Review of The Prospect - baseball short story

With the end of July and the sports buzz is about baseball's trading deadline, it is only appropriate to finish the month with a baseball story.   This is a review of the short story titled "The Prospect."

Title/Author:             

“The Prospect” by Zack Drisko

Tags: 

Baseball, fiction, short story, Dodgers

Published: 

May 9, 2012

Length:

19 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

The story of a young pitcher from a small town who makes a rapid rise to the major leagues, only to suffer a cruel fate while facing the second batter in his major league debut.   This short story is written just the way it should be – tight, not many wasted words, and the reader is quickly engrossed with Austin Colt, the young man whose journey to fame is swift.

The reader will also be feeling much of the elation, confusion and apprehension that any young adult would feel in Austin’s situation.  Do I sign the contract or go to college?   Will I be good enough to face professional hitters?   What will others think of me?   All of these issues are faced by Austin and the reader will be hanging onto every word to see what he will do next.

How Austin’s journey ends felt like a letdown, however. While the years fly by in the last few pages of the story, this isn’t to say the story ends badly or that the ending is poorly written.  Indeed, the reader will still have that connection to Austin and his inner struggles.  I just closed the book feeling like it was a reality check instead of a young man living out his dream.   I believe that was what the author was trying to relay to readers.  I just prefer a different type of story for this type of premise.  Nonetheless, it was still an enjoyable quick read that any baseball fan will enjoy.

 

Did I skim?

No      

Did I feel connected to the characters?  

Yes.  Every kid who puts on a glove or swings a bat dreams of being a major league player and I was no different.  Through Austin’s story, I felt like I was living that dream.

Pace of the story: 

Quick. As expected in a short story, there wasn’t a lot of time to waste.  At times it felt too quick – much like how Austin was feeling during his rise to the majors.

Positives: 

The writer covered a lot of ground with knowledge of baseball strategy, pitching, contract negotiations with young prospects and even medical knowledge.   That is very impressive to put together in such a short package.

Negatives:

The only problem I had was the dash through the minor leagues was truly experienced.  In the story, his experience in Albuquerque, the AAA affiliate for the Dodgers, was a two sentence paragraph.  It felt like he was there not to play for the Isotopes, but instead just to be told by coaches he was going to the majors.  That was a big disconnect with the rest of the story.

Do I recommend? 

Yes, for any baseball fan

 

Book Format Read: 

Ebook (Kindle)

Author Media Links:

http://zackdrisko.com

http://facebook.com/zackdrisko

Product link:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Prospect-ebook/dp/B0081VX57U/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1375319345&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Prospect

Review of "The Winter Classic"

Have you noticed that the biggest sporting event on New Year's Day is no longer one of the college football bowl games?   It is now a regular season hockey game, the NHL's Winter Classic.   This is a review of a book on this "new" New Year's Day tradition. 

Title/Author:

“The Winter Classic” by Russ Cohen and Michael Del Tufo

Tags:

Ice hockey, professional, New Years Day, Penguins, Sabres, Flyers, Bruins, Red Wings Blackhawks, Rangers

Published:

November 15, 2012

Length:

162 pages

Rating: 

2 1/2 of 5 stars (readable)

Review:

This book was okay but disappointing in several ways.  It contains too many editing errors.   I counted five typographical errors in the book.  The pictures that were included in the electronic version were negatives, not the photos.

It has most factual items correct and these were nicely done since the authors experienced them. However, a glaring mistake is one about the next Winter Classic in 2014.  It states that the game between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs will feature teams in different conferences.  This is incorrect.  The NHL is realigning and the teams will now be in the same conference.  I mention this because the book was written and published after the realignment was announced.

The book's structure makes it easy to follow.  For each Winter Classic game, there is a narrative about the venue, why it was chosen, the politicians and NHL officials talking about the location.  This is one section of the chapter.  Next are interviews with players about playing at such a site.  Then the recap of the game itself, a rundown of the rest of the season for both teams and what is coming next.   These make for an easy means of looking up information in the book.  However, I felt there was inconsistency with the writing style.  Sometimes more emphasis was placed on describing the venue, other times it was on the game itself.  I felt that this made reading the entire book challenging.   This wasn't aided when there were extra sections in the chapters for the 2011 and 2012 Winter Classics when HBO also was filming footage about the participating teams.  

