Book Description
In this eagerly awaited new novel, Lionel Shriver, the Orange Prize-winning author of the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin, delivers an imaginative and entertaining look at the implications, large and small, of whom we choose to love. Using a playful parallel-universe structure, The Post-Birthday World follows one woman's future as it unfolds under the influence of two drastically different men.
Children's book illustrator Irina McGovern enjoys a quiet and settled life in London with her partner, fellow American expatriate Lawrence Trainer, a smart, loyal, disciplined intellectual at a prestigious think tank. To their small circle of friends, their relationship is rock solid. Until the night Irina unaccountably finds herself dying to kiss another man: their old friend from South London, the stylish, extravagant, passionate top-ranking snooker player Ramsey Acton. The decision to give in to temptation will have consequences for her career, her relationships with family and friends, and perhaps most importantly the texture of her daily life.
Hinging on a single kiss, this enchanting work of fiction depicts Irina's alternating futures with two men temperamentally worlds apart yet equally honorable. With which true love Irina is better off is neither obvious nor easy to determine, but Shriver's exploration of the two destinies is memorable and gripping. Poignant and deeply honest, written with the subtlety and wit that are the hallmarks of Shriver's work, The Post-Birthday World appeals to the what-if in us all.
Customer Reviews:
"Cool factor" only goes so far.......2007-09-07
I had hoped this would be one of the high concept "What if" books that I love.... After all - we get to see what would happen when/if the main character made one of two choices at a crux in her life. (Kind of like the movie "Sliding Doors".) BUT - the cool factor of the idea only went so far - and after a while - I simply didn't care which choice she made. I just wanted the book to end. It was OK - the things that stay the same regardless of the path she (Irinia) is on and the aspects of other peoples lives that change are interesting to think about. BUT - it went on too long... And the way she (the author) was DETERMINED to keep going back to terrorist attacks was weird.
Book of Dense Richness Leaves An Empty Aftertaste.......2007-09-07
In the interests of not creating a review that is nearly as long as this book, I will try to keep my comments brief. This book has brilliance in many ways, ways that have undoubtedly been pointed out by others who reviewed it. Lionel Shriver is a sharp, funny and very articulate writer and deconstructor of emotional complexity. My favorite part? The scene with Irina, Ramsy and Irina's mother at Christmas. Ramsy, himself, is a wonderful, very alive character. The premise of this book is an intriguing one (a parallel of lives, colliding, at times) and Shriver explores it which much deft adroitness. Still, I was rather dismayed by some of the cheap, fat-targeted humor, as well as the digs at Princess Di, Monica Lewinsky and a character who gains weight. Then, too, the author shows how extremely hard she has striven, at the book's end, to most decidedly Not present the typical, happy ending of chick lit. This is admirable, but the ending Shriver *does* present is a rather weak one, in my opinion, compared to the vigor of the rest of the book. After going through so Very Much with all the characters, one is left with an empty feeling of: oh well. That was....nice.
Not my favorite..........2007-08-29
This was book we read for book club. I found it to bounce around a bit too much and I was not even clear of what was going on till a 3rd the way through the book. She is a lovely writer and very descriptive. Just a bit jumbled.
I really wanted to like this book........2007-08-29
I read so many glowing reviews and the premise is such an intriguing one. Who hasn't pondered where different choices might have taken them? And some parts of it are astonishingly good. My favorite line and I think it's where the character goes home for the holidays: "God, cheerfulness can be a form of assault." That's just one of many bull's eye moments. The author has very sharp insight into the intricacies of human emotion, maybe too much at times. A top editor could have really worked this one out. I'm really losing faith in editors and book reviewers these days. She stretches the conceit as far as it can go, breaking a lot of "writer" rules as she goes along - feels more rebellious than sloppy - and it works often enough to prove those rules to be needlessly limiting. There are spots of pure writer's gold every few pages. So much of Irina's inner dialogue is dark and witty, laugh out loud stuff that rings true.
The down side is that the really good parts cast the rest of it in shadow. I'm not one who has to fall in love and totally relate to the main character, but I found Irina to be stupid and unlikable. The men are bland stock characters. Ramsey's dialogue makes it sound like she's romancing Hagrid. He is an unsophisticated emotional imbecile, who YES we get it, is good in the sack. The characterization of Lawrence is no better. He is either dull but trustworthy and true or he is dull and hiding something. I'm curious why anyone would fashion such a trio of losers. But the main character is so awful as to be puzzling. Was it the author's intention to write about a stupid and shallow woman who will invariably shoot herself in the foot no matter what she does? Would she like to know the character she created? I wouldn't. It's odd to think of a woman in her early 40s behaving this way. Did she spend her 20s in a nunnery? I haven't quite finished, so maybe she did.
The dialogue can be cringeworthy and indulgent. For one, everyone speaks in long emotion-heavy paragraphs that serve to move the plot along. The real and imagined scenarios are grossly daydreamy and maudlin. In fact at times, it reads like a bad daydream by a romance reader who finds Lifetyme TV absorbing. The author also wants to weigh in on the 90s and those parts are clunky and intrusive. She also suffers from the laughable (usually) male writer affliction of the perfect woman - beautiful without any makeup, thin without any effort. She even loses weight when she does nothing but eat out and booze it up with Ramsey! Wow, what an accomplishment. She should be so proud. Yet her only insight into her sister's marriage is to wonder whether her husband loves her because she went (this is so misogynistic) from "bird to cow."
I also never want to read another word about snooker ever again. I'm going to try one more of this author's books and/or maybe her next one. But if there is even a hint of snooker in either of them, it's going back.
