BOOKS THREAD

[Double J]

Hank wrote his autobiography in the early '90s. It's called "I Had A Hammer." I enjoy picking it up and leafing through it again from time to time.

written with lonnie wheeler

I thought he did a great job, starting each chapter with his own words and then interspersing Hank's words with quotes from all the other sources who were interviewed – and he interviewed a ton of people.

 

[HeinekenMan]

I'm about done with the "Know it All," about Esquire editor A.J. Jacob's goal to read the encyclodia Britainica for A to Z. Funny and autobiographical.

I tried this in college to pass the time during my days as a telemarketer waiting for calls. They let us read on the clock. I recall making it to Japan. This is only because it stirred up a discussion and a woman working nearby offered to let me borrow her VHS tapes of Shogun. I had them for three weeks and accidentally recorded about an hour of football over one of the tapes without knowing it. I felt like a heel, but I didn't say a word about it when I returned them.

 

[Ric Flair guy]

Anyone hear anything about "The Mind of Bill James : How a Complete Outsider Changed Baseball" by Scott Gray? I wonder how it compares to other works about James, given how Gray is a music guy, doing works on Shania Twain and Alan Jackson - oh, and Jewel as well as Faith Hill/Tim McGraw. So it seems a bit out of left field. But he was also editor to several Street and Smith publications, so it makes me wonder.

I'm about 50 pages into it. So far, I give it a C+. It's a biography of James, but the author also splices in many excerpts from James' work, and also has numerous little "sidebar" stories scattered throughout. If you know nothing about Bill James, this might interest you. If you know a lot about Bill James, you probably won't learn anything new. If you're in between (like me), you give the book a C+. Maybe it will improve a bit as I read more.

 

[Cadet]

I think I've read more books in the past two months than I have in the past two years.

Some good ones,
Wicked
Son of a Witch
The Secret Life of Bees
The Devil Wears Prada
Smashed
Running with Scissors

I'm waiting for the movie version of 'The Devil Wears Prada' - do you think it will be any good? Will the book translate well?

 

[Flying Headbutt]

For the Herman Wouk fans (and if you like Hemmingway, you'll like Wouk) his "Hole In Texas" was another entertaining read. 

I think I may be getting my hands on "Infamous Scribblers" too, about colonial era newspapers and the pols who were behind them.  And just for fun, can anyone recommend a good look at Sherman's March to Atlanta?  I figure that'll be an interesting read.

Infamous Scribblers sound fascinating. Any info on that is appreciated.

As for Sherman, in an earlier post, I pointed out "Grant and Sherman, The Friendship That Won the Civil War." The information on Sherman is the most fascinating part of the book and there's plenty devoted to the March.

One work I'd avoid is EL Doctorow's "The March." An overwritten mess.

Bird, maybe a little more than a quarter of the way through Scribblers right now and so far it's been pretty interesting. It essentially has been about the birth of newspapers in the US. A lot of talk about James Franklin, and his little brother Ben and how they really turned papers from boring news to one of the first instigators of the revolution. The last bit I've read are about how Sam Adams (yes, that one) really started instigated some **** against the British. Thus far I have not been disappointed at all.

 

[Double Down]

The Devil Wears Prada

I'm waiting for the movie version of 'The Devil Wears Prada' - do you think it will be any good? Will the book translate well?

I'm sorry, but I call bull**** on this book. That woman got a book deal because she's hot, and she was willing to dish about the fashion magazine industry, not because she can write. Her prose is wooden as hell. If you really want to read Chick Lit, you can do so much better.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I've got "What Jesus Meant" lined up for my next order...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0670034967/sr=8-1/qid=1144942220/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-3108873-1460015?%5Fencoding=UTF8

 

[Colonel Forbin]

Does anyone know if there's a definitive Prefontaine biography/book? I'm immensely interested in this guy, and would love to have a literary look at it...

 

[WITSEC]

Tom Jordan, a former Track & Field News staffer, wrote a paperback entitlled, "Pre." It originally was published in 1977 and was rereleased when the two Prefontaine biopics were released in the lates 1990s. Jordan now is the promoter of the Prefontaine Classic, a major track and field meet held annually in Eugene, Ore.

Kenny Moore has a book forthcoming about the entire Oregon distance running community: "Bowerman and the Men of Oregon." Moore, one of Bowerman's men at Oregon, was fourth in the marathon at the 1972 Olympics. He went on to become a staffer at Sports Illustrated.

Pre has to be a major fiigure in Moore's book.

 

[shotglass]

I'm almost ashamed to post here, given my lack of input in this thread to this point. But I must make a pitch for Kindred's "Sound and Fury." I just finished the book. A compelling character study of two imperfect men. You will not put it down.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

And just for fun, can anyone recommend a good look at Sherman's March to Atlanta?  I figure that'll be an interesting read.

Davis, Burke. Sherman's March. New York: Vintage Books, 1980. (Near definitive, but a trifle dense.)

Glatthaar, Joseph T. The March to the Sea and Beyond: Sherman's Troops in the Savannah and Carolinas Campaign. New York: Vintage, 1985.

For historical fiction on the march, Cynthia Bass' Sherman's March (1995) has been critically acclaimed. The story is told through the lens of three disparate participants: A captain in Sherman's army, a destitute Confederate widow in the army's path and the general himself. I like this one the best. Good fiction, good storytelling, faithful to the record.

