5 comments about A Letter for Daria.

1. I'm really glad I picked up this book. First off, it is a book that you can easily read in a single sitting. The family photos just add to the book.

   Ekaterina's writing is very personal. It made me want to continue reading the book. I was a little disappointed when I reached the end, not because there were parts of the book that I didn't like, but because I wanted the book to keep going. I wanted to read more.

   She is such a strong woman and has an amazing family. One part of her life is a situation that I'm currently going through. Reading how she handled it and bettered herself is an inspiration to me.

   Why doesn't the US celebrate International Women's Day?




2. Ekaterina is a very strong woman.
   I know first hand,because I work on the ice with her and her daughter Daria....who is a wonderful child, a delight to be around...whom is raised very well behaved and intelligent.

   Hats off to them both.
   And her newest edition,little Liza is the cutest thing at the ice rink these days.

   Wonderful people!!!! I wish the best for her always!! I feel so fortunate to have had this opportunity to meet her and her daughters.

   Lisa




3. This is a delightful book that showcases a mother's obvious love for her daughter and for her own mother and grandmother. In this book Katia reveals as much or more about herself than she did in her previous book (also a great book) and tells lots of cute and funny antecdotes about her family. As much as I love My Sergei, I think I actually like this one better. But, you should know, it is written for an older children's reading level and is very different from My Sergei in style.

   Just so no one is mislead, there is NO mention of abortion in this book. Katia says only that she was very lucky that her parents and Sergei were supportive of her having Daria - nothing more, nothing less. Nor does Katia mislead anyone about her (and Sergei's) arrangements for the care of her/their daughter while they were away from home on tour for half the year (her parents moved to the U.S. with them so they could care for Daria while her parents worked (touring) - all children should be so lucky to have their grandparents with them rather than spending long hours in daycare - and Katia expresses her gratitude that that option was available and her desire to do the same for Daria's children one day just as her grandmother took care of her while her own parents were away).

   In short, this is a delightful book that anyone with a mother or a child can enjoy and appreciate whether they are fans of skating or not. The wisdom Katia has gained from her grandmother and mother and passes on (along with her mom) to Daria is delightful and rings true across all cultures. This book also has some interesting glimpses into Russian/Soviet culture as it differs from our own.




4. Obviously a previous reader didn't actually read this book since Katia doesn't talk about aborting her child in A Letter for Daria. This book is full of stunning pictures and you can see the love and happiness within this family. The story to her daughter is wonderful. Maybe this book will start a trend-all mothers should write journals to their children. I wish mine had.



5. Katia comes across as a very needy, possessive, weak person. She gives the impression she raises her daughter when in reality her parents raised Daria. I can't believe Katia would relate in a children's book that she wanted to abort her daughter. She appears to see children as a burden. I'm disappointed.

5 comments about David Thompson: Skywalker.

1. David Thompson was a great basketball player in college and had a great start in his pro career. Unfortunately, David gave in to the lure of drugs and his career and life suffered. Somehow, through his belief in God and his love of family, David was able to eventually overcome his demons. His rebound was too late for his basketball career, but not too late to save his marriage.
   David is very clear in discussing his problems. He makes no excuses. His love for his God and his wife are also very clear, as he credits both with saving his life and sticking with him.
   His review of the important 1974 NC State-UCLA semi-final game was very detailed and fascinating. I know he could not do that with every game or even every important game, yet still I would have liked more detail about his interactions with teammates and coaches. At times, this book was more about his redemption (which is more important in the grand scheme of things), than his basketball career, but a few more stories would have rounded out the book. He did play with some greats of the game and in the ABA. Surely he could have pulled out a few more stories.
   Even with this one complaint, the book is well worth reading. David Thompson may have ended up being a better person than he was a basketball player!



2. Enjoyed this look into the life of David Thompson, both the good, the bad the really bad and the good again. The chapter recalling the 1974 NC State/UCLA semi-final game was so detailed, it was like watching it all over again. Additionally, the book did not shy away from the dark side of David Thompson's life and although he may have not fulfilled his full professional basketball potential, it is gratifying to see his life is now at peace. Not just for hoops fans, but hoops fans will throughly enjoy !



3. The essence of David Thompson's impact on the NBA and it's fans is captured in the following memory...a playoff game in 1980 with Thompson's Denver Nuggets playing the Seattle Supersonics in the Seattle Kingdome...the game was in it's closing minutes and the outcome was no longer in doubt (Seattle had the game well in hand). Most TV viewers (especially those of us on the East Coast) had already undoubtedly turned off the TV, but I noticed that DT was still in the game. Telling myself to keep watching as Thompson may do something memorable, I kept my attention focused until with about 30 seconds remaining, DT had the ball at the top of the key. Faking left and driving right, he took off from just inside the dotted circle...cuffing the ball in his right hand (at 6' 4" his hands were too small to palm the ball), he sailed in and threw down a one-handed windmill tomahawk slam over two amazed Sonics that brought me and the remaining crowd in the Kingdome to it's feet. My mission then complete, I felt it was safe to then turn off the TV and go to bed.
   
