Book Description
By the author of the bestselling Moneyball: in football, as in life, the value we place on people changes with the rules of the games they play.
The young man at the center of this extraordinary and moving story will one day be among the most highly paid athletes in the National Football League. When we first meet him, he is one of thirteen children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or any of the things a child might learn in school—such as, say, how to read or write. Nor has he ever touched a football.
What changes? He takes up football, and school, after a rich, Evangelical, Republican family plucks him from the mean streets. Their love is the first great force that alters the world's perception of the boy, whom they adopt. The second force is the evolution of professional football itself into a game where the quarterback must be protected at any cost. Our protagonist turns out to be the priceless combination of size, speed, and agility necessary to guard the quarterback's greatest vulnerability: his blind side.
Customer Reviews:
A remarkable story of sport and life.......2007-10-17
This is the most unusual sports book. Michael Lewis, the author of books like Moneyball, has written two stories, intertwined with each other to illustrate his point about how football has radically changed since the rise of what is known as the "West Coast Offense" and its secondary reaction, the rise of fast, large defensive players, and the final reaction, the rise of particularly the Left Tackle position, now the second highest paid position in the NFL.
Lewis begins by telling the story of Bill Walsh and the rise of the West Coast offense in the NFL in the early 80's, and how it was almost rejected out of hand by the powers that be. The success of the San Francisco 49er's and it's role in changing the financial resources of the sport from a TV football viewing audience, led to the need for fast defensive lineman, like Lawrence Taylor, which led in turn to the development of the left tackle position, which is now the second highest paid position in the League, due to a demand for specific physical skills which are almost impossible to find for that role.
Then Lewis telescopes to a most remarkable story: the young, troubled life of Michael Oher, from Memphis, TN. Lewis does show how the colleges have developed NFL tendencies, and how the demand for information about specific talent has been met by people like Tom Lemming and his ground breaking recruiting services of the past 30 years. Oher is a most unlikely story. He was given up by his family, the state welfare agencies, schools, foster agencies, etc., until one day, an older friend took him to an evangelical school in a wealthy, mostly white, suburb of Memphis in hopes of giving him a Christian education.
Oher has no academic skills and has been beat down by life so much, he has no social skills, and does not fit in at all with the other students, until one day, out of kindness and mercy, he is given the opportunity to try out for the school's football team, where runs one drill and stuns the team. Soon at practice, the school field is lined with representatives of nearly major college football in the southeast, and the first drill is interrupted by Clemson assistant Brad Scott telling the staff, in Oher's presence on the field, that Oher has a full scholarship waiting for him at Clemson. Oher is eventually adopted by the Tuohy family, a millionaire family, well connected in sports and business, and the culture clash, between a wealthy, devout family and a social reclusive, poor, giant of a kid takes up the remainder of the book, until Oher eventually enrolls at the Tuohy's alma mater, Mississippi.
Lewis's story is satisfying from many perspectives. He goes deep into the modern cultural and financial behemoth of American football to show why it is working the way it is today. He illustrates well, the lingering tensions in America today between white and black, poor and wealthy, urban and suburb, family breakdown, and college admissions. This reviewer, a graduate of a southern Christian high school, sees where Lewis gets right many things about that movement: a deep sense of piety, a dedicated work ethic, and at many times an oblivious nature to how the rest of the world works, and an inability to deal with many problems endemic to modern children in a deep way: poverty, family breakdown, etc. Though Lewis does get right the sense of mercy that exists among many, motivated by their faith, to help someone in need, whether they understand the costs or not.
Lewis, unfortunately, does not reveal his longstanding personal relationship with the Tuohy family, going back to their undergraduate years until the end of the book. It would have been helpful for a journalist to reveal that early on. And, Lewis is a bit too sympathetic in explaining a fight Oher got into over a personal insult in his freshman year at Ole Miss, that led to a small child being hurt accidentally.
The Blind Side is a remarkable tale of sport, money, class, culture, family and how faith interacts with real individuals dealing with impossible situations.
Book of the Year.......2007-10-11
I've enjoyed all of Lewis' work, but this is his best yet. It's a wonderfully complex story of football history and social commentary. It's one of those books that you shouldn't pick up late at night, because you won't be able to put it down.
Real, inspirational, and alarming.......2007-09-23
The storyline of this book is well known, so I won't review it.
I was highly entertained - the writing is excellent, the story compelling and true.
At the same time, the clear inequities in rescuing just one person from the millions in similar situations was laid bare. Even more troubling to me was the apparently delusional notions of the good Samaritan that he was driven to help the poor rather than the basketball and football teams of his high school and college. Ethical lapses were rampant - The father lied to the NCAA investigation about ignorance of details, he inflated grades with questionable correspondence courses, and generally compromised the academic standards of the high school. The mother lobbied teachers for special treatment, and they intervened with the Ole Miss administration to mitigate the potential criminal charges when Michael nearly badly injured someone just for some insulting comments, which resulted in injuries to a small child. The parent had a friend of Michael's offered scholarships so he could attend the same school, and were proud of their younger son for asking for his own personal favors from the visiting coaches during recruiting season.
The author was not immune, recounting the way the likable giant Michael dominated his high school games as though it was Hercules saving the day, when my impression was more of subverting into a cult of personality for the future pro an amateur contest in which many kids might otherwise get some recreation.
The saving grace is the author includes all the facts (so far as I can tell), and I wound up liking all the people involved despite their flaws, as well as being impressed by their accomplishments.
An enlightening and engaging book, which I highly recommend for people with at least a moderate interest in and knowledge of football.
A good story, but not very insightful.......2007-08-23
First and foremost: The Blind Side is not Moneyball for football, so if that is what you are hoping for look elsewhere.
There are two primary storylines. First, the inner-workings of modern professional football as told through the evolution of the left tackle (aka the "blind side"). Second, the lives of top high school football recruits, as told through the story of one impoverished high school student who happens to be a "freak of nature" football prospect.
I would have liked to have seen more of the first, Moneyball-esque, "inside look" storyline, and less of the second. Unfortunately for me, Lewis focuses on the second.
Great story & read!.......2007-08-11
Buy this book! I enjoyed it so much that, after reading it, I immediately went online and searched for more information about the main character and his current team. The author, Michael Lewis, also does a wonderful of job of weaving in pertinent background information about the history of the NFL passing game, and the importance of the left tackle position in football. If you're looking for a great read, look no further! Michael Oher's story is as inspiring as it gets!