Absolutely Loved This Book.......2007-08-13
A friend recommended this book to me. Not knowing anything about it, I began to read it, and soon found that I could not put it down. What I found most compelling is that the storyline can be related to most anyone's life. We all make choices as we go, regarding relationships, and have you ever wondered "what if" you chose another other path with someone else? That's what this book addresses. It really drew me in and made me think. Thank you Lionel Shriver for the best read I've had in a long time.
Amazon.com
Book Description
Pistol is more than the biography of a ballplayer. It's the stuff of classic novels: the story of a boy transformed by his father's dream--and the cost of that dream. Even as Pete Maravich became Pistol Pete--a basketball icon for baby boomers--all the Maraviches paid a price. Now acclaimed author Mark Kriegel has brilliantly captured the saga of an American family: its rise, its apparent ruin, and, finally, its redemption.
Almost four decades have passed since Maravich entered the national consciousness as basketball's boy wizard. No one had ever played the game like the kid with the floppy socks and shaggy hair. And all these years later, no one else ever has. The idea of Pistol Pete continues to resonate with young people today just as powerfully as it did with their fathers.
In averaging 44.2 points a game at Louisiana State University, he established records that will never be broken. But even more enduring than the numbers was the sense of ecstasy and artistry with which he played. With the ball in his hands, Maravich had a singular power to inspire awe, inflict embarrassment, or even tell a joke.
But he wasn't merely a mesmerizing showman. He was basketball's answer to Elvis, a white Southerner who sold Middle America on a black man's game. Like Elvis, he paid a terrible price, becoming a prisoner of his own fame.
Set largely in the South, Kriegel's Pistol, a tale of obsession and basketball, fathers and sons, merges several archetypal characters. Maravich was a child prodigy, a prodigal son, his father's ransom in a Faustian bargain, and a Great White Hope. But he was also a creature of contradictions: always the outsider but a virtuoso in a team sport, an exuberant showman who wouldn't look you in the eye, a vegetarian boozer, an athlete who lived like a rock star, a suicidal genius saved by Jesus Christ.
A renowned biographer--People magazine called him "a master"--Kriegel renders his subject with a style that is, by turns, heartbreaking, lyrical, and electric.
The narrative begins in 1929, the year a missionary gave Pete's father a basketball. Press Maravich had been a neglected child trapped in a hellish industrial town, but the game enabled him to blossom. It also caused him to confuse basketball with salvation. The intensity of Press's obsession initiates a journey across three generations of Maraviches. Pistol Pete, a ballplayer unlike any other, was a product of his father's vanity and vision. But that dream continues to exact a price on Pete's own sons. Now in their twenties--and fatherless for most of their lives--they have waged their own struggles with the game and its ghosts.
Pistol is an unforgettable biography. By telling one family's history, Kriegel has traced the history of the game and a large slice of the American narrative.
"Why Pistol?"
An Exclusive Essay by Mark Kriegel
"Why Pistol?" I'm asked that all the time.Pete Maravich became famous in the late 1960s, while setting scoring records at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. I'm not a son of the South. Nor, at 44, do I have any meaningful recollection of basketball's boy wizard in his floppy-socked prime. I grew up in the Seventies, on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, a few blocks from Madison Square Garden. I was a fan of the Knicks and their star guard, Walt "Clyde" Frazier. In terms of basketball style, Clyde and Pistol were antithetical. Frazier's flamboyance--I recall committing his "wardrobe stats" to memory--was not apparent on the court. Rather, he was celebrated as a dogged defender. His game was wise, economical, his gaze expressionless. Maravich, by contrast, was considered a head-case. His eyes were sad--even a kid could see that. Still, there was a distinct exuberance in the way he moved. No one moved like that, before or since.
Continue reading "Why Pistol?"
Customer Reviews:
Entertaining, tragic, yet uplifting.......2007-09-21
This is a VERY well written book that appealed to me both because of its broad sweeping history of basketball interwoven into a very compelling generational drama. If you had told me that the first third of the book would be mostly about father Press Maravich, I would have thought that was taking too long to get to the good stuff. But that was fascinating as well, and really set the stage for the enigma that was Maravich. Brilliant, creative, in-your-face, yet also insecure, frightened, obsessed, and sometimes crazy. Although Pete's sons are not "larger than life" like Pete and Press, I found their inclusion to be a nice touch as well. The book has a tremendous number of references and footnotes, for those who want to dig further. Highly recommended.
Slam Dunk.......2007-08-23
What a fantastic book. The Pistol was way before his time, but how great to relive that time. And to remember this great player for what he brought to the game. The semi-reverence of some of the great players of the present (Sir Charles) says it all. The book is so well written, the perspective fair, the back stories fascinating, and the included photos illuminating.
Outstanding Book About a Tortured Individual.......2007-07-24
David Maraniss, the author of When Pride Still Mattered: A Biography of Vince Lombardi ( definitely among the better sports bios ever written)
endorses Pistol. Says Mr. Maraniss " Pistol is a classic Americdan tale wonderfully told". I certainly agree. Tthis is just a wonderful book even for readers who aren't into basketball, though your being into basketball will make it even better. The author addresses not only Pete Maravich but expands the book to cover his father and his sons, kind of like putting bookends on Maravich's life, and an interesting life it was. Five stars all the way.
Lessons To Be Learned.......2007-07-23
Whether you are a basketball fan or not this biography of Pete Maravich will provide you with lessons to be learned. People search for happiness in all the wrong places such as alcohol, fame, or even in their chosen profession. Pete Maravich's stage was a basketball floor, but during his heyday as a college star at LSU and being coached by his father happiness eluded him. His introduction to the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks and later with the New Orleans/Utah Jazz, and finally the Boston Celtics brought him more heartache than pleasure. It wasn't until his playing days were over and by simple faith accepted Jesus Christ as his savior that the load he had been carrying was finally removed. He found happiness in the simple things in life by being devoted to his two sons and telling others what Christ had done for him. The loss of his father was a difficult blow to him, but he took comfort in knowing that he, too, had accepted the Lord into his life. Biographies of people can teach us a lot, not the least of which is that others, who we often think of as living famous and glamorous lives, are often saddled with problems we can be thankful we don't have. While anyone who enjoys biographies would enjoy this book I think it would be especially appreciated by high school students who love basketball.