   It was with these type of memories that I obtained a copy of Skywalker...I needed to know how this mega-talented legend fell so far. What I got and what other readers of this work will get is a completely honest mea-culpa...straight forward and with no excuses Thompson explains his rise from a shy teenager just discovering that an amazing leaping ability could lead to superstardom to his equally amazing fall from that lofty position. He explains his addictions and insecurities and how these affected him and those he cared about...all culminating with a remarkable recovery topped-off with his induction into the NBA Hall of Fame in 1996. Along the way we also get a first hand account of the building of the legend and an inside look at the 1970's and 80's NBA...the legendary players and unfortunately the legendary drug use.
   
   DT became a nationally known superstar in the early 70's of course as a member of the National Champion North Carolina State Wolfpack...the team that essentially unseated the mighty UCLA Bruins of John Wooden and Bill Walton (who pens an excellent forward to this book). He shuns the NBA and instead becomes the star of the ABA's Denver Nuggets...further driving a wedge between the leagues that ultimately leads to the 1976 merger. Year after year Thompson sets the bar for "high-wire", above the rim ball (along with Julius Erving) that preceded Michael Jordan by over 10 years (Jordan admits that Thompson was his main boyhood idol). His career is full of legendary highlights such as the 1976 ABA Slam Dunk contest and culminates in 1979 with his end-of-season battle with George Gervin for the NBA scoring title. Scoring 73 points in the season ending game against the hapless Detroit Pistons, DT takes the lead in the race. Gervin plays that evening and knows exactly how many points he needs to score and breaks through with 63 points of his own against the equally hapless New Orleans Jazz winning the title and adding to his own legend as well.
   
   As important as the basketball side, the personal side of Thompson's story is the strongest part of this work. Thompson's writing style certainly isn't Pulitzer worthy, but it's the force of his story and his uncompromising explanations of his personal problems that capture his audience and is what ultimately sells this book. Cocaine and alchohol drag him down and forces him out the league at a relatively young age...injuries also had much to do with it and he argues that the long term abuse may have led to them. A jail term (where he watches Erving's retirement from the NBA) and many re-hab visits force Thompson to consider building a better life and he becomes a born-again Christian. This is the avenue that ultimately leads to his recovery and Hall of Fame induction in 1996.
   
   A strong read and an important one especially for young fans of the NBA, David Thompson has a strong message for all. Having been at the heights of fame and at the lowest of lows, DT's life takes on an important meaning...all fans and players should read this to see the fragile hold fame has on it's participants. I highly recommend this.



4. David Thompson was Awesome Back in the day.Imagine DR.J,Jordan,Kobe&Vince Carter&with Madd Hoops that was David Thompson. if the NBA of Today was Allowed Back in the day then David Thompson would Be talked about the same way Lebron James&Kobe are today.same goes with DR J. this Book tackles His Whole Career from college,ABA&NBA&also Off the court.David Thompson is One of the Most Gifted Atheletes that I Ever saw as well.Props to Him always.



5. This book tells the amazing story of the basketball protegy that goes to NC State, wins the NCAA championship, goes to the ABA and becomes the best player immediatly, then goes on to success in the NBA. Unfortunatly, drug use and a bad fall in a nightclub rob him of a MJ-like career. Now he has found God and cleaned himself up. A very inpsiring book.

   By the way, he tells a story of how NC State was put on probation for his recruitment, and how UNC is to blame! Very juicy stuff.

5 comments about Taking Shots: Tall Tales, Bizarre Battles, and the Incredible Truth About the NBA.

1. I read a ton of books, mostly history and sports books. This book does have some interestng stories, he tries to hard to preach and the book never seems to flow. Granted, I bought it for 6 bucks but it's simply not worth the cover price.



2. Keith Glass takes us behind the scenes on what goes on behind the glitz of an NBA game. He gives us lots of behind the scenes action, insider information and laugh-out loud anecdotes, which are all fun to read. However, that lies the shortcoming of this book. It is just that. Full of anecdotes. According to the cover copy, it's about the incredible truth about the NBA. The problem is, the book is so scattered, there's no central topic, even if Keith Glass said it's about NBA player's sense of entitlement, it doesn't come out that way since there are chapters that digress from this subject. Reading the book, it switches from an autobiography, to the pratfalls of being an honorable agent to stories about his clients to an advice on how to improve the US Men's Basketball team. The topics meander and Glass seems to be trying hard to be a comedy writer in his next life. Still, Taking Shots is an enjoyable if not (very) light read. It is not in the level of Terry Pluto's Loose Balls or as controversial as Phil Jackson's last book. The supposed subject on what makes the NBA fail today (as written in sleeves) is not discussed in-depth and if it was discussed, the writing is not that clear to be understood what the point is all about. Keith Glass, being an agent, should've called his agent so he could've secured a good editor for his book.