Book Description
Chicago Stars quarterback Dean Robillard is the luckiest man in the world: a bona-fide sports superstar and the pride of the NFL with a profitable side career as a buff billboard model for End Zone underwear. But life in the glory lane has started to pale, and Dean has set off on a cross-country trip to figure out what's gone wrong. When he hits a lonely stretch of Colorado highway, he spies something that will shake up his gilded life in ways he can't imagine. A young woman . . . dressed in a beaver suit.
Blue Bailey is on a mission to murder her ex. Or at least inflict serious damage. As for the beaver suit she's wearing . . . Is it her fault that life keeps throwing her curveballs? Witness the expensive black sports car pulling up next to her on the highway and the Greek god stepping out of it.
Blue's career as a portrait painter is the perfect job for someone who refuses to stay in one place for very long. She needs a ride, and America's most famous football player has an imposing set of wheels. Now, all she has to do is keep him entertained, off guard, and fully clothed before he figures out exactly how desperate she is.
But Dean isn't the brainless jock she imagines, and Blue—despite her petite stature—is just about the toughest woman Dean has ever met. They're soon heading for his summer home where their already complicated lives and inconvenient attraction to each other will become entangled with a charismatic but aging rock star; a beautiful fifty-two-year-old woman trying to make peace with her rock and roll past; an eleven-year-old who desperately needs a family; and a bitter old woman who hates them all.
As the summer progresses, the wandering portrait artist and the charming football star play a high-stakes game, fighting themselves and each other for a chance to have it all.
Natural Born Charmer is for everyone who's ever thought about leaving their old life in the dust and never looking back. Susan Elizabeth Phillips takes us home again . . . and shows us where love truly lives.
Customer Reviews:
One of her best..........2007-08-31
I am a fan of Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and this book did not disappoint! It was funny, and the characters were, as always, well-developed. This is one of her best books, in my opinion.
Deja Vu.......2007-08-14
I felt like I was reading Heaven, Texas, one of my fav by this author, all over again while reading this. Moreover, Heaven, Texas was a better novel then this book by far. And this is why I felt this book only deserved 3 stars by me.
There was no freshness to this story, it all seemed the same. So beware SEP fans, if you've read her other novels, you'll feel like you wasted your money if you bought the hard cover edition. However, if you've never read other works by this author, you'll enjoy this witty, love story.
Natural Born Charmer.......2007-08-12
Another 10 stars!! If I could give it that rating I would. This is the last in the series *I think* about the "Chicago Stars" football team. I just discovered SEP's series about the fictional team late last year, and promptly devoured each one. They are all on my "keeper shelves"....This story is about Blue & Dean, and in my humble opinion...it was just the perfect story to end things. Blue grew up being shuffled around, due to her mother being a peace activist & her father dying before she was born. I can certainly identify w/that nomadic existence as I had somewhat of a "gypsy" childhood myself, growing up. As for Dean, he was the bastard child of a rockstar & a groupie. Not planned or wanted & basically denied a relationship to said "dad"...which made a definite impression on Dean. He grew up to be a fantastic QB for the "Chicago Stars"...and to see what his son grew up to become, humbles the now aging rock star. I even have some elements of this story in my own life...just not w/famous people. So I enjoyed this theme. Someone not being treated the way they should/yet overcoming/and becoming better for it...is such a great story to me. Underdog wins!! Only now the underdog is now on top!! I want to tell you...the potential next buyer/reader about every juicy, incredibly satisfying detail of this book. But at the same time I don't want to ruin the fun of you discovering these rich, amazing, totally genuine people. Sometimes the characters in SEP's books are so incredible, you feel like you know them. These two fractured people find each other, entertain us, and manage to fall in love at the same time. The cast of various supporting characters were great too. Riley was my mom's favorite! Did I mention she's falling in love w/all of SEP's books too? Please buy this book!! I promise you'll love it as much as I did!!
One of her best.......2007-06-01
I love all her Chicago Stars books and think this is one of the funniest. The dialogue and interaction between Blue and Boo made me laugh out loud. I hated to finish it but will listen to this one on audio and recommend it to all my friends who are avid readers.
thanks susan - keep writing and i'll keep reading.
Trying too hard to be hip.......2007-06-01
I generally enjoy this author, but I am getting tired of the Chicago Stars football team and their stories. If you have read "It Had to Be You" or "This Heart of Mine" you might as well skip this one. It is a retread of the same formula she has used before - with a few new innovations - this time Phillips sprinkles the f-word around pretty liberally. I don't really care to read that and it is not necessary to the story or to the character development. All I can think is that her editor told her she needed to do that to appeal to a younger audience. I have been reading her books for almost 20 years. Guess I'm done now.
Book Description
Joe Ehrmann, a former NFL football star and volunteer coach for the Gilman high school football team, teaches his players the keys to successful defense: penetrate, pursue, punish, love. Love? A former captain of the Baltimore Colts and now an ordained minister, Ehrmann is serious about the game of football but even more serious about the purpose of life. Season of Life is his inspirational story as told by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jeffrey Marx, who was a ballboy for the Colts when he first met Ehrmann.
Ehrmann now devotes his life to teaching young men a whole new meaning of masculinity. He teaches the boys at Gilman the precepts of his Building Men for Others program: Being a man means emphasizing relationships and having a cause bigger than yourself. It means accepting responsibility and leading courageously. It means that empathy, integrity, and living a life of service to others are more important than points on a scoreboard.
Decades after he first met Ehrmann, Jeffrey Marx renewed their friendship and watched his childhood hero putting his principles into action. While chronicling a season with the Gilman Greyhounds, Marx witnessed the most extraordinary sports program he'd ever seen, where players say "I love you" to each other and coaches profess their love for their players. Off the field Marx sat with Ehrmann and absorbed life lessons that led him to reexamine his own unresolved relationship with his father.
Season of Life is a book about what it means to be a man of substance and impact. It is a moving story that will resonate with athletes, coaches, parents -- anyone struggling to make the right choices in life.
Customer Reviews:
Get this book for your graduate.......2007-10-08
There can be no better compliment to a book than the fact that after reading A Season of Life I immediately ordered three more copies for my own kids. I was fortunate to have a coach with his priorities in the right place, and twenty-five years later he remains the benchmark for how I evaluate coaches. This book is a great testament that you can do things the right way, and be successful. It would be an excellent gift for any graduate that will be working with youth.
