1 comments about Capt. Joshua Slocum: The Life and Voyages of the America's Best Known Sailor.

1. Having read SAILING ALONE AR0UND THE WORLD, I found Victor's book enlighening. He is not the writer his father was, but his recollections fill out the years of preparation leading eventually to his father's 'sailing alone around the world.' If it lacks the poetic style of his father, it does refer to his mother and ships owned and sailed by his father which lends romance(both senses)and understanding to the Captain. Joshua Slocum was a true man of the sea whose self-taught knowledge made him capable of deeds covering the gamet of seamanship. One can not read the chapter about the LIBERDADE, a canoe of hardly more than 30 feet in length built in the wilds of Brazil with ingenuity unknown today and sailed over 5,000 miles to Washington D.C., without a sense of wonder at the achievment. If you enjoy success stories, you will love this one which explains, in large part, the Captain's remarkable success in the sloop SPRAY. One other book, THE SEARCH FOR CAPTAIN SLOCUM, completes the triad, but that is a subject of another review.

1 comments about Affirmed and Alydar (Thoroughbred Legends (Unnumbered)).

1. An excellent recap of the greatest rivalry in horse racing. It tells the story of all their races, not just the well known story of the Triple Crown. Well written and balanced in its conclusions. Should be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the history of the sport. A worthy addition to the Thoroughbred Legends series.

No comments about The Old Man: The Biography of Walter J. Travis.

5 comments about View from the Summit: The Remarkable Memoir by the First Person to Conquer Everest.

1. Sir Edmund Hillary was clearly a remarkable man with his life marked particularly by the first successful ascent of Mt. Everest. The descriptions of the climb to the summit of Everest along with Tenzing Norgay are particularly interesting, especially his discussion of the period immediately flowing the first ascent when immense pressure was brought on Tenzing to say that he had reached the summit first. However, Everest was not the only adventure for Hillary. Other trips to the Himalayas and to other parts of the world are described and give you an idea of Hillary's overall achievements.
   The most meaningful parts of the book to me were Hillary's efforts to lead the way in helping the Sherpas by building schools, hospitals, and pipelines. Also, the chapters detailing his upbringing give you a good idea of how far he had come from his early days in a beekeeper's family. The chapter about the plane crash in Nepal that took the lives of his wife and daughter was extremely emotional.
   However, the book does have its slow moments. I found the sections about the journey to the South Pole to be tedious and confusing. A good map would have helped. Hillary's writing style is fairly pedestrian, but he does give a number of examples of where he thought he fell short as a person, husband, and father. His extreme confidence in his own abilities shows through during the book.
   All in all, the book is certainly worth reading if you are interested in Edmund Hillary or mountain climbing.



2. On the plus side, this is indeed a proper 'boys own' story and is very well written. Unfortunately, the reader becomes quickly aware of the arrogance of Hillary. Clearly he is a gifted climber who possesed endurance way beyond that of the average human. However, this is over-shadowed by the authors arrogance as he tells the reader how much better he was than those around him.
   
   In a way i wish i had not read the book as it has shattered a romantic illusion I had of what Hillary was really like. It also made me very sympathetic of those who had to endure him in the ice packs of Antartica and the isolation of the death zone of Everest.



3. I remember how exciting it was for those of us in London for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation (on June 2, 1953) to find out that Mount Everest had been climbed at last! And Sir Edmund Hillary's story of how he and Tenzing Norgay did it is terrific and even to my suspicious eyes seems sincere.
   
   The portion of the book I was most curious about dealt with the Antarctic Expedition of 1957 to 1958. Hillary was the leader of the Ross Sea Party, which was to was to lay provisions between the Ross Sea and the South Pole to support the crossing of Antarctica by the Transpolar Party, starting from the Weddell Sea. The Transpolar Party was led by the overall expedition leader, Dr. Vivian (Bunny) Fuchs. The two parties reached the South Pole in January, 1958 after which they made it to the Ross Sea in less than six weeks. As the two parties neared the Pole, the telegrams between Bunny and Hillary were in all the newspapers. Vivian had told the story from his point of view in his 1958 book, "The Crossing of Antarctica," and even though that book also included eighteen pages written by Hillary, I was glad to see more of what Hillary had to say, especially with his perspective of writing about it so much later.
   
   This entire book is worth reading and tells us plenty about the life of a successful adventurer.



4. I found this book a pleasant surprise, after having read a few mountaineering adventure books. If you are looking for one, look elsewhere; Hillary climbed Everest, but did not have any major mountaineering accomplishments thereafter. Instead, we see the picture of a simple man, a very likeable and sincere one, with flaws and virtues.