My last disappointment with the book is that the authors barely acknowledge the other two outdoor games played in Canada, the Heritage Classic.  Yes the book is titled The Winter Classic.  But if the Heritage Classic games are going to be mentioned, give them the same respect as the Winter Classic games as well. 

Overall, I thought that while the book had its good points and entertaining moments, I felt that there was room for improvement and a more complete accounting of all outdoor NHL games to this point would have been better.  It isn’t a bad read – I did enjoy parts of the book – I just closed the book hoping for more.

Did I skim?

Yes.  I wasn’t interested in reading about the two times that HBO featured the two participating teams, as mentioned in the review. I did read some of the first chapter on this topic, when the Penguins and Capitals were on the show, but grew tired of it and skipped over the last few paragraphs of that chapter.  Then when the Flyers and Rangers were featured and the authors wrote about them, I skimmed really quickly through that portion as well.  I didn’t completely skip it in case there was something interesting to learn, but I didn’t read much of this section either. 

 

Did I learn something new?

Yes.   The reader will learn just how big the event has grown in the five years it has been in existence.  I also learned what some of the other side events take place other than just the hockey game, such as the skating rinks and fan festivals that are going on in the days leading up to the Classic.

Pace of the book: 

Good for the most part.  Again, I only felt like it dragged during the sections about HBO.   

Positives:

I did like learning about each venue and what extra attractions and activities they featured to engage fans and to make the experience fun for fans and players alike.   The authors experienced this for themselves and it showed as a reader can see the joy they had in participating in these events.

Negatives:

The worst of these have been mentioned in the review (typos, lack of information on Heritage Classic games, and the upcoming Detroit-Toronto Classic), so I will not rehash them here. 

Do I recommend? 

Yes.  Despite the number of stars, I do believe hockey fans will enjoy at least parts of this book.  For those who were interested in the HBO shows but didn’t get to see them, those chapters do a good job of detailing the contents of the show.    I would also recommend for those interested in purchasing this book to buy the paperback version as the pictures in the eBook were of poor quality.

Book Format Read:

EBook (Kindle)

Buying Links:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AG3A808/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img

Review of "Love Thy Rival"

This was a book that I picked up only because it was free, but it was a book that would have been worth paying for as it was a good mix of sports, humor and thoughts on human behavior.

Title/Author:

“Love Thy Rival” by Chad Gibbs

Tags:

Baseball, American Football (Professional), American Football (college), American Football (high school), Basketball (college), Basketball (professional), ice hockey, field hockey, soccer, Yankees, Red Sox, Packers, Bears, Auburn, University of Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Duke, University of North Carolina, Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Ohio State, University of Michigan.

Published:

August 18, 2012

Length:

308 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

Author Chad Gibbs travels to many different games to understand why fans behave the way they do when their favorite team is about to face their rivals.   Gibbs is caught up in this himself, as he is a fan of the Auburn Tigers football team and the annual “Iron Bowl” game against the University of Alabama is one of the fierce rivalries he writes about in this book.

While there is description of the history of each rivalry and he does describe (sometimes very briefly, sometimes in depth) the action on the field of each game he attended, the goal of the book is to make the reader stop and think about just what these games are – just games and not as serious as some make them out to be.   

Several examples are given to illustrate this to the reader, the most notable being the Army-Navy college football game.   It has been said by many that this is the best rivalry in all of sports, mainly because of what these players will be doing after the games are done.  Gibbs mentions that as well, and says it best that these young men use the game and the sport in general properly – as a pleasant, temporary diversion from real life. 

Gibbs shares stories from fans of each rivalry to show the various degrees of “hate” each one generates.  It ranges from not much at all (Cubs-Cardinals in baseball) to downright rioting (Celtic FC – Rangers FC in the Scottish Premier League of soccer).   It makes the book a very good study into human behavior, and I enjoyed reading each fan’s perspective.

One other item that deserves mention is that Gibbs tells fans of college football or basketball that they should make an effort to go watch the games of other lesser known sports such as softball, track or field hockey.  The latter sport is one he saw while visiting Ohio State for the Ohio State-Michigan football game, and it showed through his writing that he was moved by the experience.

Overall,”Love Thy Rival” is a very good book on sports, fandom, and human behavior.

Did I skim?

No

Did I learn something new?