All parents and youth coaches should read this book.......2007-09-09
I would heartily recommend this book to any parent who has kids involved in youth sports. This is not a book on how to become a coach who wins games. Instead, this is a book that shows how to mold and develop kids who are winners in the game of life.
The Gilman football program wins plenty of games. In this book, Jeffrey Marx highlights the coach and former all-pro NFL footballer Joe Ehrmann. As a coach, he finds it more valuable to teach life lessons to his young charges than football lessons. Of course, they do a lot of good football teaching too. And, the coaches know the game very well.
The book was written after the 2001 season. The coaches at the time felt that Victor Abiamiri was the player most likely to end up in the NFL. In fact, he is now a rookie on the Philadephia Eagles. I have no idea if any other Gilman players have made the NFL. How many kids on any high school team ever make the NFL? Not many. Victor Abiamiri may be the only NFL player of the bunch. However, I am confident that the all or most of the Gilman kids will become good productive members of society.
Of course that is the end result. I recommend you read the story and learn why.
Really, really excellent book.......2007-08-23
As a father of three, including a young boy and a youth football coach, this is a book I recommend to all sorts of people who are involved in helping to raise young boys to become responsible young men -- teachers, coaches, parents and anyone else would be well-served by reading the book.
Great book!.......2007-07-08
This book is a must read for anyone involved in sports. It shows you how to keep things in perspective when looking at the big picture of things to come.
Most moving book I have ever read!.......2007-06-21
As a few others have stated here, I became interested in Coach Ehrmann after watching the documentary by Steve Sabol of NFL Films.
I was very moved seeing how the coaches of the Gilman HS Football team were able to get their message through to the kids. A lot of what they "preach" might be over some kids heads, but they way that they teach life's lessons by using football as the avenue was both brilliant and inspiring.
This past Little League season, I tried my best to emulate what both Ehrmann and the head coach did for their boys, by talking to them, and emphasizing time and time again that I wanted them all to have the greatest time of their lives out there on the field and to never worry about or ask me what the score was. I also made sure that even the weakest players were put in "positions to succeed", rather than worry about putting them in harms way by putting them somewhere where they might "fail". And as scripted in a movie, the most rewarding experience for everyone was when these less naturally talented kids actually made a play for us or got a big hit! The ENTIRE TEAM was overjoyed and started patting them on the head! Nothing could be more motiviating for them...or...for me than actually seeing it come to fruition!
If you DO coach kids, or were ever considering it, you owe it to yourself to look upon it as the vocation that it is...in the way Coach Ehrmann does. You'll be surprised how much of an effect you can have on a kid's life, and how much watching these kids develop together can have an effect on YOUR life. Our record was actually 4-6 this season (and nobody on the team knew), yet it was, by far, our most successful and rewarding season!
Thank you Jeffrey Marx and thank you COach Ehrmann for motivating me more than you'll ever know!!
Book Description
Coaching Youth Softball is written especially for the unprepared parent thrust into the role of coaching his or her 8- to 12-year-old child's softball team. Upbeat and inspirational, it schools new coaches in the fundamentals of controlling, motivating, and encouraging a disparate group of kids in the art and science of softball.
Parents learn the logistics of running a youth team and the specifics of coaching softball. They learn how to match drills to a player's skills and motivation level and gain a wealth of detailed instructions on such specifics as how to run a successful practice and manage during a game.
- Takes a drill-based approach to teaching basic skills
- Reviews softball fundamentals for inexperienced parents
Customer Reviews:
Great Book!.......2005-04-22
This book is another great in the series of A Baffled Parent's Guide. These books are thorough and complete - a coach's bible, especially a new coach. The book covers everything from basics of the game to working with the children and dealing with the parents. I highly recommend books from this series.
good book for beginning coaches.......2002-06-23
I have yet to coach a girls' softball team, but I am really interested in doing it. This book has some great advice on how to handle beginner players and their parents. The thing about this book that I found great was that it told you some characteristics to look for when selecting a pitcher, something that I would not have had a clue about doing. Highly recommended.
Excellent for beginner or experienced coach.......2002-05-11
This is an AMAZING book! Even if you have never coached, played, or even heard of softball, it helps you out. It breaks every aspect of the game down and puts it in simple terms so you can explain it to your team. It gives you practice advice and schedules as well as drills you can use for team members to improve, or establish, softball skills. It also gives you advice on how to become the best coach, dealing with gender issues and how to handle difficult parents. This book is a MUST for EVERY coach!
Excellent Coaching Book for New Coaches.......2001-04-28
I am not a parent but nonetheless, this book is excellent! This book gets right down to the heart of coaching. It tells you step by step how to teach someone how to throw, catch, pitch, hit and play every position. It also tells you what type of girl would be good for positions of pitchers and catchers which is important since most girls at this age have no experience in many positions. The drills have diagrams and there is glossary in the back to help with the terminology. There are not that many good softball coaching books (believe me I've looked), so grab this one!
Book Description
First and foremost, this is virtually an exclusive story that few media outlets or the American public know about. Hard to believe when you read the below summary, but lucky for us:
In addition to being the vehicle for the author to become a major media force in the national debate on the war, this remarkable memoir will introduce the public to Captain Robert McGovern's inspirational rise as a boy who was one of nine children who rose to become a New Jersey high school football phenom and then a major NFL star as a linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the New England Patriots. Following this success, McGovern chose to leave football and receive his law degree from Fordham University in order to work in the New York City district attorney's office in the late 90s. Subsequently, he was a witness of the WTC attack on New York, which led to his decision to leave public life and join the U.S. Army as a prosecuting attorney for the military, resulting last year in his conviction (and death penalty sentencing) of the Middle Eastern but American–born Army Sergeant Hasan Akbar, who threw live grenades into the commissary tent of his fellow soldiers fighting the war in Kuwait.
Customer Reviews:
a moron for the ages.......2007-09-23
This simpleton of a jerk-off & his ilk are EXACTLY what is wrong with my country. I cannot f+cking wait to leave this country & never return. Enjoy your fascism.
Autobiography and Apologetic.......2007-09-20
Several reviews I have read have come down hard on the author for his stand on the war in Iraq. But this is his autobiography, the story of his life, and his opinion of the war is just one part of it. It is a well-written account of his childhood, his family, his education and his aspirations, and continues into his adulthood to the present time. He lets us know how he was trained by his parents to be unselfish and give back to the community some form of service, and this was undoubtedly the motivation for joining the Army Reserve, and eventually finding himself on active duty in Iraq.