   We can see his sneakiness in going for the south pole despite orders not to, we can see his dedication to the people of Nepal, we can see his somewhat estranged relationship with Tenzing and the tensions that arose after Tenzing said he had reached the summit first. The discussion is a futile one, but it seems to put a damper on the relationship.

   In this book we also follow his life, not just his great conquests. We see the backstage of the lecture circuit he went through after Everest, then the honors he received and his attempt to maintain some normalcy in his life. Overall, it is a very good life book, and despite it being filled with adventures, we see the character of a person that is much more than simply an adventurer.




5. Unless Edmund Hillary can produce definitive evidence that A.) George Mallory and Andrew Irvine did not reach the summit of Mt. Everest in 1924 or B.) that Tenzing Norgay was not actually the first to set foot on the summit, he cannot truthfully bill himself as "The First Person to Conquer Everest."

1 comments about Life Is More Than 9 Innings: Memories of a Boston Red Sox Pitcher.

1. Very good book and very, very funny. The stories are short and concise making the book easy to pick up and read a few stories at one's leisure. A slight warning however, the stories are so entertaining that it's hard to put the thing down. A great book for everyone, but especially for those of us that remember those wonderful baseball years.
   
   Warren Bowen
   Glendora, California

5 comments about Mostly True: A Memoir of Family, Food, and Baseball.

1. This book was received in a very timely fashion,much faster than I expected.For a used book,it was in excellent condition.I also enjoyed this book very much.It was a heart warming story of a wonderful and some what eccentric family.



2. What a wonderful book of the American Family. Written from the perspective of the oldest sibling, who is also the only girl, it is just plain fun. Growing up without a lot of money doesn't mean life has to be boring or painful. Parents don't have to be perfect and neither do the kids.



3. For anyone who grew up around Columbus, OH in the 60s and 70s, this is a must. But, incredibly, O'Neill makes the book fascinating as well for her look at NY and its restaurant scene in the 80s and 90s. And the glue to the whole narrative is her and her family,including her famous little brother, Paul. Well done Molly.



4. Molly O'Neill has a very engaging writing style that pulls you into her world. It's a world peopled with the wildly obsessed, but go along as the ride is enjoyable. Molly O'Neill writes about a life that straddled midwest big city longings with utopian politics and food plays a big role at all stops. My only quibble is that the book has less to do about being Paul O'Neill's sister than the book jacket may lead you to believe.



5. After reading this book I ordered several copies as gifts. That probably says it all, but I can't just leave it there. Molly O'Neill and her family grew up in the neighborhood where I live and I was taken by her memories of family life where she was the only girl with five male siblings and a father whose main focus was baseball. The exploits of the boys had me laughing out loud while also being thankful I didn't live next door to them.
   I enjoyed reading how Molly's cooking expertise evolved and even included her brothers in this endeavor. Her writing, as always, was a delight.

1 comments about Driving Home: My Unforgettable Super Bowl Run with DVD.

1. This was a christmas gift for our grandson, who is a steelers fan.
   He was real excited to receive this as a gift.

5 comments about Oyama: The Legend, the Legacy.

1. The book is OK if you do not know about Mas Oyama. The problem that I found; the writer repeats some parts in some chapters



2. Unfortunately Michael L. Lorden's, "Mas Oyama: The Legend, the Legacy" falls short of its intended target.
   
   Michael L. Lorden begins his book on a positive note, but unfortunately seems to lose his way in portraying the life of Masutatsu Oyama, one of the greatest martial artist of our time. Lorden collects some important facts about Mas Oyama and his karate, but there is very little new information on Mas Oyama's life.
   
   I, like many other admirers, looked forward to reading more of the younger Yong I Choi (Oyama's birth name, in Korea), but there was little written on his youth in this book. Lorden scarcely touches upon Mas Oyama's Korean family, his childhood or teen-age years, his schooling or education, his friends, hobbies - apart from his love of reading, his short-lived military career, etc.
   
   Masutatsu Oyama was undoubtedly one of the world's great martial artists and the founder of Kyokushin Karate, a formidable style that stressed full contact kumite with no protective gear. Mas Oyama was regarded as a true master because he practiced what he preached and preached what he practiced - he lived the life of a true martial artist. His devotion to his Kyokushin Karate was everything to him. Mas Oyama first exhibitions in the United States flabbergasted audiences and martial artists alike. Mas Oyama's extraordinary speed, inconceivable power, and unwavering spirit were recognized throughout the martial arts world. His forceful demonstrations illustrated to all the grand possibilities of Kyokushin Karate and karate in general. The author tells us of Oyama's "uchi-deshi program" wherein a selected few students are permitted to spend three years at his honbu in pursuit of excellence in Kyokushin Karate. Few students made it into his program and even fewer graduated from it.
   