Great Memories and Inspiration for the Future........2007-07-07
During the summer between my junior and senior year of high school I attended the Pete Maravich Basketball Camp at a college where I would later attend and play basketball myself. I remember that week of camp and the magical things that Pistol could do with a basketball. He was definitely mesmerizing. When he would shoot a basketball, the ball seemed to float off his hand in slow motion and then gently glide into the basket. I would say of all of the hundreds of shots he attempted while we were there that week he maybe missed a total of three or four shots.
I also remember the food at the camp. No red meats or processed sugars. Everything was fresh and healthy. Although I would have probably loved the food now; I hated it then, and I remember the first thing our coach did after the camp ended was he took us to McDonalds and we gorged ourselves on Big Macs, french fries and milkshakes. To be honest, I am pretty ashamed of that now.
When I was playing ball at college during the last years of Press's life. I think he was probably retired and just to keep himself busy, he would come by the college and work with us individually on different parts of our game. I remember he used to work with me on my freethrows. He improved my average by about 10%. I still remember the smile on his face when I made 20 freethrows in a row while he was standing under the basket shagging my attempts.
Needless to say this book was great and it brought back all those great memories. Pete was such a huge impact on our culture but even more incredible is that I can't think of another person with such a tremendous influence on society having such a real, authentic Christian conversion. Sure every now and again you hear by word of mouth or maybe on the gossip news that someone is now a Christian, but then you look at there lives and nothing has changed. Pistol changed...completely changed. Not only did he change his ways but he was finally happy and content with his life. I saw that for myself at his camp and this book details that change in way that was so interesting and captivating.
Another unexpected thing I got from this book, and I am not sure that Kriegel had this goal or not, but reading about Pete's life with Press and how he changed his ways to be a tremendous father to his two sons has really inspired me to be a better father to my two kids.
This one of those very few books that I just could not put down, and I highly recommend it.
Average customer rating:
- An engaging and elegantly written account of Jackie Robinson's groundbreaking rookie season with the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers
- Walking in Jackie's shoes
- The opening day of my memories...
- a Must read
- RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "I LOVE JACKIE ROBINSON!"
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Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season
Jonathan Eig
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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ASIN: 0743294602 |
Book Description
April 15, 1947, marked the most important opening day in baseball history. When Jackie Robinson stepped onto the diamond that afternoon at Ebbets Field, he became the first black man to break into major-league baseball in the twentieth century. World War II had just ended. Democracy had triumphed. Now Americans were beginning to press for justice on the home front -- and Robinson had a chance to lead the way.
He was an unlikely hero. He had little experience in organized baseball. His swing was far from graceful. And he was assigned to play first base, a position he had never tried before that season. But the biggest concern was his temper. Robinson was an angry man who played an aggressive style of ball. In order to succeed he would have to control himself in the face of what promised to be a brutal assault by opponents of integration.
In Opening Day, Jonathan Eig tells the true story behind the national pastime's most sacred myth. Along the way he offers new insights into events of sixty years ago and punctures some familiar legends. Was it true that the St. Louis Cardinals plotted to boycott their first home game against the Brooklyn Dodgers? Was Pee Wee Reese really Robinson's closest ally on the team? Was Dixie Walker his greatest foe? How did Robinson handle the extraordinary stress of being the only black man in baseball and still manage to perform so well on the field? Opening Day is also the story of a team of underdogs that came together against tremendous odds to capture the pennant. Facing the powerful New York Yankees, Robinson and the Dodgers battled to the seventh game in one of the most thrilling World Series competitions of all time.
Drawing on interviews with surviving players, sportswriters, and eyewitnesses, as well as newly discovered material from archives around the country, Jonathan Eig presents a fresh portrait of a ferocious competitor who embodied integration's promise and helped launch the modern civil-rights era. Full of new details and thrilling action, Opening Day brings to life baseball's ultimate story.
Customer Reviews:
An engaging and elegantly written account of Jackie Robinson's groundbreaking rookie season with the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers.......2007-09-08
By the time the middle of the 1940's rolled around Branch Rickey, President of the Brooklyn Dodgers, was already widely acknowledged as one of the smartest, most innovative executives in all of baseball. After all, it had been Rickey who had conceived the notion of a system of minor league farm teams to supply talent to the major league club. In addition, Rickey knew how to evaluate talent like no one else. It got to the point that other general managers did not want to deal with him for fear of getting snookered again. It was sometime around 1944 that Branch Rickey made up his mind that he was going to be the one to integrate Major League Baseball. Always seeking an advantage, Rickey was the first to fully understand that there was a wealth of untapped talent playing in the Negro Leagues. And so it was that before the 1946 season Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson to a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was Rickey's plan to bring Robinson along slowing with the hope of Robinson contributing to the big league club in a year or two. After a magnificent season at AAA Montreal in 1946 it was apparent to most observers that Jackie Robinson would likely find himself suiting up for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. "Opening Day" is Jonathan Eig's splendid account of that historic and memorable season. It is a book that will grab your attention immediately and never let go.