A good part of his story comes before that. He was competing with his older brothers in athletics, trying to be as good as they had been in high school football, and then in college football. He received an athletic scholarship from Holy Cross, an enormous accomplishment in his eyes, and he was grateful for the opportunity. And then came pro football, four years of it on three different teams. He was pretty good at it, but not outstanding. He simply was not big enough (hefty, bulky) to be a great linebacker. He was thankful for this chance to make the big league, but took the advice of one of his coaches to give it up. From there he decided to study law and with his law degree took a job as an Assistant DA in New York City. Then came 9/11, to which he was an eyewitness. In his role as a US Army Reserve officer he volunteered to help. Immediately following, he applied for active duty, leaving his job as assistant DA, and became a prosecutor for the Judge Advocate General Corps, and then deployed to Afghanistan and later to Iraq. His experiences there were extraordinary because he was involved in the trial of Hasan Akbar, the US Army Sergeant who killed two Army officers and wounded a number of others when he threw hand grenades into the tents of the soldiers.
This is a well-written account of the life of a man who became a soldier in the US Army. Why would anyone find it strange that he has strong opinions in favor of the war in Iraq ? It is his contention that we are there as part of the war on terrorism. The patriotic feeling that he had on 9/11 was something that almost all of us shared at that time. For him it continued; for many of us it disappeared.
Should we still be in Iraq? That is a matter for debate, which has been ongoing for some time now. Captain McGovern feels that we are making a difference, and that is why we are still there.
This book is certainly worth reading, if only to gain some insight from a different perspective.
RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "YOU AND I ARE THE "ALL-AMERICAN'S" THAT CAPTAIN McGOVERN IS TALKING ABOUT!".......2007-07-25
The life story of Captain Robert McGovern, is almost "Forrest Gump" like. Rob is one of nine Irish Catholic children, born to Howard and Terry McGovern in New Jersey. Though born in New Jersey, if I were to describe his morals, character, and upbringing, I would describe it in the highest of terms, that most Americans would consider as "mid-western". One of the many, emotionally uplifting themes in this book, is the absolute, enduring, love, and respect, that Rob, constantly proclaims for his parents. He was raised from the beginning, to have high goals, and his older brothers got football scholarships to Holy Cross, as Rob also did later on, but with less fanfare. Just as importantly, he and his siblings were raised to "service" the community. To give something back, and Rob continued this process in college at Holy Cross and while in the National Football League, with outreach programs. When Rob graduated college, no one gave him a chance of making it in the NFL. But he was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs, as an undersized, underdog, linebacker, and special team's player. He lasted a few years with numerous teams, making the most of his non-star ability. The way he accomplished this, is with dogged, determination and dedication. To quote Rob: "Being the best at what you do has to be more important to you than partying or chasing girls or hanging out with your buddies. It has to be worth sacrificing the comforts and pleasures of an undirected life and replacing them with long hours of sweat and tears. In football, it also helps to be one tough character." At the end of Rob's short NFL career, he attended law school, and upon graduation, became an assistant D.A. in Manhattan. In keeping with his personal goal, of giving service to his community/country, he also joined the Army Reserves.
Then, on the forever-fateful day, of September 11, 2001, Rob was on the way to work in Manhattan, when he saw the smoke, and the planes, at the World Trade Center. He couldn't get to work, so he went home and put on the TV, and heard an announcement, that military men were needed at "ground-zero" to help look for bodies. Even though he was in the reserves, he donned his uniform, and went to "ground-zero", and helped recover the remains of victims for days. Rob, happened to be there, when President Bush arrived, and shook the Commander In Chief's hand, and was so moved, he decided he wanted to go on active duty and help America fight back. Because Rob was 38 years old, they wouldn't let him go on active duty. He persisted in every way possible, and was finally accepted as a Judge Advocate General. (JAG) He proceeded to go to Afghanistan and Iraq and assisted in "Rules Of Engagement" (ROE) enforcement. From there, he went in to criminal prosecution. He wound up on the successful prosecution team, that convicted Sergeant Hasan Akbar, probably the worst, United States Military criminal, in the last 30-40 years. To refresh your memory, Akbar, was the traitor, who the night before, we were going to launch Operation Iraqi Freedom, attacked his comrades, with grenades and small-arms fire. He wounded more than a dozen troops. Two were dead.
There is much more, to the life story, of a man who loves his country, loves his family, loves God, and has dedicated his life to enforcing freedom throughout the world, but let me conclude my review, by having Rob tell you why he named his book "All American". "You might wonder about the use of "All-American" in the title. First of all, let me say off the bat that I'm not talking about myself here. What is an "All-American" anyway? I've met some real "All-Americans- quiet, unassuming, heroic people who inspire students, protect us from crime, and defend our values. They are "All-American" in every sense of the phrase. I chose this title in part to pay tribute to these "All-American", I've been lucky enough to meet and work with through the years. I also chose it to pay special tribute to the men and women of our armed forces, especially those in the 82nd Airborne Division. That famous unit happens to be called the All-American Division."
Extraordinary.......2007-06-08
An extraordinary account of one good man standing tall for the best of American values.
I wanted to like this book, but..........2007-04-29
I am also a Captain in the Army, so I was excited to come across a written account of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan written by one of my peers. I thought this book would be interesting and relevant to my own experiences in Iraq. However, I was very quickly disappointed by the book's one-sidedness and lack of insight.
One of McGovern's main themes is that the positive stories from Iraq and Afghanistan are seldom reported, while violence and strife always make the nightly news. While there is truth to this, McGovern takes the opposite approach to the extreme. He cites children waving at soldiers and Iraqis voting as proof that US policies in Iraq are working and progress is being made, but he completely ignores any and all evidence to the contrary (worsening violence, Iraqi political ineffectiveness, millions of refugees fleeing the country, a steady decline of electricity and other services, children throwing rocks, etc).