3. My largest disappointment with this book was the lack of focus on the agent aspect of Glass's life. The stories were about his clients, and there are some situation he's found himself that are the result of being an agent, but they often weren't about actually what it was like to be an agent. Negotiation tales were vague and general, most of the players he told stories about were non-stars if not entirely unrecognizable.
   
   His portion of the book that addressed what was wrong with the NBA was hardly a revelation; I think most people know that the basketball being played in the NBA is lousy, so that assessment from Glass is not shattering any illusions. Further, his suggestions for how to "fix" the NBA are pipe dreams, at best, even if some would make sense.
   
   There is enough humor and behind-the-scenes type of stories to keep the book interesting, but there's an awful lot of pages for what seems like very little substance. The content does not live up to the expectations created by the title.
   
   Finally, and this is a very picky detail, there are typos galore in this book. I generally thought books had editors to catch such things, but there is a variety of glaring errors throughout.



4. Keith Glass tells a great tale, and his many years of experience representing NBA players has given him many to tell. Glass' book is a great insight into the other side of the NBA that the general public would otherwise have no access to. But one of the greatest elements of this book is Glass' true passion for the sport, and for the part he has played in it.
   
   The book looks at Glass' upbringing, with basketball in his life from a very young age. Glass discusses how Larry Brown ended up living with his family, how Glass saw the evolution of basketball, and how he became a coach at UCLA. There's a very nostalgic and homely feel to these earlier chapters, and they definitely show a man who really loves the game and loves the relationships he has been able to establish through it.
   
   The book then looks at Glass' adventures in representing top level NBA stars and how he came into this career. The greatest stories in here are the tale of Mahamoud Abdul-Rauf, the making of Scott Skiles (current head coach of the Chicago Bulls) and the sad story of Thomas Hamilton. It really is the stories like Hamilton's, a seven-foot-four giant with exquisite skills who could never get his NBA career started due to personal problems, that make this book. The power this story has is it makes you look at how some people can throw their God-given talent away, which gives you perspective to appreciate what you have in your life.
   
   The latter chapters lack the same level of interest, as Glass discusses the various ways he NBA could improve the league and take it back to it's roots more, and further away from the greed-driven monster it has become. Glass makes some great points, but they could have been better illustrated through his stories, rather than telling the reader, point-blank. His various tales deliver this message through subtlety and through reading between the lines of what's going on, so to have this opinion forced onto the reader in the end weakened the overall tone of the writing a bit.
   
   It also plays down some of Glass' other failings, in that he makes little to no mention of his previous marriages and doesn't discuss things he has done that he has regretted. It seems, at times, that Glass is a little too ethical in a world of no ethics, and to survive in this arena, Glass says himself, you can't always hold to your morals. There would appear to be a level of censorship and restraint at times. The book could have had more effect if there were no barriers, no holds barred.
   
   There are also two times that Glass refers to the story of Lloyd Daniels, and says that he would need an entire book of it's own to tell Daniels' story. Lloyd Daniels was shot three times in the late eighties and still, to this day, has a bullet lodged in his right shoulder. He never played in college, yet went on to play for five NBA teams. Now that's a story I want to hear. Daniels' story should have made the book, even in brief form.
   
   At the end of the book you get the sense that this is the story Keith Glass wanted to tell in exactly the way he wanted to tell it, which is not so bad, but it felt like it could have explored so much more about the dark side of the glamourous life of pro-ballers. As it stands, it's an interesting read, great at times, but overall more focussed on presenting a portrait of a man who loves the game and who holds a special place in his heart for 'his' players. Again, this is not so bad, but a but more controversy and a couple more first-hand accounts of back-room dealings would have made this a more important and compulsive book.



5. I recently met Keith Glass and his wife at a college graduation party for my niece. His son, Tyler, is dating my niece, and my sister-in-law, knowing that I'm a sports fan, made sure I was introduced to Keith because, as she put it, "You know sports, you'll like him." Well, she was right. After a few minutes I realized that I did, indeed, like him. When the book came up in conversation I told Keith that I would order it from Amazon as soon as I got home, and I'm glad that I did. This was a very entertaining read. OK, it's not going to be used as a textbook in school, and it's got its share of glaring typos (I proof read books as a favor to friends who are authors) but if you're a basketball fan you're going to love this book. Keith is truly an "insider" and gives perspectives that can only be gotten from an insider. His anecdotes are filled with conversations that you would normally not hear anywhere. One, in particular, stands out. Keith used to represent the former Chris Jackson, who subsequently became Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, whom you may recognize as the Denver Nuggets player who refused to stand for the National Anthem after he converted to Islam. Keith's insight into Mahmoud's background and battle with Tourette's Syndrome is very helpful in understanding him. Heck, just imagining a Jewish agent representing a Muslim player is fun.
   At then end of the book Keith decides to opine on his "ways to fix basketball" and , while some are dead-on and interesting, I found some to be, in fact, either ideas that we've all bandied about in tavern conversation, or non-implementable. Still, it doesn't detract from the overall "fun-to-read" aspect of the book. I sense a follow-up to this book from Keith and, if so, I'll be sure to get the next one. I've already promised to lend the book out to my son-in-law and a good friend in Massachusetts, so Keith will be losing out on a few book sales. When it does return to me I'm going to see what I can do about getting him to autograph my copy.