I was quite surprised to learn that Jackie Robinson had really not played all that much baseball before signing with the Dodgers. While in college at UCLA Jackie Robinson had run track and been a star football player. He only dabbled in baseball. But Robinson was widely recognized as one of the best all-around athletes in the nation. It was this athleticism that intrigued Branch Rickey. On August 28, 1945 Robinson and Rickey would meet for the very first time. After taking careful measure of the man Rickey was convinced that Jackie Robinson had the proper temperment to endure the difficulties that were sure to arise as major league baseball attempted to integrate its game. After just one year in the minors Branch Rickey deemed Jackie Robinson ready to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. In "Opening Day" Jonathan Eig introduces us to Burt Shotten, the unassuming manager of the 1947 Dodgers and to the men who would be Jackie's teammates. Make no mistake about it. There was a ton of pressure on these men as well. Players like Eddie Stanky, Dixie Walker and Pee Wee Reese really had no idea what to expect in 1947. You will come to understand how the players coped with the drama unfolding all around them. And you see how a team that little was expected of would come together over the course of the long season and make this the most memorable season in the history of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
But of course it is important to understand that "Opening Day" is not just a book about baseball. For this is a story of courage and tenacity.
For one very special season Jackie Robinson took the whole world upon his shoulders. Rickey and Robinson were gambling that if this experiment was successful Major League Baseball would finally see the error of its ways and integrate the game. And it proved to be a risk worth taking. "Opening Day" managed to hold my interest from cover to cover. Jonathan Eig is a wonderful storyteller and I simply could not put this one down. One of the best sports books I have read in a very long time!
Highly recommended!
Walking in Jackie's shoes.......2007-08-04
Author Jonathan Eig does an excellent job of putting the reader in Jackie Robinson's shoes for the 1947 season. You get a good sense of what life was like for Robinson, on and off the field. He and his wife Rachael and young son, Jack Jr., shared a small bedroom in the Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment of a woman in a black neighborhood. The living conditions only added to the stress of Robinson's rookie season. Can you imagine any rookie living that way today?
Eig details how teammates and opponents treated Robinson. Many of his teammates were aloof, at best. Many were Southerns who didn't care for him. The role Dixie Walker played in supposedly circulating a petition protesting Robinson's addition to the Dodgers is covered.
Eig recounts each series of the 1947, detailing how opponents treated Robinson, how he performed on the field, and how he had to room with black families when he was on the road. It's interesting to see how some things changed as the season progressed.
This book is essential for any fan who wants to know more about Jackie Robinson and the 1947 season. It will increase whatever admiration you have for Robinson.
The opening day of my memories..........2007-07-18
indeed the book is about baseball, however it is about soooo much more.
From my perspective of someone who was four years old in 1947 Eig's work instantly turned the shadows on my wall of rememberances into a vivid dance of joy.
There was MacArthur, Rickey, Flatbush Ave, stars earning a few bucks more than Ralph Kramden, a guy named Moses who lead NYC to international prominence and forced "them Bums" out of Brooklyn. I can not tell you how much I signed bitter sweet tears of joy through out this Illid.
I had kept this Father's day gift ominously staring at me from my bedside night table for two weeks as I had declared it's purpose in life was to be my companion on a transatlantic trip w/my son to Spain and Italy.
It turned out to be the best traveling companion I ever had so I knew the era forgave me for letting it linger in the brink for those weeks.
I was reminded that in the late forties why my family, sterotypical Italianos, were die hard Yankee fans and why I had to be different. I flashed back to 1949 when I got a Leaf bubble card and opened to see a black face with a mesmerizing smile looking at me and how nonplused I was when I asked my dad who this "Negro" was since living in San Antonio at the time my exposure to there culture was next to nil.
My foggy view of the Korean "conflict" came to light as did all the references to Caro's _The Power Broker_ started to make sense. How social change evolved and the sturm un drang (sp)of the times accelerated the process. This and so much more kept me enchanted across the pond and I was only jarred back to 2007 when we touched down at Frankfurt and I had so kiss my friend farewell, blinked my eyes and uncremoniously place him in my overnight bag all the while thanking him for sixty years of memories brought to life.
a Must read.......2007-06-18
Jackie Robinson was a true Ambassador of the game of Baseball. it's well known about Branch Rickey signing Jackie to the Dodgers and the Historic Impact of Jackie Robinson being the first Black Baseball Player to break the Color Barrier in Major League baseball 60 years ago. Jackie Robinson was also a 4 letter Athlete at the University of UCLA. He was a Gifted Athlete and a Smart Man whose first Season hadn't been fully told until now. this is a Great Book and it answers so much about just how things went down 60 years ago. Jackie Robinson is a true Civil Rights Leader and a Ground-Breaker who paved the way for so many.
RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "I LOVE JACKIE ROBINSON!".......2007-06-12
I am a born and raised Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodger fan. In fact my family moved from New York to Los Angeles the same year as the Dodgers. Before my brothers and I were born, my parents went to Ebbets field every weekend. I still have a box full of Brooklyn scorecards from those days. I was too young to see Jackie in his prime, but my Dad took me to some games in 1956 and I got to see Jackie and all the "Boys Of Summer"! I was a Brooklyn Dodger fanatic even at that age. Besides watching the Dodgers, I read everything available on them, and still do, 50 years later. I can unabashedly say I love Jackie Robinson. One of my many fond memories of my Dad, was him talking to me in front of our tiny black and white TV watching the Dodgers. He said "I have gone to hundreds of baseball games, and have seen 1,000 players, and the most exciting player I ever saw was Jackie Robinson!" "What Jackie did, was not displayed only in the statistics. Over the history of baseball, many players stole more bases. (Such as Ricky Henderson stealing bases with a 7 run lead in the 8th inning.) But no one unnerved every player on the team just by leading off the base and dancing on his pigeon toes, like Jackie. This book points out little, subtle, beneficial affects, on the whole Dodger team, that the average fan wouldn't see. The pitcher and catcher would be so nervous with Jackie dancing around on the base paths, that they would be afraid to throw curve balls, so the batters got better pitches to hit. Jackie stole home more times, than just about anyone except Ty Cobb. When we moved to Los Angeles there was a program on called the "Million Dollar Theatre", in which they showed the same movie on TV every day for a week. When the "Jackie Robinson Story" was on, I watched it every night, and literally memorized the dialogue. People forget that the Brooklyn Dodgers were the "original America's team". And that was because of Jackie. When Jackie broke the color line, he wasn't only fighting for the blacks, but he also was fighting for the Jews, and every minority that has been suppressed. When I watch old sports shows, when they talk about Jackie, I actually get tears in my eyes, because I know what he went through. I've read just about every meaningful book on Jackie and the Brooklyn Dodgers. I would rate this book as the 2nd best Jackie book of them all. (My personal favorite is "Great Time Coming".)