   Any individual that is a product of the 60s and was interested in, or practiced, a martial art was very familiar with Sosai Masutatsu Oyama's karate. You Knew of his exploits with bulls, his open challenges to all fighters (whatever their fighting style), his breaking of boards, roof tiles, blocks of ice, rocks, bricks, and his ability to chop the neck off of a bottle without knocking the bottle over. People were also aware of Mas Oyama's devotion, philosophy, and maxims on karate and on life.
   
   In "Mas Oyama: The Legend, the Legacy", Lorden writes on Mas Oyama's way of life; the value he placed on self-discipline, perseverance, goodness, civility, respect, devotion, and arduous training. Unfortunately, Lorden presents no new biographical footprints to Mas Oyama's past. Whereas other biographers utilize research, archival documents, interviews . . . in order to uncover new insights into their subjects, Lorden is content to put together a book with a conglomeration of previous and well-known facts on Mas Oyama. Lorden does not follow any particular pattern in his writing - he jumps back and forth and uses too much repetition in his writing.
   
   "Mas Oyama: The Legend, the Legacy" is a good book for those unfamiliar with the life of Masutatsu Oyama, but for those who are acquainted with Mas Oyama's life, Michael L. Lorden book offers no new material or insights.



3. the problems with this book have already been addressed by other reviewers for the most part. the author is a terrible writer, and the book repeats itself all the way through. the book is very short. the author is a fanboy and writes like one, with no thought given to an unbiased look at oyama. all in all a pitiful book, 0 out of 5 stars.



4. Interesting story about Mas Oyama. I enjoyed reading about my sosai, but first of all the book is quite short. I read it in one evening. It will take at most two if you have other things to attend to. Second, add to the brevity of the book, it is very repetitious. And as most of the repetition is about the "legendary exploits of the godlike Oyama", you'll soon start feeling like you're going to throw up your lunch. When you just think you've seen the last of it, another chapter starts by reciting how many challenge fights and how many bulls Oyama has beaten and how many months he trained inhumanly in the mountains and so on. Just too much of repetition for such a short book overall. I've also heard rumours that there are some factual errors in the book, but don't have any further info about them. Some obvious typoes are repeated throughout the book (like goju-ryu is spelled gojo-ryu). Also, quite an amount of the book focuses on other aspects than Oyama, things like the different kinds of sparring practice and the different master instructors and tournament champions of kyokushinkai. Perhaps the book should've been named "Oyama and His Karatekai". It definitely should've been longer and less repetitious.



5. As a new student of the Kyokushin style of karate, I looked around for biographical information on Mas Oyama, it's founder. This book, while it covers basic facts and offers a few interesting stories, was not written well. Chapter by chapter, the author repeats himself, sometimes almost word-for-word paragraphs at a time. It's disjointed, almost as though the chapters were written as individuals essays, then the whole lot thrown together for publication. He keeps jumping forward and back in time, making any chronology difficult to follow. It's a decent introductory read, but I'm going to look elsewhere for a real biography.

3 comments about Rockne of Notre Dame: The Making of a Football Legend.

1. My ole man went to Notre Dame... so I've been steeped in the rich legacy of Fightin' Irish Football. This book is by far one of the better books on Notre Dame football in its heyday under Knute Rockne who forged that legacy. The team that brought us the forward pass left a rich history worth examing. This book captures the essence of Rockne, his leadership style, his character and his ambition to excel.



2. While acknowleging the legends surrounding one of the greatest coaches in any sport anywhere, but not attempting to pass them off as fact, Ray Robinson does not stoke the inspirational fires of the mythological demigod Knute Rockne. Still and all, we see Rockne as he developed from a boy growing up in Chicago to the young man at Notre Dame eventually becoming the coach who, in turn, became larger than life.

   Mostly, the reader is invited to visit a time when Knute Rockne was arguably the brightest star among the numerous sports heroes of the '20's. While Irish, Catholics and especially Irish-Catholics were almost universally reviled and the power of the Klan was at its height, the immigrant from Voss, Norway lead Notre Dame to the forefront of college football's national stage.

   There are occasional glimpses of Rockne off the football field and I, personally, would have liked to have gotten to know more about Rockne the man. However, this is, first and foremost, a story about Knute's lifelong relationship with football.