By far, the biggest flaw in this book is that McGovern never addresses or acknowledges the negative impact of having an occupying army living and operating for years within a civilian population. In the effort to catch the terrorists, soldiers kick in doors, round up detainees, seize and destroy private property, create collateral damage and civilian deaths, etc. These are the unavoidable side effects of fighting a war. Add to that the unscrupulous actions of the soldiers at Abu Ghraib and Haditha, and you'll find that the longer we stay, the less popular we become, and the more support the insurgency receives from the local population. A recent poll indicated that over half of Iraqis now support attacks against American soldiers. By ignoring half of the issue, McGovern abandons a reasoned, balanced appraisal in favor of blind ideology and wishful thinking.
I haven't mentioned McGovern's career in the NFL or as an attorney, because the autobiographical aspect of this book is actually rather secondary to his promotion of US policy in executing the War on Terror. In this regard, none of his points are new, original, or insightful. Conservative ideology is haphazardly sprinkled throughout the book whether or not it is relevant to the ongoing story. For example, here is a quote from the NFL portion: "Of course, the hate [Vince] Lombardi was talking about was the football kind, not the hate that drives people to fly airplanes into buildings." By the time you reach the end of the book, it starts to sound like a White House press release from 2003. If you are primarily looking for a good inside account of the NFL, life in Iraq/Afghanistan, or the DA's office, this isn't the right book for you. If you're hells bells behind the war in Iraq and want to read something you're sure to agree with, then you might want to pick this up.
Customer Reviews:
Tatum needs to stop capilalizing on Stingley's misfortune !!!.......2007-04-06
I wish I could give Tatum a -----***** in honor of Stingley's death today. What a self-centered jerk!!!
Can't believe this was published...........2004-05-17
Aside from Tatum's whining about every game the Raiders lost, and his incessant bad-mouthing of the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 70's, I actually enjoyed Tatum's first book, "They Call Me Assassin". Tatum's second book, "They Still Call Me Assassin", was almost an exact reprint of the first book, except it included a few more of Tatum's self-serving rants that would interest no one outside of Tatum's immediate family. Now, in this third installment, we are given exact reprints of both books. Amazingly, the reprinted portions of "They Call me Assassin" that were in "They Still Call Me Assassin" are left in "Final Confessions", so much of the reprinted material in "Final Confessions" appears twice in the book! The actual `new' material takes up a whole 12 pages in the 348 page fiasco. Don't waste your money now, simply wait until the fourth Tatum book appears on the market, "I Still Have Final Confessions", and has the exact reprints of volumes 1-3.
States again what was said in the original..........2003-11-09
Buy "They Call Me Assassin" rather than spend your money on this release. It is simply too dry a read; especially when compared to his first book.
Brutally honest and shockingly factual, the best ever........1999-10-14
Brutally honest, shockingly factual, this book is the best ever written on the REAL world of professional sports.
"Final Confessions of NFL Assassin Jack Tatum" is an exact reprint of Jack's previous two books, "They Call Me Assassin" and "They Still Call Me Assassin - Here We Go Again". It also contains additional opinions and conclusions that Jack reached on a variety of subjects.
This compilation of events in the life of an NFL superstar reveals an athletically gifted, well educated, courageous and practical man who was raised to believe that truth, no matter how painful or revealing is more important than maintaining a phony status quo.
In this book, Jack has finally put to rest the whole issue of his insensitivity towards Darryl Stingley. He has taken a lot of undeserved heat for something completely out of his control. He indicates that he tried to visit and talk to Stingley more than once and was refused an audience. In spite of these unfortunate refusals, he has written words of praise for the man.
Honesty is not a behavior pattern for a reckless "loud mouth", it is the trait of a thinking man with values. This book is a celebration of honesty.
Just as time has transformed the public perception of Muhammad Ali from the "Louisville Lip" to one of the world's most beloved sports figures, this book proves that Jack Tatum deserves to be acknowledged as one of the greatest legends in sports history.
Jack Tatum deserves to be in the NFL Hall Of Fame because of his phenomenal play on the field and his courageously honest words off the field and in print.
If you want unvarnished truth about "pre through post" life in the NFL, This Is It!!
Don't Waste Your Money........1998-09-13
"Final Confessions" is actually two books: "They Call Me Assassin" (1979) and "They Still Call Me Assassin" (1996), which discuss the football career of Jack Tatum, a former Oakland Raider defensive back who was one of the hardest-hitters in the history of the NFL.
Tatum was criticized sharply in the press for his hard hits, which often injured or knocked out opposing players. The criticism turned into an uproar on August 12, 1978, after an exhibition game between the Raiders and New England Patriots, in which Tatum made a vicious (but clean) tackle of Darryl Stingley that permanently paralyzed Stingley. That coupled with Tatum's unfortunate tendency to fire off his mouth, the "bad boy" image of the Raiders, and Raider Owner Al Davis' own conflict with Pete Rozelle and the NFL led to Tatum being characterized as an outlaw.
In his defense, Tatum responds, (1) professional football is a vicious and brutal game, (2) I was paid to hit people hard, and (3) I generally played up to but within the limits of the rules. He has a point. Half of the second book is simply a rehash (often verbatim) of the first book. The other half is taken up with stories about Tatum. Jack Tatum may have an interesting story to tell, but you won't learn it reading this book. Only the oldest die-hard Raider fans will find anything of interest in it.
Amazon.com
Secular religions are fascinating in the devotion and zealousness they breed, and in Texas, high school football has its own rabid hold over the faithful. H.G. Bissinger, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, enters into the spirit of one of its most fervent shrines: Odessa, a city in decline in the desert of West Texas, where the Permian High School Panthers have managed to compile the winningest record in state annals. Indeed, as this breathtaking examination of the town, the team, its coaches, and its young players chronicles, the team, for better and for worse, is the town; the communal health and self-image of the latter is directly linked to the on-field success of the former. The 1988 season, the one Friday Night Lights recounts, was not one of the Panthers' best. The game's effect on the community--and the players--was explosive. Written with great style and passion, Friday Night Lights offers an American snapshot in deep focus; the picture is not always pretty, but the image is hard to forget.
Book Description
The classic, best-selling story of life in the football-driven town of Odessa, Texas, with a new afterword that looks at the players and the town ten years later.
Return once again to the timeless account of the Permian Panthers of Odessa--the winningest high-school football team in Texas history. Odessa is not known to be a town big on dreams, but the Panthers help keep the hopes and dreams of this small, dusty town going. Socially and racially divided, its fragile economy follows the treacherous boom-bust path of the oil business. In bad times, the unemployment rate barrels out of control; in good times, its murder rate skyrockets. But every Friday night from September to December, when the Permian High School Panthers play football, this West Texas town becomes a place where dreams can come true. With frankness and compassion, H.G. Bissinger chronicles a season in the life of Odessa and shows how single-minded devotion to the team shapes the community and inspires--and sometimes shatters--the teenagers who wear the Panthers' uniforms.