This book was interesting to me as compared to many others, because it not
only zoomed in on his first year as a player, but also went deeper into
his personal life during that first year. All the way to the size of a little room he and Rachel rented, along with their infant son. If you were to ask me, what, with all my knowledge, I have on Jackie's playing, was the biggest thing I learned from this book, I would say his affect, and dominance, in every facet of the game, that didn't appear in his batting average, in a losing cause as a rookie in the 1947 World Series against the hated and despised Yankees. This is a great book and I recommend it to everyone. P.S. In my opinion Jackie was the greatest all around athlete since Jim Thorpe. A lot of people forget that Jackie was the first 4-sport letterman at UCLA. He was an All American football player, the top scorer on UCLA's basketball team, a record setter in the long jump, and of course baseball, which was actually his weakest sport at that time. Duke Snider tells a story about when Duke was in high school in Compton California, and Jackie was playing for Pasadena City College (A junior college). Duke went to see Jackie play a baseball game. One inning Jackie hit a homerun, and then in his full baseball uniform, with spikes on, ran over to the track field between innings, won the broad jump, and ran back to the baseball field in time to play the next inning!
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:
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!
Surely Michael Lewis' best storytelling to date.......2007-07-21
I've read all of Michael Lewis' books except "Coach" (as a friend recently commented, "let's leave those to Mitch Albom"). Lewis has made a career out of counter-intuition. "The Blind Side" fits well into the Lewis groove. The casual fan watches football and thinks quarterback, running back, wide receiver. But Lewis takes you through the game's evolution (with its increased reliance on precision passing) and shows you why the left tackle has become the game's second-highest-paid position. As Lewis notes, as the salaries of quarterbacks have risen, so has the cost of insurance. And, on the football field, quarterback insurance is personified by the left tackle...protector of the blind side.
As one reviewer notes here, 'The Blind Side' contains "many stories, all good." Exactly. While the incredible tale of Michael Oher consumes a good portion of the book, there are other great stories. For example, Lewis paints a brilliantly vivid picture of Lawrence Taylor's impact on the league; and I love the juxtaposition of Bill Walsh's brand of football (as personified by Joe Montana) vs. Bill Parcells' brand of football (as personified by LT).
I'm tempted to say this might be Lewis' finest work. The only reason I won't is because of the monster that is Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street, a book that people may well be referencing 50 years from now. I'm also a big fan of the under-appreciated "Trail Fever" (released as Losers: The Road to Everyplace but the White House - which I bet Lewis hated since the whole point of the book was that the so-called losers were life's real winners - in paperback). But "The Blind Side" is surely the author's best storytelling. I bet he'll agree to that.
Average customer rating:
- No more Scrabble squabbles!
- Be Prepared to meet the Challenges
- The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary
- I'm sorry, but Qwerty is NOT a word.
- To many two-letter foriegn words, e.g. xi, xu, qi
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The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary
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ASIN: 0877799296 |
Book Description
New edition! An inexpensive edition of the book that SCRABBLE players call their bible. Ideal for recreational and school play. More than 100,000 playable two- to eight-letter words including 4,000 new entries. Includes variant spellings. Endorsed by the National SCRABBLE Association.
Customer Reviews:
No more Scrabble squabbles!.......2007-10-06
Loving the Scrabble dictionary. Now there's no more sheepish looking around for a "layman's" dictionary while playing Scrabble, and many official Scrabble words are not in the regular dictionary. And no more Scrabble squabbles! This official version puts to rest any questioning looks from across the board. Who new "qat" was a word? And having learned it prior to a recent game, "qat" helped us build the board north when it was going hopelessly south. I'm having fun learning new Q, J, X and Z words for those formerly heart-sinking moments nearing the end of the game and drawing one of them. A great gift for Scrabble lovers. Nice big print, user-friendly, easy to carry to any game. With all the interest in keeping the brain healthy and sharp as we age, learning new Scrabble words and playing games and puzzles help the brain to stay agile and functional. Who knew Scrabble and this dictionary were actually good for your health!! I will be getting another to give to a friend as a gift. You simply can't play Scrabble without it!
Be Prepared to meet the Challenges.......2007-10-01
With each new volume the avid scrabble player becomes more adept to meet the challenges of intercultural usages of words, making the competition involved in word building, more exciting and satisfying.
Thank you for a great and informative volume.
The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary.......2007-09-06
I have enjoyed my book. It has increased my game. The book is in fine condition.