No comments about Diamond in the Rough: The Dave Clark Story.

3 comments about One Of A Kind.

1. There are a lot of baseball biographies out there but this one provides a unique twist. Kathryn "Katie" Conley, the author of the book, is Gene Conley's wife and it is as much her story as it is his. You learn about their young lives, their courtship, Katie's devotion to the teaching of the Seventh Day Adventist church, and Gene's rise to play two professional sports, starting with the Boston Braves and later with the Boston Celtics. Gene would go on to win a World Series ring with the Milwaukee franchise in 1957 and then an NBA championship with the Celtics the year after (Conley would repeat to win two more consecutive NBA titles with the Celtics). Katie Conley is proud of her husband's achievements and she gives him his due.
   
   The author doesn't gloss over her husband's shortcomings with alcohol abuse while playing ball. Both would admit that this, as well as arm trouble, brought his baseball career to an end much sooner than if he had taken better care of himself. Money is a major topic of the book. The chronic shortage of money when they first started life together, the contract disputes and issues around playing two professional sports,
   and even the phone being removed because of mounting long distance bills
   are some of the problems faced by the couple as Gene was, for a while, gone year 'round, playing basketball after baseball season was over and then diving into baseball in late spring (he went on to play baseball for the Phillies and the Red Sox and the Knicks in the NBA).
   
   You are more likely to read about the horrid hotels and motels in which they would stay than you would about what it was like to pitch in the World Series. There is a distance in the telling of the story, since it is not written by Gene himself. There are glimpses into the goofiness that went on in baseball like the "Braves Playboys" where Gene at 6'10" is on the floor Indian wrestling someone and he ends up knocking he legs out from under a piano. Of course, the gendarmes were brought in, which later caused Gene a paucity playing time under manager Fred Haney.
   
   Perhaps one of the starker topics that threads its way through the biography is all of the injuries that he suffered playing two sports: fingers, hands, ankles, hip, feet, shoulder are all mangled or abused or damaged sometime during his career and like many others of the time, he played when he was hurt...as much out of fear being replaced as loyalty to his team.
   
   Also, in this book, you get the full account of why Gene Conley (after having been bludgeoned by the Yankees in game in the Bronx) decided after tying one on to catch a plane to Jerusalem. This AWOL action caught everyone off guard, even his family, who didn't know where he was.
   
   Katie Conley does a good job explaining what it was like as a baseball wife and mom, trying to bring up three children and this adds a personal touch that pages of stats won't provide. It is also obvious that she is proud of her husband's accomplishments, not only on the mound or court, but also his work with NBA pensions. (Both of them founded organizations to lobby the NBA to provide pensions to older NBA players who were receiving little or no pension money.)
   
   This book will not give you a pitch by pitch or jump shot by jump shot view of the professional careers of pro baseball and basketball. It does provide enough highlights of his career and a glimpse into his family's private life to provide well-rounded enjoyable reading.



2. There are a lot of baseball biographies out there but this one provides a unique twist. Kathryn "Katie" Conley, the author of the book, is Gene Conley's wife and it is as much her story as it is his. You learn about their young lives, their courtship, Katie's devotion to the teaching of the Seventh Day Adventist church, and Gene's rise to play two professional sports, starting with the Boston Braves and later with the Boston Celtics. Gene would go on to win a World Series ring with the Milwaukee franchise in 1957 and then an NBA championship with the Celtics the year after (Conley would repeat to win two more consecutive NBA titles with the Celtics). Katie Conley is proud of her husband's achievements and she gives him his due.
   
   The author doesn't gloss over her husband's shortcomings with alcohol abuse while playing ball. Both would admit that this, as well as arm trouble, brought his baseball career to an end much sooner than if he had taken better care of himself. Money is a major topic of the book. The chronic shortage of money when they first started life together, the contract disputes and issues around playing two professional sports,
   and even the phone being removed because of mounting long distance bills
   are some of the problems faced by the couple as Gene was, for a while, gone year 'round, playing basketball after baseball season was over and then diving into baseball in late spring (he went on to play baseball for the Phillies and the Red Sox and the Knicks in the NBA).
   
   You are more likely to read about the horrid hotels and motels in which they would stay than you would about what it was like to pitch in the World Series. There is a distance in the telling of the story, since it is not written by Gene himself. There are glimpses into the goofiness that went on in baseball like the "Braves Playboys" where Gene at 6'10" is on the floor Indian wrestling someone and he ends up knocking he legs out from under a piano. Of course, the gendarmes were brought in, which later caused Gene a paucity playing time under manager Fred Haney.
   
   Perhaps one of the starker topics that threads its way through the biography is all of the injuries that he suffered playing two sports: fingers, hands, ankles, hip, feet, shoulder are all mangled or abused or damaged sometime during his career and like many others of the time, he played when he was hurt...as much out of fear being replaced as loyalty to his team.
   