   This book is designed for college football fans, especially fans of Notre Dame. Notre Dame detractors may also get something out of the book, if for no other reason than it makes it a little easier to understand why Notre Dame football is what it is today.




3. The most enjoyable sports book I've read since, well, "Stirring Football Stories", this book gives the reader not only such favorite moments in the history of the game as the winning forward pass (Dorais to Rockne, against Army), the Gipper, the Four Horsemen, and back-to-back undefeated seasons, but insights into the life and times of Notre Dame's legendary coach. Rockne championed & embodied the immigrant struggle for a place in the sun - the "fighting Irish" being a moniker bestowed on a polyglot group of newcomers to the American dream. On the gridiron it was possible to prove yourself - and show your talents - on an equal footing with older, more established schools and traditions. This conscious inclusion of the larger story gives this book an important place on the shelf, alongside Rockne's own unfinished autobiography, "We Remember Rockne", "Knute Rockne, All American", and other memoirs and studies.

5 comments about My Journey in Karate: The Sabaki Way.

1. My Journey In Karate: The Sabaki Way is a in depth book about Kancho Ninomiya's Journey though Karate. It describes how he won the All Japan Tournment and started the Enshin Karate Style. I am a Student of Enshin and Recommend the book to anyone who wants to read a great book about Karate. Two Thumbs up!



2. Anyone who has been a serious martial artist will throughly enjoy reading the inspiring story of Grand Master of Enshin Karate Joko Ninomiya. Anyone who has been serious about the martial arts for a significant amount of time can relate to Ninomiya's life story.

   Before beginning his study of kyokushin karate at the age of 15, Ninomiya practiced judo. After making the transition to karate, Ninomiya never turned back and had the dream of becoming a karate champion. The book explains how he would go to different karate schools in Japan and challenge the top students to improve his skills. He challenged different schools in a dignified way, he never used bully tactics. After hearing about the all-Japan karate tournement, Ninomiya practiced diligently for years until he was able to win first place. In the book, he talks about his training and preparation, his fights and the people who helped him become better as a martial artist and as a person.

   I like the way Ninomiya emphasizes that karate is not about winning tournaments and beating people up, it's about confronting yourself and pushing beyond what you are today. Master Ninomiya admits that he did not realize the true meaning of karate until after he had accomplished one of his goals. Sometimes that's what it takes because after we win something or accomplish something big, we often ask ourselves "now what?" and become complacent. We should fight against this complacency because it will only make things harder in the long run.

   Towards the end of the book, Ninomiya gives his opinion of "no holds barred" fighting contests. I agree with Ninomiya that "no holds barred" contests appeal to a morbid curiosity. People often watch these types of contests and are happy to see someone lying flat on their back at the end of a match or seriously hurt in some way. Ninomiya founded The Sabaki Challenge which is a real karate tournament, but he has a point system that emphasizes technique to minimize injuries.




3. Rarely in the martial arts world are biographies rich with insight about both the individual and the training. Normally, -except a couple bio accounts of Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris' auto-bio account- the books are very dry and not very telling. Sometimes it is the writing and often it is because the reader is never really let under the skin of the martial artist. In this book - that has changed.
   
   Ninomiya graciously allows the reader to travel in his mind and spirit as he grows from an unfocused (though hardworking)martial artist and somewhat immature teen into a higly skilled and mature warrior.
   
   The reader travels and sees when Ninomiya, through several events and a couple of key mentors, understands himself and his journey through karate. Unlike most auto-biographical accounts, I never felt Ninomiya was boasting about his success. Instead, he shows where his failures and determined manner leads to success beyond winning a "trophy."
   
   An excellent book. I learned much from this extra-ordinary man.



4. Kancho Ninomiya is not only a world class champion, he writes with a certain gift; one that captures the essence of a lesson one could only get from training with him... and make no mistake, this may make for an inspiring read but reading it without training in any martial art is as hollow as reading Shakespeare and never seeing it performed... I began studying karate very seriously as an adult under Sensei Kishi, one of Kancho Ninomiya's teachers and best friends, as well as a collaborator on this book... this text captures the true spirit of martial arts training, something that is very difficult by nature of the difference between the written word and the life of martial arts training. Osu.



5. I have been a martial artist for most of my life, and so have always been attracted to stories that outline other martial artists journeys. Joko Ninomiya has written a "must read" for anyone whose chosen path is the Way of the Warrior. He has done an outstanding job of outlining the highs and lows of a life dedicated to the "eight Fold Path". I was also moved by his love and respect for his Sensei and for his father. This book was much more than I expected and a wonderful addition to everyone's library.