Yes.   The rivalries for which I was not familiar with the teams (Sounders-Timbers, Celtic FC – Rangers FC, the high school football game) gave me new insights into those rivalries, the teams and the fans.   The two soccer rivalries were the same sport but very different in intensity and the fans’ attitude toward their fellow fans of the other side.

Pace of the book: 

Very good.  Each chapter is short enough to be easily read, but not too short so that readers who are not familiar with the teams can learn new information.   

Positives:

While the topic was serious because Gibbs was trying to make the reader understand why “hate” is a term often used in rivalries, I thought the humor throughout the book was excellent.  There are far too many jokes and funny passages to list here, but I will share my favorite one here.

While visiting the Texas State Fair before attending the Oklahoma-Texas game, Gibbs decided to try a new culinary treat – fried butter.  To understand how he liked it, here are his thoughts: “Thousands of years from now, when archeologists struggle to explain why our society crumbled, I hope they will uncover this book and learn it was because we began frying butter.”

Negatives:

While I did learn some new things about different rivalries, I would have liked to see more history being told about some of them.  Some are covered well, such as the two basketball rivalries, but more could have been told about the hockey and baseball ones, for example.

I also found a few instances where name references did not make sense.  Here is an example I found in the Cubs-Cardinals chapter.  Gibbs writes about the feelings of “Tabatha” on the rivalry, then in the next paragraph states that his friend Brandi “shares Hannah’s sentiment.”  Problem is that there was no “Hannah” in that chapter.   Only Tabatha, Brandi and Mike are mentioned as friends who shared an opinion.  Took me the whole chapter to figure out there was no “Hannah.”

Do I recommend? 

Yes.  A fan of nearly any sport will find his or her favorite one here, and a good rivalry in that sport.

Book Format Read:

EBook (Kindle)

Buying Links:

(Note: as of the date of posting, July 24, 2013, this book is free on Amazon)

http://www.amazon.com/Love-Thy-Rival-Rivalries-ebook/dp/B0091GVINW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1374715567&sr=1-1&keywords=love+thy+rival

Interview with John Rosengren

I had the pleasure of interviewing John Rosengren, author of "Greenberg."  I found his answers to the questions as interesting as the book.   I also appreciated the mention of the Twins stars of the 1960's and 1970's as he grew up worshipping the same players as I did.   Enjoy!

What inspired you to write “Greenberg”?

I read Josh Prager’s “The Echoing Green,” about Bobby Thomson’s “shot heard ‘round the world,” which made me curious about other dramatic, season-ending, pennant-clinching home runs. That led to an article about Hank Greenberg’s ninth inning grand slam on the final day of the 1945 season that clinched the pennant for the Tigers. While researching the article, I realized their was more to Greenberg’s life than one dramatic home run, in fact enough to fill a book. So I wrote it.

Describe your research for the book, including anything you wish to share about his family or friends whom you may have contacted during this process.

My research was exhaustive. After I’d written the proposal, I learned that another writer with a bigger name was working on a biography about Greenberg. In the best sense of competition, that pushed me to write a better book, which I knew would be dependent upon the amount of research I did and the sentences I composed out of that research. I talked to scores of people, from Greenberg’s family to surviving teammates and opponents. I culled fan letters and hate mail from the Tigers’ archives. I scoured court records for details of his divorce, his military records, his FBI file, his daily batting logs, his AL and NL transaction records, his personal scrapbooks and hundreds if not thousands of old newspaper articles. My research took me to the Detroit News archives, the Detroit Library, the American Jewish Historical Society in New York, the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s research center, the New York Public Library and the Minneapolis Public Library. I obtained microfilm of the Detroit Jewish Chronicle and other newspapers along with many, many books through the University of Minnesota’s Interlibrary Loan.

In the book, you address topics that can be considered controversial, such as the treatment of Jewish players by teammates and opponents.  Why did you choose to include them?

I wanted to chronicle the abuse Greenberg experience as a Jew to make people aware. The anti-Semitism rampant in America in the ‘30s and ‘40s when Greenberg played is not a chapter of American history frequently told. Exposing that through the story of a baseball player when baseball truly was the national pastime makes the history more significant, I think.

Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself – if you are a baseball/sports fan, why you became an author, and anything else you wish to share.