I'm sorry, but Qwerty is NOT a word........2007-09-06
I'm sorry, but Qwerty is NOT a word. Neither is "Herstory" or a good number of other stoopid werds in this aggravating book that - unfortunately - somehow got isself endorsed by Scrabble officials. The definitions are slim and in many cases, nonexistent. I thought Scrabble was supposed to be played in English? well, there's lots of foreign words in here too. "Barneys"?!?! That's a name. Furthermore, we've been playing Super Scrabble (twice the scores, twice the tiles, and twice the time - but BIG fun), and another aggravating "feature" is that this book does not contain any words longer than 8 characters - so you can fuggeddabout adding onto "Further" to make "Furthermore" - cause its not in here! This book gives me an Incredulity (11 letters - not in there!) socre of 75% and an Aggravation (also 11 letters - and not in there either!) score of 99%. Every time we play I want to do a Farenheit 451 on the damn thang!!!!
To many two-letter foriegn words, e.g. xi, xu, qi.......2007-09-02
I got this book because I was heading out on a month-long trip with some people I didn't know and they said they liked to play scrabble. I figured this would be the easy way to end all potential conflict between on this subject. It did that pretty well, but in part because we all did not like many of the words in this book.
I was especially appalled with the words Xi, xu, qi and others like that that converted scrabble from a game of leveraging your vocabulary to one of remembering odd otherwise-useless trivia about strange words.
The next time I play scrabble I am going to request that we either eliminate 2-letter words, or stick to ones that would have been in common english usage throughout the 20th century.
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.
Amazon.com
This Revised Edition (also called 3.5) of one-third of the Dungeons & Dragons trinity of core rulebooks (the other two being The Dungeon Master's Guide and The Monster Manual) contains errata, rules updates, and outright changes to the already-published Third Edition rules. The majority of changes are made in a quest for the holy grail of game rules: balance. To prevent boredom and enable creative choices, no single ability, spell, character class, or weapon should have an overwhelming advantage over another. So what has changed?
- The spells Harm, Heal, and Haste have been toned down. Other spells have been adjusted or renamed.
- Weapons are classified by the Size of the intended wielder, not the size of the individual weapons. A noteworthy effect of this new weapon size system is that Small characters can wield small-size greatswords, longswords, longspears (with reach), and other two-handed weapons.
- Classes have been tweaked. Bards and rangers received the most changes.
- New feats have been added (some original, some from the builder books), and some feats have been altered (a Power Attack now gives double benefit for two-handed weapons).
- Redundant skills have been rolled into one (such as sense motive and read lips) while others have been renamed (such as "wilderness lore" becoming "survival"). Skill synergies have been expanded and knowledge skills now include appropriate monster lore.
In addition to outright rules changes and tweaks, much of the core rule content has been clarified and updated with 3E errata. The combat section, in particular, is organized much better. Even the dreaded grapple rules are now relatively clear. A much-appreciated import from the D&D Miniatures game are new and simple rules for cover and line of sight, as well as clear photographic illustrations of the concepts of facing, attacks of opportunity, and reach.
All in all, 3.5 is a welcome update. The typographical errors are forgivable, given the extent of the update. The new options available to players (in the form of new class features and feats) make the play experience more fun. Veterans will enjoy re-learning the game they love and exploring all the new character possibilities. Perhaps more importantly, they'll find that introducing new gamers to the admittedly formidable D&D ruleset is easier with 3.5 than it was with 3E--call it a +2 circumstance bonus. --Mike Fehlauer
Book Description
Endless adventure and untold excitement await! Prepare to venture forth with your bold compaions into a world of heroic fantasy. Within these pages, you'll discover all the tools and options you need to create characters worthy of song and legend for the
Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.
The revised Player's Handbook is the definitive rulebook for the
Dungeons & Dragons game. It contains complete rules for the newest edition and is an essential purchase for anyone who wants to play the game.
The revised Player's Handbook received revisions to character classes to make them more balanced, including updates to the bard, druid, monk, paladin, and ranger. Spell lists for characters have been revised and some spell levels adjusted. Skills have been consolidated somewhat and clarified. A larger number of feats have been added to give even more options for character customization in this area. In addition, the new and revised content instructs players on how to take full advantage of the tie-in
D&D miniatures line planned to release in the fall of 2003 from Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Customer Reviews:
Great Updated Game.......2007-08-07
Having played Dungeons & Dragons in all its incarnations back to Advanced D&D, I must say this is the best so far. I love all the updates.
Anyone who played AD&D for any length of time can tell you the biggest problem of the game was the SLOW level advancement. the group I'm in played the same characters for almost 9 years and struggled to get to 14th level. And the monsters were not hard enough once you got high level. But this issue has been addressed and solved in D&D 3.5.
Another pesky issue was that of Armor Class. I hated THACO, and the 1st ed. AD&D system was very limited plus you needed all those charts. In 3.5 there is no limit in sight. And it's easy as pie to deal with during combat. Just roll the dice and go.
My only drawback is that for a DM, it is harder to create complete NPC's, since character creation is so involved. But on the Player's side, I love that character creation is so involved. It helps me get a good feel of who my character is before we even play. Great to create role-playing opportunities.
All in all this is a really fun game that has been inproved in a wonderful way.
Player's Handbook.......2007-05-10
The structure and overall content more or less remained the same. This is still the main book necessary for making characters and running a game. The changes were, on the whole, in the details.
Pros
* They made some good tweaks on the barbarian, making him more playable. For instance, they now have a trap sense ability and the ability to go into an advanced form of rage at 20th level.
* They played with the bard, somewhat, too. Among other things, they now have more skill points, to give them a broader use in the game.
* The druid now has the ability to convert a spell slot to a summoning spell, much like the cleric's ability to convert a spell slot to a healing spell.
* The monk has a few minor tweaks as well, notably in the attacks per round department.
* The paladin now has their powers spread out a bit, to discourage multiclassing into paladin for one level, solely for the saving throw bonuses.
* The ranger has considerably more versatility. They almost made the ranger playable, but messed it up in the end.