Customer Reviews:
FRIDAY NIGHT LETDOWN.......2007-09-26
I came into this one with high expectations, especially since I lived in Odessa for a short time in 1986 on a job assignment. Talk about a bleak and desolate place...But I was truly amazed at the hubub around the Panthers. I think that was Gary Gaines first year. I remember the dead-red build up before the Lee game. Saw it all firsthand as a very temporary transplant.
The book was a dissapointment. Okay, but not great. Maybe he should have just written a book about Boobie. He didn't talk nearly enough about the games, for instance. Probably half the book is devoted to off the field issues. Racism, favortism, school system, ect. The rest is Boobie, Boobie, Boobie. Could have been so much better. A letdown beacause it came off as some kind of expose piece.
Ok quick read but it's more tabloid than it is journalism.......2007-06-22
Ok book nothing outstanding. The writing I'd give about a 3. Pretty much college sophomore level. Negatively biased against almost everything generally considered good. A real hatchet job on just about everyone. The author bashes teachers, schools, colleges, parents, parenting, fans, churches, the school board, the coaches, he even spends a chapter bashing Bush #1 and the Republicans. He throws in some gratuitous scatalogical jokes about Bush. He goes out of his way to paint everyone in as poor a moral light as possible. In one case he beats up on a character but to obtain contrast later needs to paint that character in a good light so that he can paint someone else in a poor light.
I read the whole book in a few days at the beach. It's just an average book - not so bad that you put it down but nothing special. I can see the appeal especially to liberal boomer white America. It's the other white American that's bad in this book. You know the one that's not you or me. I figure the author must have won the Pulitzer by sullying some other sacred cow because honestly his writing just isn't that good. The metaphors he uses were unoriginal and were strangely forced in several cases. Read it if you got nothing better to do but I would think you should find better books on the subject of high school football.
Fantasictlickious Book.......2007-06-06
Drew Oliver
Friday Night Lights
H.G. Bissinger
Da Capo Press
©2003
416 Pages
"You saying I can't play football, all I know how to do is play football!" One of the famous quotes from Boobie Miles when he finds out that he can't be the star halfback he wanted. Back in Texas the Permian Panthers was in for a good football season, maybe even take state. With the star running back Boobie hurt, can they still pull it together? The answer to that and all the others is in the text of H.G. Bissinger's book Friday Night Lights. Friday Night Lights is a story about a football team playing their way to the state championship. My favorite part of the book would have to be the last game at state where they were getting completely pounded on but at the very end the Panthers were making an amazing come back. I think this is my favorite part because it is just so glorious and suspenseful and I just know exactly what that feels like. It seems that one big message just keeps coming up. It seems that the book is trying to tell you that you should never give up. To never let anyone hold you back, never let them stop you in believe what you strongly believe, just always try, just never give up. Friday Night Lights was pretty much an all around good book. Every part was exciting and really made you not want to atop reading. The only part that was kind of bad, but more of just a bummer, was the ending but only because I didn't wand it to end that way. But I guess it had more of meaning ending that way. I think all of you out there that like a good sports book that you should definitely go and pick Friday Night Lights up.
friday night lights.......2007-06-04
i thought that this book was just ok. it was just a meteocre book for me. yes, it is a good representation of big town fame and spotlight in a small town. it just did not hit the spot for me thats it.
heartbeat of America.........2007-05-30
a fabulous book about the Permian Panthers of Odessa, TX and the MOJO magic that permeates thoughout the city. H.G. Bissinger has found the heartbeat of America in high school football as he writes in fascinating detail the story of the 1988 Permian Panthers. It could be any high school across American as the tradition, passion and politics of local high school football reign over a city that would seemingly have no identity without it's high scool football team. A wonderful book.
Amazon.com
As coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1967, Vince Lombardi turned perennial losers into a juggernaut, winning back-to-back NFL titles in 1961 and 1962, and Superbowls I and II in 1966 and 1967. Stern, severe, sentimental, and paternal, he stood revered, reviled, respected, and mocked--a touchstone for the '60s all in one person. Which adds up to the myth we've been left with. But who was the man? That's the question Pulitzer Prize-winner David Maraniss tackles. It begins with Lombardi's looming father, a man as colorful as his son would be conservative. Still, from his father Vince Lombardi learned a sense of presence and authority that could impress itself with just a look. If a moment can sum up and embrace a man's life--and capture the breadth of Maraniss's thoroughness--it is one that takes place off the field when the Packers organization decides to redecorate their offices in advance of the new head coach's arrival: "During an earlier visit," Maraniss reports, "he had examined the quarters--peeling walls, creaky floor, old leather chairs with holes in them, discarded newspapers and magazines piled on chairs and in the corners--and pronounced the setting unworthy of a National Football League club. 'This is a disgrace!' he had remarked." In one moment, one comment, Lombardi announced his intentions, made his vision and professionalism clear, and began to shake up a stale organization. It reveals far more about the man than wins and losses, and is the kind of moment Maraniss uses again and again in this superb resurrection of a figure who so symbolized a sporting era and sensibility. --Jeff Silverman
Book Description
More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor of the American experience. The son of an Italian immigrant butcher, Lombardi toiled for twenty frustrating years as a high school coach and then as an assistant at Fordham, West Point, and the New York Giants before his big break came at age forty-six with the chance to coach a struggling team in snowbound Wisconsin. His leadership of the Green Bay Packers to five world championships in nine seasons is the most storied period in NFL history. Lombardi became a living legend, a symbol to many of leadership, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and to others of an obsession with winning. In When Pride Still Mattered, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Maraniss captures the myth and the man, football, God, and country in a thrilling biography destined to become an American classic.
Download Description
A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist illuminates the life and legend of the great pro football coach Vince Lombardi, in this textured and compelling biography of an American original. of photos.
Customer Reviews:
One of the best sports biographies I ever read.......2007-09-20
I couldn't help feeling that I was right there in frozen Green Bay, in the 1960s, at one of the Lombardis' Sunday post-game cocktail parties, and everywhere else Vince Lombardi went in his life, while reading this great book.