I have wanted to be a writer since my senior year in high school, when I took my first journalism class and my instructor encouraged me to write for the community paper. I found it satisfying to hear others talking about articles I wrote, especially those about an issue of social significance.  I’ve been writing ever since, over thirty years now. . . . I grew up going to baseball games with my dad at Met Stadium, watching the Twins of Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva and Rod Carew vintage.  I inherited my love of the game from him.  I still play—though not very well—in a 35-over league. I also fell in love with hockey, tennis and football as a kid.  My affection for football has since cooled—players are too big, too violent—but I continue to play hockey and tennis as well.  I also became a cyclist along the way, racing competitively for a spell, but now I just ride so I can eat what I want.  I also follow those sports on the professional level, though I am more attracted to the narratives in them than the statistics or analysis.  That’s also where I find many of the stories I write about.

 

Do you have any projects or books that you are currently writing?

I’m currently writing a book about Juan Marichal and John Roseboro.  After their famous fight in 1965, when Roseboro threw a ball past Marichal’s face and Marichal clubbed Roseboro with his bat—an incident that reflected the violence occurring at the moment in society, i. e., the civil war in the Dominican and the Watts riots—the two men eventually reconciled and became friends.  Theirs became a story of forgiveness and redemption.

 Is there anything you wish to add, about the book or anything else?

I am happiest when I hear from readers who say, “I’m not a baseball fan, but I loved your book.”  That means I’ve been able to reach beyond the sport to something of substance that resonated with them.

Review of "Eleven Rings"

Phil Jackson is the type of coach for whom I have a soft spot in my heart.  Because he coached two teams loaded with superstar talent, he and others in similar positions (Joe Torre and Bill Belichek to name a couple) will be told that they got "lucky" because "anyone could win with those players."  I never believe that nonsense as it takes a special person to be able to take superstar players with massive egos and blend them together to play well as a team.   In the book "Eleven Rings" , Jackson describes just how he did that with two very different types of teams.   Here is my review of this book.

Title/Author:

“Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success” by Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty

 

Tags:

Basketball, professional, NBA, Bulls, Lakers, autobiography, coaching, Jordan, Pippen, Kobe, Shaq

Published:

May 23, 2013

Length:

393 pages

Rating:

4 1/2 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

Phil Jackson has proven with his previous books that he is as skilled a writer as he is a basketball coach, and he shows it again with “Eleven Rings.”  This book is mostly a recap of his coaching stints with both the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.  He talks about what he had to do to take these teams that were loaded with talent and make them blend together into a cohesive team in order to win all those championships.

There are some aspects of leadership that books about business leadership use.  However, Jackson will put a unique spin on how he might use this model, so that it becomes clear that he is not doing this from a manual, but instead putting his own perspective and methods into the work he does with his teams.   One of these is that he often refers to his teams as a “tribe” and each member of the tribe will know what his role is in order for the goals to be achieved.

What I liked best about Jackson’s sharing of his coaching secrets was how he treated different individuals differently.   He realized that one method will not work for everyone, and because his teams had so many superstars with egos to match their talent, he worked on each individual in methods to which the certain player would most respond positively.

Jackson described how he did this with his superstar players on each team – Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman on the Bulls, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal on the Lakers.   I thought the best example of this was how Jackson handled a situation with Pippen during the 1994 playoffs, when the Bulls were playing without Jordan who had gone into his first retirement.

Pippen was supposed to inbound a pass to Toni Kukoc for a last second shot in a playoff game against the New York Knicks.   Pippen was not happy to have this role for the play and refused to leave the bench after a time out.  Jackson made a quick substitution for Pippen.  Kukoc made the shot, the Bulls won the game, and the coaching staff decided on what to do about Pippen.  After one assistant coach told Pippen it was a bad move (in much saltier language), the team said the Lord’s Prayer, Pippen apologized to his teammates with tears in his eyes, and everyone got a turn to state how they felt.  That doesn’t sound like much when a team leader says no to the coach in such a crucial time, but because Jackson knew that this type of action would affect Pippen greater than a fine or suspension, that is what Jackson did. 

It is stories like this, the manner in which Jackson treats his player and most importantly, how he articulates this in the book is why I believe this is a book that would be enjoyed by readers of all types, whether or not they are sports fans.  The personal stories in this book are refreshing, not judgmental, and a source of great information on some of the biggest names in basketball history.  Excellent book.   

 

Did I skim?

No

Did I learn something new?