   Also, in this book, you get the full account of why Gene Conley (after having been bludgeoned by the Yankees in game in the Bronx) decided after tying one on to catch a plane to Jerusalem. This AWOL action caught everyone off guard, even his family, who didn't know where he was.
   
   Katie Conley does a good job explaining what it was like as a baseball wife and mom, trying to bring up three children and this adds a personal touch that pages of stats won't provide. It is also obvious that she is proud of her husband's accomplishments, not only on the mound or court, but also his work with NBA pensions. (Both of them founded organizations to lobby the NBA to provide pensions to older NBA players who were receiving little or no pension money.)
   
   This book will not give you a pitch by pitch or jump shot by jump shot view of the professional careers of pro baseball and basketball. It does provide enough highlights of his career and a glimpse into his family's private life to provide well-rounded enjoyable reading.



3. I know Katie and Gene, and they are wonderful people. Gene's sports life was terrific, to say the least. He played 2 national league sports, at the same time, basically; basketball and baseball. Not many can say that. This book highlights his life, his family, and him. God bless him, Katie, and their family, and those who read the book.

5 comments about Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers.

1. This provides Ellsberg's history behind his release of the Pentagon Papers. Included is (obviously) his motivation and reasoning behind why he thought they had to be released to the press. In addition, there is a discussion of his the papers themselves but, ironically, the weakness of the book was not enough discussion/analysis of the papers and the conclusions reached therein.



2. Ellsberg is a driven man--driven toward solving puzzles and righting that which is wrong. The intensity of his intellect and the breadth of his insider experience would have made Daniel Ellsberg an amazing historian of the Vietnam War even if he hadn't become an anti-war activist. The fact that he had--in the end--studied both sides, and that eventually he had access not only to the Pentagon Papers but also the Nixon Whitehouse tapes allowed him to explain the war and its perpetrators with a rare combination of vividness and authority.
   
   Judging from what is written in today's newspapers, the patterns Ellsberg describes in Secrets are repeating themselves in the Iraq War. _Secrets_ deserves to be widely read, as a lesson in courage, as history, and as a warning to those of us who might be tempted to sit back and trust unquestioningly those who would lead us into war then resist bringing us back out.



3. Just got it today, but know that my son will enjoy reading it. He loves history and asked for this book specifically.



4. A year into the Iraqi war, an increasing number of people are comparing the debacle to the quagmire that was Vietnam. In one interview about the American torture of Iraqi prisoners, even Secretary of State Colin Powell made an unsolicited comparison with the Mai Lai massacre. Most people now acknowledge that the Bush administration has been less than candid about not only the war in Iraq but also its policies and decisions before and after the 9/11 attacks. Enter Daniel Ellsberg.
   
   In this memoir Ellsberg documents how five successive presidential administrations (Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon) systematically lied to the American people and to congress about the Vietnam war. His story is especially compelling because (similar to John Kerry in at least this regard), he served patriotically in Vietnam, only to have that experience convince him how terribly wrong his own government was about the war. As a Marine company commander in Vietnam, Ellsberg was an enthusiastic supporter of the war. But two years of wading through swampy jungles, and extended study of classified documents, convinced him that government rhetoric and empirical realities were two very different things. Ellsberg came home and became an outspoken critic of the war, and in an aggressive effort to stop the war he leaked the so-called Pentagon Papers to congress and then to the media, 7,000 pages in 47 volumes of top secret documents.
   
   The lesson? Citizens would be naïve to believe all that its government says or to support all that it does. Christians, especially, believe that Caesar is not God. This was a radical notion in the early centuries of the faith, for in the Roman Empire Caesar was god, and believers paid dearly for it with two centuries of martyrdom. In fact, as Bernard Lewis has observed, it is to Christianity that we owe the novel idea of a distinctly secular state, as opposed to theocracies such as ancient Israel or modern Iran (or emerging Iraq?). If the state is secular and not sacred, if Caesar is not God, if our recent governments have shown their near pathological propensity to lie about matters large and small, and if most all governments must as a practical necessity use brutal and coercive powers to protect national interests and deliberate neglect of the weak where there is no national interest (Rwandan genocide), then it might deserve our allegiance, yes, but also our loyal opposition.



5. After finishing this book, I think the one thing that I'm left awestruck by is how little we as a country have learned in the intervening years. Daniel Ellsberg's detailed, yet gripping account of how he went from an anti-communist cold-warrior to an anti-Vietman war protestor and activist is, at times draining, at others infuriating, and yet always thoroughly engrossing.
   
   He starts the book detailing how, as a political analyst he was eventually allowed access to some of the most highly classified documentation the goverment has, including the 7000 page collection known as the Pentagon Papers. A highly detailed look at the behind the scenes machinations that led the U.S. to go from an advisory role to the French in Vietnam, to actively participating in and continued escalation of the conflict. Those documents allowed him to see exactly how far from the truth official statements from the various administrations to the public and Congress were, even to the point of outright lying about getting out of Vietnam when they were in fact escalating involvement in the war.
   