* There are minor tweaks in the skill section. They cut the innuendo and scry skills for instance. No one used them anyway.
* Many feats were brought to the Player's Handbook from other books. This opens them up into open game content for the d20 companies out there.
* Weapons are now based on the character's size. For instance, a longsword comes in the medium variety, the small variety and the large variety. While a halfling's longsword may seem like a short sword to a human, the hilt is the wrong size for a human to wield properly.
* There are many tweaks to individual spells that for the most part, don't detract, and usually enhance things quite a bit. Some spells were too powerful in 3.0, some not powerful enough. You can tell that a lot of thought went into adjusting game balance in this section.
Cons
* The paladin is no more playable than the 3.0 version. The fighter is still much more powerful. WotC seems to be of the opinion that because the paladin gets played a lot, it isn't broken. They don't seem to realize that people would still play paladins if they had fur and barked like dogs. The paladin is too well ingrained in the D&D psyche for people to ignore it just because the class is broken.
* The ranger almost made it. On my first read, I thought the ranger was fixed, but then I saw that they shorted the ranger in the hit dice department, so the ranger is only a bit less broken than in 3.0.
* While I liked, overall, the combat section, I was annoyed that they didn't fix a few problems I had. For instance, I think mages should get a penalty for casting a spell in the same round that they are hit with a full attack (it seems surprising that a mage can get hit five times in six seconds and still cast a spell without anything more than the casting defensively penalty). They also didn't change the one rule in D&D which annoys me the most, the fact that attacking a collar on someone's neck or a pouch on their side provokes an attack or opportunity. I'll just never get that attacking any object on another person's person (I like the sound of that sentence), makes them so confident of their safety they get a free attack on you.
If you play D&D, you need this book........2007-05-08
Simple as that, if you play Dungeons and Dragons v3.5, you physically need this book. Doesn't matter if you're a PC or a DM, BUY IT.
Great revision.......2007-04-22
Any review of this book is, by necessity, a review of the 3rd edition book it replaces. Regular gamers had some common complaints about the way 3rd edition came out, and this revision addresses some of them. Before I get into the details, I'd like to make a general observation for any first time gamers. D&D is THE role playing game right now. If you're looking to get into an RPG, D&D is your best choice. The D20 engine (game mechanic) is intuitive, and with an experienced DM, any group of four or five friends can be up and running in no time. Now, on to the crunchy stuff (If you're a novice, you might want to stop reading now):
1. Ranger class revision. The ranger class was often maligned as either underpowered or only worthwhile for one level. The new ranger class isn't as front loaded, and turns the ranger from a poorly armored guy with two knives and a dog to the agile wilderness warrior I envisioned. I wish they had found a way to keep the d10 hit die, but I guess it was necessary to drop the ranger to a d8 to give the extra abilities (Evasion, woodland stride, etc). I'd hesitate to say that this is worth the price of admission, but as revisions go, it's heavy-handed enough that I'd consider it a new class.
2. Nerfed magic. There were certain spells or combinations of spells that could prove overpowered in battle. Haste was the most frequent offender, and now loses its effect if the target casts a spell. I don't play casters often, so others can speak to this better than I can, but wizards and sorcerers are brought slightly more in line with other classes in 3.5. That said, at higher levels, there's still far more sorcery than sword in this sword and sorcery game.
3. Fighter improvement. OK, there isn't much to speak of. I think a couple of new fighter feats from supplements were added to the core, but those who thought the fighter was underpowered before will likely still think so now. This shortcoming is probably enough reason on its own to keep this from being a 5 star rating. The new fighter feats are largely just another logical step from their prerequisites (greater weapon specialization, greater weapon focus, a few newer forms of toughness that grant more hp, etc). There's nothing in there that wouldn't immediately be house ruled in by any DM approached with the idea by a player playing a fighter. More importantly, anyone playing a fighter would likely already have thought of these. I'll move on now, but suffice it to say that this is the major shortcoming of this book. However, I still think fighters are great first characters, and yes, I still play them even though I've been playing since college.
4. Improved skill lists. I like adding Intimidate as a barbarian class skill, giving the bard and ranger six skill points/level, etc. Basicallly, the game has been made a little more skill-friendly for folks who don't play rogues. If the lack of creative upgrades for the fighter constitute the obvious shortcoming of the revision, then this is the total opposite, a much-needed revision that is subtle, but helps game play a lot in my opinion.
4. Altered races. Dwarves get a few upgrades to make them even more fighter-friendly. I like this, and feel it adds even greater flavor to the dwarves. I just wish that something would be done with/for half elves.
Final Verdict:
I consider 3.5 a step up from 3.0. I like it, and prefer playing 3.5 if given the option. Most people stepped up pretty much immediately, though, so I'm not sure that option really exists. If you want to play a role playing game, chances are you basically have to buy/borrow this book from someone because D&D is the universal RPG. It could be better, but I'd say this is an excellent system, and an excellent use of that system to create a set of classes/races that really gel.
The nuts and bolts for the nutz.......2007-01-16
anyone one of my friends and colleagues who ask me how to play DnD this is the first thing i hand them. i have a loaner copy that is in my house no more then 1 day out of the month. in short this is the best place to start.
Book Description
When Legendary Negro League player Buck O'Neil asked sports columnist Joe Posnanski how he fell in love with baseball, Posnanski had to think about it. From that question was born the idea behind BASEBALL AND JAZZ. Posnanski and the 94 year old O'Neil decided to spend the 2005 baseball season touring the country in hopes of stirring up the love that first drew them to the game. This book is just as much the story of Buck O'Neil as it is the story of baseball. In a time when disillusioned, steroid–shooting, money hungry athletes define the sport, Buck O'Neil stands out as a man that truly played for the love of the game. Posnanski writes about that love and the one thing that O'Neil loved almost as much as baseball: jazz. BASEBALL AND JAZZ is an endearing step back in time to the days when the crack of a bat and the smoky notes of a midnight jam session were the sounds that brought the most joy to a man's heart.