Yes.  While I did know of some of the more well-publicized events of Jackson’s teams, such as how he handled Scottie Pippen’s meltdown in the 1994 playoffs or when the Lakers didn’t immediately offer him new contracts, the manner in which Jackson handled these situations was telling.  These passages delved much deeper than what was told in the media.   The best of these was how he handled Scottie Pippen’s situation, which is detailed in the review.

Pace of the book:

Very good.  It moved along nicely and stayed in chronological order, which is something I appreciate.

 

Positives:

The manner in which Jackson describes how he handled many of his players, especially his best players such as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal was the strength of this book.  I also liked that it stuck mostly with basketball-related issues.  Jackson certainly did talk about literature, spiritual life and other such topics, but instead of full chapters devoted to these topics, he mentioned them as they related to his teams and/or coaching.

Negatives:

At times, I found Jackson to come across as condescending toward other teams, players and coaches that may not have achieved the same level of success as he has achieved.   That has been a consistent characteristic mentioned by Jackson’s distracters over the years, and it seems to show in this book.  Not enough to be blatant or libelous but it does appear nonetheless.  I also found a few typos and spelling errors, especially of some opponents’ names.

Do I recommend?

Yes, especially for basketball fans.  However, I think that fans of other sports and even some readers who may not be sports fans, but want to see how successful leaders build teams would like this book.  

Book Format Read:

eBook (Kindle)

Buying Links:

http://www.amazon.com/Eleven-Rings-Soul-Success-ebook/dp/B00AEBEVTQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1374449161&sr=1-1&keywords=elven+rings

 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eleven-rings-phil-jackson/1113833133?ean=9781101617960

Review of "Harmon Killebrew: Ultimate Slugger"

Growing up in the Twin Cities and spending many days and nights at Metropolitan Stadium, I was excited to read this biography of Harmon Killebrew.  It brought back some nice memories.

Title/Author:

“Harmon Killebrew: Ultimate Slugger” by Steve Aschburner

Tags:

Baseball, biography, historical, Twins, Royals, Hall of Fame

Published:

May 2012

 

Length:

238 pages

Rating:

3 of 5 stars (good)

Review

It isn’t too often that a person will be able to read a biography of a childhood hero, but I got to do just that when this biography on Harmon Killebrew was written shortly after his death in May 2011.   Growing up in Minnesota during Killebrew’s playing days, I would often make sure I was near a radio or television whenever he came to the plate as there was always a good chance that another majestic blast would leave the ball park during that at-bat.   I was hoping to relive those days while reading this book.   While there were a few moments, they were few and far between.

That doesn’t mean the book was a bad one.  The author has been a writer covering many teams on the Minnesota sports scene for many years, and his knowledge came across in the book.  He told Killebrew’s story from his time on the Idaho farm to his early days of languishing on the Washington Senators’ bench as a “bonus baby” of that time to his heyday of home run hitting in the Twin Cities, through his last season in Kansas City and his post-baseball life.  It was written in a manner that was easy to read and comprehend.  The style will appeal to all levels of baseball fans, from hardcore to casual, as it is neither too complicated nor too easy.

My major disappointment could stem from being a lifetime Twins fan, as I didn’t glean much new information on Killebrew’s life – even his post-baseball life, as it was all the highlights told from a different point of view.  There wasn’t a lot of depth to these stories – that kept the reading easy, but the level of knowledge gained by a reader also suffers because of this style.   That didn’t keep me from enjoying this good, quick read.

Did I skim?

No

Did I learn something new?

Not a lot of the material was new or a surprise to me.  Even most of his life after baseball was familiar to me and this book didn’t share anything new.  Again, keep in mind I have followed the Twins and Killebrew since I first knew what a baseball was, so others may learn new information about Killebrew.

Pace of the book:

Excellent – moved along very quickly.  I finished this in less than three hours of total reading time. 

Positives:

The timeline of the story went well – it stayed on track and didn’t stray too far off course. That is a preference I have because if there is constant back and forth, I find the book hard to follow.  There are also some more advanced statistics cited for Killebrew that were not used during the time he played, such as on-base percentage.   Seeing those statistics and how they measure against other players in the Hall of Fame was interesting.

Negatives:

Even though the book is 238 pages (in a smaller size than most hard covers), I thought the entire book skimmed through Killebrew’s career and the teams he played for a little too much.  Not enough that I thought I was reading a Cliff Notes version of his life story, but it still seemed that it could have been a little more detailed.  