It's a great read, very vivid, about a great coach and (as Maraniss illustrates) not the greatest father in the world. In other words, a portrait of a human being who did great things with his work, but who had foibles like everybody else.
A very engrossing read.......2007-06-20
I picked up this book after hearing a strong recommendation. I knew next to nothing about Vince Lombardi, other than that he was an excellent football coach. Very glad I bought the book as this was a particularly engrossing biography.
The author was very thorough in his research and traces Lombardi's life in detail for his full nearly 60 years. He provides a lot of detail on Lombardi's strengths and weaknesses. At times I wanted to slug him and tell him to quit being so intense about football and pay more attention to his family. Other times, I found myself admiring the daylights out of him. It is astonishing to think he could take the most losing team in football and turn them into major winners in just one season.
There's a lot of food for thought in this biography. Is winning really so important that you should sacrifice your family and your health? Is success really success if you never enjoy it? As a recovering perfectionist, I saw many powerful examples from Lombardi's life about why I DON'T want to be a perfectionist! Nothing is ever good enough, and you never, ever get to be happy. That is one lesson in Lombardi's life that really comes blasting out of every story.
If you like biographies, you will really enjoy this one. Glad I decided to pick it up.
Jan Dahlin Geiger, author of "Get Your Assets in Gear! Smart Money Strategies" Get Your Assets in Gear! Smart Money Strategies
Biography of a Coach.......2007-04-12
This biography of Vince Lombardi will move you to tears and inspire you to find the best in others. Lombardi was truly a great teacher, coach, and man.
measure of a man.........2007-04-03
maybe the greatness of a man can be determined by his ability to inspire greatness in other men..by that account Vince Lombardi was a giant..maybe his tactics would not work as well with today's pampered athletes but I'm sure he would still find a way to inspire that's what the great teachers do..they not only teach about they're hired to..they teach about life..some of Lombardi's players to this day attribute their success on and off the field to the coach..I thought I knew so much about coach Lombardi but this book by David Maraniss filled me in on so many things I didn't know..Vince had a brother who was gay but he still went to church every day and never ostrasized his brother, he just figured the church got it wrong on this one..I read this book on a journey to Green Bay to visit Lambeau..I carried with me a picture of my dad shaking hands with Vince..but you don't have to be a Packer fan to enjoy and be inspired by this book..it's simply one of the best biographies I've ever read..even a Viking fan would enjoy it..as one of his ex-players recants..'there's not a day that goes by that I don't miss that man'...
A Man's Man. .......2007-02-20
I read Harvey Mansfield's Manliness last spring, and I have to say that Vince Lombardi embodies all of his criteria for the positive expression of masculinity. Coach Lombardi demonstrated the coveted male virtues of valor, devotion, passion, loyalty, and the need for victory. What's so telling about Maraniss's account is the way in which the narrator reveals to us slowly, but consistently, just how much the man meant to the people around him. A couple of the scenes with Starr and Hornung will choke you up--particularly the letter that Bart's dad sent to Lombardi. When Lombardi went to the Redskins, even though he was only with them for a year, he transformed the players completely. He walked up to the podium with a single ring on and restored their hope. Sonny Jurgensen had never possessed a leader's mentality before meeting Lombardi. In a single year's time, he led the team to a winning season and became a man admired for more than talent alone. For all of us who are devoted fans of the NFL, Coach Lombardi will always be remembered and treasured. I say this despite the fact that I have no use for the Green Bay Packers and have hated them since I was a kid. No matter, a man like this is above partisan loyalty. He's better than all that stuff. He could be gruff, angry, and harsh, but everyone around him (almost unanimously) still loved him because they could sense him love and devotion. He returned their love again and again. Vince Lombardi was a teacher, a coach, a tactician, a strategist, and a man's man, RIP.
Amazon.com
Grambling State's Eddie Robinson started coaching college football when FDR was in the White House and didn't stop until Bill Clinton's second term. Along the way, he racked up 408 victories, but his real legacy isn't in the stats. A black man coaching black athletes in the Deep South for 57 seasons, Robinson witnessed and took part in amazing changes in society and in his sport, battling prejudice and hatred to earn respect for himself and opportunity for his players. Never Before, Never Again plays gamely in both those arenas--society and sport--because it has to; for Robinson they are one and the same.
"I never thought that schools like LSU and Alabama would integrate," he can admit, aware that great performances by black athletes competing at those schools played a big part in their integration. Yet, amidst the upheavals of the '60s, he also knew that doing his job wasn't just about coaching football. He learned to harness that anger at the criticism hurled his way from more militant quarters: "I wasn't going to go out and hurt somebody or let one of my own get hurt to disprove that I was an Uncle Tom." Robinson proved his talents year in and year out, winning not just games and championships, but respect and admiration. He also helped change the face of his game in college and beyond, sending more than 200 players to the NFL, including Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams. The candor of Never Before, Never Again is as refreshing as it is revealing; the story itself is pure inspiration. --Jeff Silverman
Book Description
Franklin Roosevelt was America's President when Eddie Robinson coached his first game. Fifty-seven years later, Robison left Grambling as the winningest coach in the history of college football. Initially a coach for a segregated society, Eddie Robinson has helped football transcend race in the America he loves and treasures. Yet institutionalized racial barriers kept Robinson a secret from white America for more than 25 years until Howard Cosell did an ABC special on Grambling in the late 1960s. Outside of the world of sport, white America still barely knows him. In the African-American community, he is very likely the best-known coach in America. He is surely the most beloved.
Never Before, Never Again chronicles Coach Robinson's life and his time at Grambling in vivid detail. He overcame all those things that might have predicted that it was not possible for the son of a sharecropper and a domestic worker to become a success. He got a master's degree, became the president of the American Football Coaches Association, and helping thousands of young boys become outstanding men. More than wins, they may be his greatest legacy.
But as much as Coach Robinson's memoir is about sports, it's a social history history as well. The book is a lens through which readers can see the challeges and turmoil of the civil rights movements from the perspective of a sports figure who worked the playing fields of a black campus while caring deeply about the stakes and outcome of the struggle . This book places the hard-news events of the day in the time frame of the trails of Robinson's Grambling teams of that era. Also included are the thoughts of other coaches (both college and NFL) on Coach Robinson, as well as those of national leaders like Reverend Jesse Jackson, M.J. "Mike" Foster, the governor of Lousiana, and President Clinton.
