon him in his first two seasons with the Dodgers without responding. Bravo to a well-lived life, Jackie!



4. The autobiography of Jackie Robinsons Life "I never had it made" was an inspiring book to not stop trying. I enjoyed this book as a learner of the old ages and as a young fan of baseball. Jackie inspired millions of African Americans to do what they always have dreamed of doing. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars was because I thought they talked too much about his life after he retired from baseball. The book talks about the hardships Jackie went through and the journey he made to become such a phenomenal athlete and role model. Some of the people that Jackie worked with were greats known as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. After retirement Jackie opens up his own charities and organizations to help the not so fortunate African Americans of today's society. I recommend this book to anyone that has trouble with their self-confidence because this book makes you appreciate your life more. Unfortunately Jackie will be remembered just because of his baseball accomplishments and not what he did off the field.



5. They say to whom much is given, much is expected. In Jackie's case he didn't ask to take on this feat- but nonetheless he accepted the mission and gave it his all- and succeeded- perhaps at the expense of his own personal life and serenity. This man had a huge task and he never shirked when it seemed to be insurmountable...the crux of the challenge was that jackie was told that he would be up against jeering crowds, small minds, hostile people that would do their best to get his goat- and that it was imperative that jackie did not resist and defend- and he upheld his end of the bargain.Jackie shows us all the high road.I am no sports fan but I did love this book- because it is about focus, strength and grace in the face of opposition, and a trailblazer personality that lit the way for many many people.

No comments about Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape: The Remarkable Life of Jacques Anquetil, the First Five-Times Winner of the Tour de France.