Do I recommend?

Yes, for baseball fans that don’t follow the Twins or Killebrew regularly, it is full of good information that a casual fan will like and understand.

Book Format Read:

Hardcover

Buying Links:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1600787029

Author Daniel Brown speaks at Marist College

The author of "Boys in  the Boat"'  Daniel James Brown, gave a talk tonight at Marist College in Poughkeepsie,NY.  I attended the  event with  my  wife  Deb and we enjoyed listening to Mr. Brown  share his tale of what inspired him to write the book.  Poughkeepsie was where the Collegiate Regatta was held during the 1930's and where the team in  the book won the collegiate championship before going to the Olympics.

 The idea for the book came out of a  homeowner  association meeting.   Mr. Brown talked  to  another  member whose father wanted to meet him.   That person was the main character of the book and one whose story of the boat and the team is shared throughout the book.   It was a very interesting and entertaining talk.  Mr. Brown explained that between the research into a topic he knew nothing about, the interviews with team membets, family and coaches and the actual writing of the book, it took six years to write the book.  He talked about the joy of doing this research and the bond felt between each team member.  This was followed by a question and answer session and a book signing.  He was gracious enough to not only sign my copy of Boys  in the Boat, but also signed copies of his other two books my wife owns.  It was a very nice evening with the author of one of the year's best books on sports.

Review of "Sonny Liston: The Real Story Behind the Ali-Liston Fights"

As a boxing fan who has always been intrigued by the story of Charles "Sonny" Liston, I have been searching for a book that talked more about his boxing than his time in prison or being involved in organized crime.  While those topics are covered in this book, Paul Gallender has written the type of book I have been searching for - one that concentrates on Liston's boxing ability.   Enjoy!

Title/Author:

“Sonny Liston – The Real Story behind the Ali-Liston Fights” by Paul Gallender

Tags:

Boxing, historical, biography, Liston, Ali, Clay, heavyweight, championship

Published:

March 18, 2013

Length:

308 pages

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (outstanding)

Review:

Former heavyweight boxing champion Charles “Sonny” Liston was a mysterious figure, especially outside the ring.   There were questions about him concerning his incarceration before his boxing career, his connections to organized crime, his ability to interact with fans and the general public.  Even when he lost the second of his two bouts with Muhammad Ali, he generated questions as to why that happened.   This biography of Liston by Paul Gallender is an attempt to answer some of these questions and also portray Liston in a manner that was very different than the manner the press did so during Liston’s life.

Throughout the book, Gallender will compare what Liston’s actions and thoughts were about his training, his fights, his manner of handling his celebrity status and his career to those same topics as they were covered by the press.   The reader will see the difference.   Gallender gathered much of his information through research and interviews of those people who were involved with Liston.   The quality of his research shows as there are many new stories and details that even avid boxing fans of the era will be surprised to know. 

This biography does not delve with great detail about aspects of Liston’s life that were not related to his boxing career.  Of course there is good information on his childhood and excellent writing about his relationship with his wife (her loyalty to her husband was very touching) but there was a good balance of those types of passages mixed in with the boxing aspects of Liston’s life.  I was hoping to read mostly about the boxing and was happy with this aspect of the book.

The author also gives fair coverage to controversial topics, such as whether Liston “threw” the second fight with Ali because of ties to organized crime or whether he was threatened if he didn’t lose the fight.   The official reason for many years was that Liston was injured, and the author sticks with this reason, but gives ample coverage of the other reasons bandied about through the years.

Overall, this is an outstanding account of Liston’s career and life.  This type of book for this particular boxer is difficult to find in any bookstore or library.  As someone who has been intrigued with Liston’s career, I found this book to be just what I needed to read to learn more about the man. 

Did I skim?

No

Did I learn something new?
Yes.   Having not been old enough to understand the sport when the two fights took place, I did learn a lot of information in this book.  Those fights and Liston’s story in particular have always intrigued me and I found this book to be a wealth of information for that.

Pace of the book: 

Excellent.  Never drags and is always moving on to the next pertinent topic.   

Positives:

Everything, but what I especially liked is that most of the information on Liston’s life outside the ring was covered in a manner that still connected with his boxing or his boxing related business.  There weren’t a lot of irrelevant stories or outside fluff and I found that to be very good.