   Mr. Ellsberg goes on to inform the reader how his access to this information led him to eventually denounce the war as criminal, how he attempted to help stop it through "proper channels", which led to nowhere, and eventually how he decided to leak the Pentagon Papers to the press, knowing full well the toll that it would likely take on his friends and family. Although, this singular act of courage wasn't enough to stop the war in and of itself, it was a stepping stone to its end.
   
   What struck me most as I was reading, was the incredible similarity to events going on now, right down to almost vertabum administration statements made to the public. At that time, administration officials would question the patriotism of those who didn't support the war. They called papers that printed leaked classified information, and the leakers themselves, criminal and claimed that to do so was harmful to national security. There are numerous other examples, but I encourage you to read the book for yourself. If for no other reason than to learn how easily it is for our elected officials to lie to us, and get away with it.
   
   I wish that after reading this book I could say that we've moved past all of this, that our country has learned and it could never happen again. However, I think the similarities between this dark time in our history and the Iraq war has gone a long way to proving that isn't the case.
   
   Read this book. Even ignoring my view of the parallels to the Iraq war, this is a highly gripping and educational look at the history and policies that led to our involvement in the Vietnam war. It's a viewpoint that you will never see in any dry classroom textbook and I think that everyone needs to learn just how humanly fallible our elected officials can be.

5 comments about Dean's Domain: The Inside Story of Dean Smith and His College Basketball Empire.

1. Nice companion piece to Smith's own memoirs ("A Coach's Life"). A less complete portrait of Smith's inner life and interests off the court than the autobiography, but a more complete, and in many ways a more compelling, account of his public life as coach/power broker of what amounts to a multimillion dollar franchise. In this sense it is more entertaining than Smith's book -- a more open treatment of the recruiting process (including the ones that got away), the management of the Nike contract, the rivalry with Duke etc.

   Like the Smith book, it at times gets bogged down in season by season recapitulations of win-loss records. It also includes some material (such as a few paragraphs on the murder of Michael Jordan's father) which presumably are worth mentioning, but don't really fit into the thematic or narrative flow, and seem to be inserted in a kind of obligatory fashion. But these are quibbles.

   Unfortunately, the book ends with Smith's retirement and the installation of his hand-picked successor, Bill Guthridge, and, as a consequence, misses the surely interesting story of Guthridge's resignation two years later, and Smith and Guthridge's apparent inability to again stage manage the selection of the next long-run leader of the Carolina men's basketball program. Nevertheless an interesting and worthwhile read.




2. I have been a tarheel fan for my whole life, I met "THE MAN" as a kid. He is just as portrayed in the book. This was a book that I could not put down. The best book I've read. Great work Art.



3. I recommend this book to true, long-time dedicated UNC fans. Probably no one else could read the whole thing. You will remember each game from your own perspective but Chansky gives you the details from behind the scenes. Many tid-bits and juicy morsals to satisfy your curiosity about the program and about the man. If you like Smith, this book will affirm your respect for him. If you don't like him, this book will not change your mind. Smith is presented mostly sympathetically, but his flaws are too numerous to hide, yet for the true fan, they are expected and when seen within the contaxt of his life, they are forgivable. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. Also, I recently read "Playing for Keeps" about Jordan. There is no redundancy here.



4. Art Chansky has been a close associatr of the Carolina Basketball program for yaers. He gives in depth background about many situations I had always wondered about. This in no way a book which sugar coats UNC. I love Carolina, but it shows a that Coach Smith is human like the rest of us. Reccomended reading for any TRUE basketball fan.This book gives you a sense of what it took to become a long term success and what were some of the events that defined the program.



5. Inside look on the greates basketball programs eve

5 comments about The Living Sword: A Fencer's Autobiography.

1. This is the autobiography of, ostensibly, "the greatest swordsman who ever lived." For those who have knowledge of the sport of fencing, nothing else needs to be said as Nadi is a legend. For those who are curious or newly initiated into the sport, read on!
   
   Nadi's self-styled autobiography is very easy to read and understand. This does not detract, however, from the smooth storyline and rich detail from the mouth of the Master himself. While I was reading this book it seemed as if I could hear Nadi speaking the words in narrative fashion, and I quickly became lost in his amazing story.
   
   Nadi's story is about growing up the son of a fencing master in Italy. How he rose to become almost a prodigy in fencing. He provides many details of his youthful chasings of wine, women, and song, and his fencing challenges in Europe. An interesting chapter is included on his becoming a French actor. Nadi describes his coming to America, teaching fencing, becoming a respected Citizen, and fencing advisor to the Hollywood "stars."
   
   Nadi provides the in-depth detail of his loves, his passion for sport, and of course the infamous European "duel," that makes great reading, and as a book, is well worth reading. The reader will truly be moved, I believe, by the accounts of Nadi's own feelings and sensations he experienced during his exploits. For fencers this book is a must have! This book deserves a place in every enthusiast's library. Unparalleled. Five stars.