 

[Birdscribe]

For the Herman Wouk fans (and if you like Hemmingway, you'll like Wouk) his "Hole In Texas" was another entertaining read. 

I think I may be getting my hands on "Infamous Scribblers" too, about colonial era newspapers and the pols who were behind them.  And just for fun, can anyone recommend a good look at Sherman's March to Atlanta?  I figure that'll be an interesting read.

Infamous Scribblers sound fascinating. Any info on that is appreciated.

As for Sherman, in an earlier post, I pointed out "Grant and Sherman, The Friendship That Won the Civil War." The information on Sherman is the most fascinating part of the book and there's plenty devoted to the March.

One work I'd avoid is EL Doctorow's "The March." An overwritten mess.

Bird, maybe a little more than a quarter of the way through Scribblers right now and so far it's been pretty interesting.  It essentially has been about the birth of newspapers in the US.  A lot of talk about James Franklin, and his little brother Ben and how they really turned papers from boring news to one of the first instigators of the revolution.  The last bit I've read are about how Sam Adams (yes, that one) really started instigated some **** against the British.  Thus far I have not been disappointed at all.

FH:

Thanks for this. I'm heading out this weekend to pick it up.

Keep me posted in the meantime.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

Little more than a third of the way in now, and thus far it's been good stuff. It's juuuust about to get into the Revolutionary War now, after having set everything up before hand. I've always been interested in reading about history, so to read about the birth of American journalism I remain captivated. This is pretty comprehensive. And Sam Adams was one rotten *******, but I had no idea how instrumental he was in the march to independence.

 

[Birdscribe]

Little more than a third of the way in now, and thus far it's been good stuff.  It's juuuust about to get into the Revolutionary War now, after having set everything up before hand.  I've always been interested in reading about history, so to read about the birth of American journalism I remain captivated.  This is pretty comprehensive.  And Sam Adams was one rotten *******, but I had no idea how instrumental he was in the march to independence. 

Wait until you read about James Callender, the Robert Novak of his day. Picture Novak as a drunken Scot with the morals of a pure mercenary and the blind venom of Rush Limbaugh and you've got Callender, who had Thomas Jefferson holding his leash in place of Dubya.

Callender first broke the story about Alexander Hamilton's adulterous affair with the wife of a sleazbag speculator, when he wasn't trashing John Adams and other Federalists. Then -- after Jefferson was elected president and reneged on getting Callender a govermental job -- Callender turned on his former benefactor and broke the Sally Hemings story.

Callender's career ended when he was found dead in three feet of water. The circumstances of his death were never cleared up.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

Birdscribe,

Callender was smarter than Novak, Matt Drudge and 10 Limbaughs combined, and his pen was the equivalent of the South Sea cone shell. He had enormous talent, he just happened to be a complete, unrepentant and wasteful dickweed. There is some speculation that Jefferson had him offed, but a truncheon of whiskey a day will find you belly up in shallow waters sooner rather than later.

If you're interested in the character, check out With the Hammer of Truth: James Thomson Callender and America's Early National Heroes by Michael Durey. Hell of a book, lifelike portrait built from bare bones.

 

[Birdscribe]

Birdscribe,

Callender was smarter than Novak, Matt Drudge and 10 Limbaughs combined, and his pen was the equivalent of the South Sea cone shell. He had enormous talent, he just happened to be a complete, unrepentant and wasteful dickweed. There is some speculation that Jefferson had him offed, but a truncheon of whiskey a day will find you belly up in shallow waters sooner rather than later.

If you're interested in the character, check out With the Hammer of Truth: James Thomson Callender and America's Early National Heroes by Michael Durey. Hell of a book, lifelike portrait built from bare bones.

LJB:

Agreed. Good take. The man could flat-out write and I wasn't questioning his intellect or his ability.

What I was pointing out is 1) the way he squandered all of the above (as you so artfully phrased); and 2) the way he went about his job.

William Safire's "Scandalmongers" is a part-fictional, part-truth tale of Callender and others. Much of it is true, but he has Callender falling in love with Maria Reynolds, the woman Hamilton had the affair with.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

Good call, Bird.

Here's one more grab on the subject:

Review at: http://www.worldandi.com/newhome/public/2003/july/bkpubprint.asp

 

[Dyno]

I just finished Jeannette Walls' memoir The Glass Castle. She is a writer for MSNBC.com who grew up in total squalor, with parents who ended up homeless by choice. It's an amazing story and very well written, IMHO.

 

[bostonsportsfan]

I loved "A Scanner Darkly" by Philip K. ****. It's about a narcotics agent who, because of a drug called substance D which causes the mind to split, begins to narc on himself. A movie is coming out based on it with Keanu Reeves. A great read. I also loved "Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimen.

 

[goalmouth]

Kenny Moore has a book forthcoming about the entire Oregon distance running community: "Bowerman and the Men of Oregon." Moore, one of Bowerman's men at Oregon, was fourth in the marathon at the 1972 Olympics. He went on to become a staffer at Sports Illustrated.

Kenny Moore at one time did Gary Smith-esque work for SI. I long for those days, before I spied Moore playing Bob Crachet to Morin Bishop's Scrooge at the latter's post-SI custom publishing venture.