This is a personal preference of mine, but something I really liked is that the author referred to Liston’s opponent in the two fights as both “Cassius Clay” and “Muhammad Ali” when appropriate – meaning that the man was named “Clay” until legally changed to “Ali.”  I believe that is best for true accuracy.  Most books will refer to him as “Ali” regardless of the time described in the particular passage.

Negatives:

The closest to a negative I could find is that a reader might believe that the author is very protective of Liston and may not be totally objective in his writing.  I found that not to be the case, as I believed he was simply trying to portray Liston as not quite the same person that the press did at the time.

Do I recommend? 

Yes.  Any boxing fan or historian will enjoy this book.

Book Format Read:

EBook (Kindle)

Buying Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Sonny-Liston-Behind-Ali-Liston-ebook/dp/B00BWDCPK2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1373801674&sr=1-1&keywords=sonny+liston

Review of "Endgame"

While reading multiple books at one time can be fun and challenging, it does take some time to get everything in your mind organized.   With that thought, what better book can be reviewed than one on the greatest chess mind in our lifetime?   This is a review of a biography on Bobby Fischer. 

Title/Author:

“Endgame: Bobby Fischer’s Remarkable Rise and Fall – from America’s Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness” by Frank Brady

Tags:

Chess, biography, non-fiction, history, Fischer, Spassky, Cold War

Published:

February 1, 2011

Length:

465 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

No other chess match or game has captured the world’s attention more than the 1972 World Championship match between challenger Bobby Fischer of the United States and champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union.  After winning this match, Fischer became a huge celebrity and this extra attention also showed the world the other side of the man.  His life both before and after this event is covered in this biography written by Frank Brady.

It illustrates a young man who was raised along with his sister by a single mother who was chasing dreams of her own.  He would spend a lot of his free time at chess clubs or in the library learning as much of the game as he could and using a small chess set to simulate the games.  Fischer’s ability to memorize and analyze thousands of games and game situations is well documented and helped him on the way to the championship.

What is also well documented and described is Fischer’s personality, which shows some bizarre characteristics as well.  He would often make outrageous demands for business deals or for conditions before he would participate in matches.   Most of the time, these demands were eventually met, but it showed his lack of negotiating skills, taking the “my way or the highway” approach.

It is also well-known that Fischer would engage in behavior or outbursts that were paranoid, anti-Semitic, or otherwise far from ordinary.   These eventually caught up to Fischer and led him to isolationism, eventually landing him in Iceland where he settled after a nomadic life that had to end because he wore out his welcome in most nations.  It is also important to note that he was facing tax evasion charges in the United States.   His family was also regularly investigated by the FBI because of their connections with Russia – his mother for her studies and Fischer for his interest because chess was highly regarded there.  

All of these are combined together to make a very intriguing and entertaining biography of a brilliant but troubled man.   There is chess talk in the book as well, but not too far in depth. Therefore, a non-chess buff will enjoy this book as well as an enthusiastic player or fan.

Did I skim?

No

Did I learn something new?

Yes.   Most of what I learned that was new was about his relationships with his mother and sister, as those were reported in the media as strained.   While unusual, the book portrayed these relationships as loving, not estranged as was often reported.  The regret that Fischer shows when he cannot attend his mother’s funeral or face arrest in the United States is a good example of this.

Pace of the book: 

Very good.  It doesn’t drag too slowly and the sections on Fischer’s important chess matches make you feel you are there in the chair next to him.

Positives:

Outstanding research is evident in this book as many minute details of Fischer’s famous rants and demands from tournament officials are shared.   The author was able to glean many minute and obscure details that made this very rich and vivid for the reader.

Negatives:

I would have liked to see more in-depth writing about the actual chess games in some of the matches.  An example is during the second match with Spassky, many games toward the end ended in a draw as Fischer wrapped up the match early.   Yes, these games may not have been key in deciding the outcome, but more than a simple sentence saying they ended in a draw would have been better.

Do I recommend? 

Yes.  Even if the reader is not interested in chess, Fischer’s biography is a very interesting tale and any reader who likes good biographies will enjoy this book.

Book Format Read:

EBook (Kindle)

 

Buying Links:

http://www.amazon.com/Endgame-Fischers-Remarkable-Americas-Brightest/dp/0307463915/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373799028&sr=1-1

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/endgame-frank-brady/1100054183?ean=9780307463913