2. It does not matter if you are a Fencing aficionado, Aldo Nadi is an interesting character.--I am not a fencer, and I found this book enjoyable.-- The bio on Nadi also gives us a look at history. Detailed throughout the story are the events surounding Nadi's life. From his aerly childhood and training in Italy, the Olympics,his travels through Europe, his competition--remarkable memory-- WW2, relocating to the US, his experience in Hollywood, and his techings. The only thing I found a bit annoying were the numerous chapters on his 'girlfriends'. Even so, there is enough humor in them to get you through. The most fascinating chapter is where Nadi takes part in a Duel.

   Fencers will find this book revealing. I wish this book were made into a movie.




3. Despite Mr. Aldo Nadi's uncontrolled ego which frequently surged here and there, was nonetheless truly, a fascinating individual of Bauhaus Europe. His latin charm laced with impeccable dress, uniquely graced his fervent persona - indicative of elegance, discipline and aesthetic order. Ironically, some of his life experiences (being a mature, expert fencer and celebrity), were quite disorderly and his behaviour at times, severely infantile. His book is an insightful read of the more beautiful culture and populace of our recent Western past.



4. Aldo Nadi was a great fencer, an acknowledged giant among giants, a champion for whom winning became so commonplace his peers gave up challenging him in disgust. He was also a man for whom success was eternally colored by a fencing rivalry with his older brother Nedo, under whose broad shadow he often labored. Nedo was the beloved of fencing; Aldo, always the bad boy. And, for all his victories on the fencing strip, Aldo never managed to resolve his mixed feelings toward his sibling. While his vast competitive energies helped him overcome every major fencing star in pre-World War II Europe, they never quelled the image of Nedo as the main luminary of the Nadi family. It is obvious that his desire to prove himself superior to his brother played an important role in his success, yet this in no way diminishes the value of his achievements. After all, he had the talent as well as the desire to be a champion. In some respects, Nadi resembles Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, a character possessed of continually conflicting emotions and motivations. At times brash and opinionated enough to put off even the stoutest supporter, Aldo nevertheless possessed what it took to back up his words with impressive deeds. He never backed down to anyone, and he lived by a code that demanded he never give anything but his best effort. For that he should be admired. During his sixty odd years, Aldo Nadi was an amateur fencing champion, an Olympian, a duellist, a professional fencer, a fencing master, a movie coach, an actor, and, by his own graphic confessions, a lover of many women. THE LIVING SWORD, Nadi's autobiography, does justice to his varied existence, illuminating not only the man, but also painting a colorful picture of the unique time in which he lived. His descriptions of the European fencing world of the 1920s and 30s, when fencing matches, both professional and amateur, were as popular with the general public as tennis is today, are particularly interesting. You don't even have to be a fencer to enjoy his narrative -- but it doesn't hurt. As a fencing master of some years, I can truly say that Aldo Nadi was someone I would have enjoyed knowing, not only for his expertise in fencing, but also simply for himself. Lacking that experience, reading his book is the next best thing



5. Aldo Nadi, besides being the greatest fencer ever, was quite a character. It is great just reading about the period of time in which he lived and how bad-boy sports figures lived back then. Jordan and Rodman will just never compare to a guy like this.

5 comments about Good Morning Midnight.

1. This book is great. I literally could not put it down. A great insight to what might go on throughout someones life who struggles with depression, weaved among a most amazing life. It can happen to anyone!



2. Great book, I was touched by Chip's thoughtful writting of such a wonderful, but sad, life and death. It is so sad that friends and family allowed these men to suffer through depression without finding a way to getting them help. It's a message to all of us to help those who can not help themselves.



3. This is a powerful book. Mr. Brown examines the life of Guy Waterman, a man who became the personification of the Old Man Of The Mountain. Guy was an amzing man who workedin fields ranging from speech writing in Washington, to jazz pianist, to winter caretaker of an AMC hut.
   
   There is no hero-worship here. The book examines Guy's dark side as well; his early divorce, chronic depression, the deaths of his two sons, and his eventual suicide.



4. This very artfully told tale was truly page turner for me. Thick with literary references, Brown's story of Guy Waterman reflects the complexity of a multi-talented individual, appreciated by many, but omniouly least of all by himself.

   I came away with a very strong feeling that Guy Waterman was truly a unique individual. His successes far outweighed his failures. But his ultimate failure was to recognize that hardmen mature into wisemen. Old Men of the Mountain types, who regale their friends and cohorts with lessons and values of challenging and living amongst the mountains. No matter how far flung the challenge, a mountaineer's ultimate objective is to return from his/her adventure to share the experience; the cold, the hard breathing, the colors, the wind and their intimate feelings of wonder or survival. Regretfully, Guy's inner-self, his demons, contested his own outwardly generous, steadfast and friendly personality.

   For me, Brown's story reacquainted me with several names and places familiar in mountaineering circles. It also cleard my long held confusion between John Waterman the highly acclaimed, albeit daring alpinist, Guy's son and Jonathan Waterman the prolific author of Alaskan mountaineering.