Never Before, Never Again stands as lasting testimony to the work of a true American hero.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding Autobiography!!.......2002-04-16
Eddie Robinson is truly one of the greatest pioneers in the history of athletics. The way he transformed a football program at a little known (if not unknown at the time) black college in the piney woods of north Louisiana, into a program of both national and international notoriety, is a true testament to his greatness. It is amazing to see what this man has overcome and how he has perservered throughout his 56-year coaching stint. With 408 victories under his belt, he is the all-time winningest coach in college football history at any level. He taught his players how to be champions both on and off the field. As a Grambling State University alumnus, and former Grambling Sports Broadcaster, I was fortunate to witness, first hand, what a class act Coach Robinson is. He transcends the word "committment". This autobiography takes you on a journey of overcoming obstacles on the road to success. I highly recommend this book to everyone, not just athletes, who want to understand what it means to perservere!
wonderful autobiography.......2000-08-27
I'm a big fan of football, so of course i wanted to read, this book about Grambling's great coach. i'm a big fan of grambling except of course when they play Jackson state, or Alcorn. After reading the book, i found Eddie Robinson, to be a wonderful person who cared so much for his team, and his coaches. I felt bad for robinson when i read that a divison 1 school never even contacted him about a job, but what I liked best of all about this book, was he and his wife's Doris love for one another.
Great Book.......2000-06-05
Eddie Robinson is a Pioneer for all of Sports.it's Amazing at all The Things He saw&Heard and yet He stayed Focused&Became one of The Greatest Coaches at any Level of Play.it's Beautiful How Doug Williams Came Back Too Coach Grambling State.MR.RObinson has Inspired alot OF Brothers.even thought The NFL Has a Long way Too Go With The Black QuarterBack Among Many Other Issues Because Of MR.RObinson A Doug WIlliams GOt A Chance the same Goes For STEVE AIR'MCNAIR.MR.ROBINSON Broke Down alot of Ground.A Real Stand Up MAN&WINNER.
Book Description
Sports agent Myron Bolitar is poised on the edge of the big time. So is Christian Steele, a rookie quarterback and Myron's prized client. But when Christian gets a phone call from a former girlfriend, a woman who everyone, including the police, believes is dead, the deal starts to go sour. Trying to unravel the truth about a family's tragedy, a woman's secret, and a man's lies, Myron is up against the dark side of his business—where image and talent make you rich, but the truth can get you killed.
In novels that crackle with wit and suspense, Edgar Award winner Harlan Coben has created one of the most fascinating and complex heroes in suspense fiction—Myron Bolitar—a hotheaded, tenderhearted sports agent who grows more and more engaging and unpredictable with each page-turning appearance.
From the Paperback edition.
Customer Reviews:
Meeting Myron Bolitar (and getting SCHMOOZED in the process!).......2007-09-11
Picking this up, I was convinced that I'd have the satisfaction that I had when I read "No 2nd Chance," by Coben. I'd been thoroughly impressed, and I couldn't WAIT to read Coben once again. Well, quite frankly I walked away from this feeling like I've been screwed! I thought this really sucked. The funny thing remains: I'm still willing to give Harlan Coben his fair chance and read him once more. In the opening line, Coben had me hooked with this, "Otto Burke, the Wizard of Schmooze, raised his game another level." Hey, I was hooked! So what changed my mind? Somewhere along the line, I think that Harlan Coben himself turned into a "SCHMOOZE artist," and most people happened to love this.
I think that a lot of this makes for a great story. A lost loved one, a phone call in the middle of the night, and suspects EVERYWHERE! A horrifying rape enters the picture, and the heat is turned up a notch. A hot rookie prospect is drilled in the middle of all this while simply trying to get his career under way. What's worse? That star rookie who stands out on the field just very well may be a suspect. Ok, check that...HE IS! That actually makes it quite interesting. What pukes this up, and ultimately disappoints me is that Coben resorts to smut material to make up a plot. Now, I know that sex sells, and Harlan Coben is certainly no Danielle Steele, but come on! I'm not interested in reading about the next Hustler magazine in the latest bestselling paperback. I'm just going to say that up front. There are more interesting things in this life, and I was shaking my head through a lot of this. The sad thing was, I really didn't feel that the ending was all that predictable. It had all the hints of something great.
In the end, I'm still willing to give Harlan Coben another go round. "No 2nd Chance" was just too darn good! And personally, this time I thought I got screwed. Or SCHMOOZED! Take your pick. I don't have to like it. And I could care less that DAN BROWN has recently endorsed some of Coben's latest work. I guess in keeping good company with the likes of Brown, you might be considered for no integrity, but I don't know. I just don't know. I DO know that I'm still up for another shot at this guy. I didn't hate this offering. I just hated the way it was put out there. Just give me some time, and I'm hoping that my next Coben read will make this all a simple, distant memory.
Deal breaker.......2007-07-27
I loved this book and all of the other ones that I read by this author they are the type of books that you can not put down.
Deal Breaker.......2007-07-27
My first book by this author and truely enjoyed it. Very suspenseful and full of twists and turns. Highly recommended.
Good one...........2007-07-11
After reading a later novel in the series, I decided, I had to go back and start at the beginning. I am glad I did, and I will go forth and read the next one....
Leisure Story.......2007-06-25
I listened to the audiobook of this story. The narrator was great-very funny when speaking as Myron Bolitar. The story was just okay but the character of Myron Bolitar made it interesting. The audiobook is probaly better to listen than just reading the book
Books:
- The Boy in the Alamo
- The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era
- The Conqueror
- The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish
- The Dream Machines: An Illustrated History of the Spaceship in Art, Science and Literature
- The Drowning Man (John O'Malley and Vicki Holden Mysteries)
- The Future Eaters: An Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and People
- The Glass Castle: A Memoir
- The Human Tradition in Modern Japan (The Human Tradition Around the World, No. 3)
- The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Louis Comfort Tiffany and Laurelton Hall: An Artist's Country Estate
- At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA
- Plant-Pathogen Interactions
- Quantitative Conservation Biology: Theory and Practice of Population Viability Analysis
- The Plague
- Arbitration: Essential Concepts
- Your Baby and Bowser
- South Beach: Two Decades of Deco District Paintings by Mark Rutkowski
- Rooftop addenda to existing buildings.
- Feeding The Vikings
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street
Coach: Lessons on the Game of Life
Losers: The Road to Everyplace but the White House
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