   HOWEVER, as an end note the publisher editorial and Author INCORRECTLY stated that Krakauer wrote about John Waterman. The book Into the Wild was the story of Chris McCandless, by J.Krakauer.




5. After just finishing the book I found myself wanting to write the author and thank him for letting the reader into another world, a very personal one, of a man who had experienced so much in the ways of life, love, and death. The book flows with it's constant references to Guy Waterman's own writings as well as great literary works. I felt a part of the waterman clan ,without intruding, after reading the book. It has been a long time since a book made anything so real with out being too heavy handed. The adventures are amazing, both in the outdoors and with the human emotions. A fantastically orchestrated work; Chip Brown has proved himself as an outdoorsman and writer.

5 comments about Joe and Me: An Education in Fishing and Friendship.

1. The novel Joe and Me by James Prosek is a book about a special relationship between a ranger named Joe Haines and a young boy by the name of James Prosek. James was caught trespassing and fishing without a permit in a local pond near his home in Connecticut. But instead of running a way like his friend, James dropped his rod and surrendered. This move would change his life forever. Joe took James home and explained to him that he could catch just as many fish with out trespassing or breaking any laws. From that point on Joe and James' relationship began to grow. Joe began taking James along with him on many fishing trips and other outdoor adventures. He taught James all he could ever want to know about the great outdoors. Although Joe was much older than James, he never treated James like a little kid or like he would a son. Joe treated James like a friend.

   This is one the best educational books not only on fishing but also on friendship that I have ever read. The tone of the book was pleasant and serious as Joe taught James about fishing and friendship. The weakness of the book was that each chapter was an essay that made the story line choppy. The strength of the book was the easy lessons on fishing and friendship.




2. It has often been said that, amidst the voluminous writing on sports, only baseball, boxing, horse racing and fly fishing have produced any literature of enduring value. Fly fishing, of course, is a pursuit of the literary classes, so it is no surprise that it has been the subject of an inordinate amount of fine writing. The hot young writer in this distinct niche is young James Prosek, who published Trout: An Illustrated History (1996) while still a Yale undergraduate. Prosek is not only a capable author, he also paints fine watercolors to accompany his own text and he has set the hearts of middle aged white male fishing aficionados aflutter.

   In Joe and Me, he has written a memoir of his youth in Connecticut and of his relationship with Joe Haines, a local game warden who busted him fishing illegally and then took him under his wing. Prosek's parents were divorced and, though James appears to have continued living with his Dad, Joe seems to have become something of a surrogate father. Joe taught him about everything from surf casting for bluefish to rendering a bull, from clamming to picking blue berries, with gruff good humor and great generosity at almost every step of the way.

   Perhaps this is purely a personal reaction, but I found myself really liking the somewhat curmudgeonly Joe and wanting to give James a good shake. He seems not to fully realize his great good fortune in having such a mentor. If Joe is sometimes a little too sarcastic or impatient or seems too braggadocious, this is more than outweighed by his willingness to include this callow youth in his world and too share a lifetime of knowledge with him. I am cognizant of the fact that I am saying that the author of a book about a man is unappreciative of that man. But truthfully, I am even bothered by the fact that the title is "Joe and Me". How about just "Joe"?

   I didn't dislike this book, but I was disappointed in the overall tone. Perhaps success has come too quickly for the author and he will benefit from the perspective that age will bring. I, for one, think this would be a much different, and better, book if he rewrote it later in life.

   GRADE: C+




3. A fishing guide friend lent us Joe & Me, which I just finished reading on a cold, rainy March afternoon, lying on the couch with a fire in the fireplace. A perfect way to spend the day, although you'll do equally well under a tree or on a park bench this summer. The simplicity of James' writing evokes "My Old Man and the Sea", to my mind one of Hemingway's best. Prosek's watercolors that illustrate the text are a joy as well, and I am ordering the hardcover to keep by the aforementioned couch. A must for anyone who enjoys a respite from the stress of our modern day lives. I can't wait to read more of Prosek's work.



4. Mr. Prosek's book should lend itself as an inspiration to all of us in the outdoor world. I was lucky enough to have a loving father who showed me the ropes of the outdoors, but if I didn't, I would want Joe Haines. Take it as a message to teach your children someday the majesty of the outdoors.



5. JOE AND ME is a remarkable collection of essays. There is a curious satisfaction in reading each chapter, even though no thrilling event or unusual action occurs. It is similar to lying in a hammock on a warm summer afternoon listening to the radio braodast of a baseball game. If you would find that boring, more's the pity for you. James Prosek recounts the strong friendship that can develop between people with similar interests---in this case, fishing. The older man, Joe Haines, is eager to share years of knowledge about nature and how to make practical use of it. The young James has his own competence in thise matters, but is quick to accept the gift to expand that competence. The payoff is mutual. And the reader also shares. Now, maybe just another 15 minutes in the hammock and I'll be ready for something more invigorating