Customer Reviews:
Buck: Almost too good to be true.......2007-09-23
Like many baseball followers, my admiration for Buck O'Neil can be traced to Ken Burns' documentary on baseball. How a black man could live through the era in which Buck lived with the attitudes he has is beyond me. (I am white, not American but lived in the US in the 60s and 70s.) Mr Posnanski's book is is a little too sugary, uncritical and unprobing for my liking. I cannot but help to think that with a little probing there is probably bit more to Buck's attitudes than is presented. However, if you want a feel-good book about this topic, this is the dream book.
On the road with Buck.......2007-09-10
A splendid collection of stories, told by one of our most valuable citizens, and conveyed by a very talented listener and writer.
I Knew Buck O'Neil.......2007-08-24
A great read of a great human being, and baseball man. I would see Buck several times a year in the '80s at the Detroit Tigers, Joker Marchant Stadium, when he was a scout with the Kansas City Royals. He was a pleasant a man you could ever meet. I am pleased to have known the man, even if only those brief moments I was able see and to talk to him.
Buy this book, and read a great tribute of this man and to the Negro Leagues of the past.
A year in the life of Buck O'Neil.......2007-08-23
I found the book very readable and never really got bored with it. I would have liked more in depth stories from when Buck played and managed. Most of the reminisces were short and sweet versions. All and all, I did enjoy the book and consider it a good book, not a great book.
Hmmm..........2007-08-08
I can't help but wonder if the 22 reviews -- all giving this book 5 stars -- are some of the author's closest friends. I am not saying I didn't like the book, but the writing was drab. Through the first few chapters, I got it, Buck O'neal was a good man. So, I'm just saying that the stories were not told in a way that made me connect with Mr. O'Neal --he was just a nice guy and then he died. There are a few editing errors as well, which made it confusing. I am by no means a critic of writing, but I just don't see the amazing book everyone else here did -- anyone agree with me?
Customer Reviews:
great buy.......2007-08-14
This book is pretty good. It is unreasonable to expect that every person is going to use every bit of this book. No one has that much time, or that many characters. Unless of course your characters are suicidal and you roll up a new one every session. To me, if you can pick up a supplement book, pluck out a few classes, feats, and some other good information out of it, chances are its a good buy. Especially considering you can bring that to your gaming group and someone else there might like something that you didn't have a use for. The prestige classes are pretty interesting in terms of class abilities, but I wasn't crazy about them. The enrichment material at the front of the book is excellent though, just like the stuff in PHB2. Solid gold for helping you role-play or just concept a character. The feats and skill tricks presented in this book are also good. In my current campaign I play a Scout (from Complete Adventurer) and I like the character a lot. The problem was, I wasn't getting the full statistical output that my character's personality supports. With the feats in this book, I was able to customize my character by multiclassing in some things without losing some of the Scout class ability progression, which let me make the character into who I felt he should be. The book also has many other feats that make it a lot more appealing to multiclass with levels in a Scoundrel-type class. The skill tricks also add a lot of flavor to your character as well as giving them some cool abilities like some feats give, but with the limitation that they can be used once per day. The book isn't all for the Rogue type, though. It has a fair amount of prestige classes and feats and skill tricks for various casters. To name a few, this book contains the Grey Guard prestige class, sort of like a Paladin with less remorse and more freedom of action. It also has a skill trick that lets anyone with 5 ranks in the Heal skill heal some damage when they stabilize. All in all, I won't use everything in this book, but I will use a good amount of it and it is likely that some of my other players will, too.
Who *isn't* a scoundrel?.......2007-07-24
I was very excited about pre-ordering this book, as it sounded like just the thing for giving sneaky, underhanded spells/feats to sneaky, underhanded characters.
However, being a scoundrel has nothing to do with being sneaky or underhanded. Or clever. Or...well, anything at all. EVERYONE's a scoundrel, as illustrated by the book's "What is a scoundrel?" section. Darth Vader and Mario (yes, that Mario) are cited as examples.
This book is full of very similar feats (more often than not, they're just "Choose to re-roll" affairs).
I would not recommend it.
I loved this book.......2007-07-19
I really found this book helpful, as the skill tricks can be used for different classes and I tend to play a more tactical based character anyway. I've had an enjoyable time experimenting with many classes using the recommendations from this book and the luck feats are rather entertaining at times.
A 5 star, if you're more devious, than "Conan" ;).......2007-06-27
More a sort of explanation and thought provoking book to stir your adventures and characters, than just hard "crunch", it's a good one for those who play more devious, roguish characters or settings, than a "hack n' slash" one.
So, 5 star if you like that, but 3 or 4 star if not into such things.
It's less practical than "Complete Adventurer", but if you play a more roleplay focused, or gritty/personality type of campaign, it can be just the thing.
:)
I'd rather be lucky than good........2007-06-15
This book is an excellent addition to your D and D library, especially if you like to play a character who uses their wits in place of brawn.
If you are familiar with "The Complete X" line of books from WotC than the layout of this book is no surprise. Prestige classes, new feats, new equipment, etc... Either you need more feats to choose from or you don't, same with Prestige classes. However, please read on.
What is new in this book is what really makes this book stand out, in my opinion. Skill Tricks. These tricks are almost like mini feats. They are extremely useful and come in several varieties. Basically they add a bit more flavor to your already useful skill ranks to get a bit more milage out of a skill check. They aid in combat, movement, awareness checks and other sundry uses.
Face it, if you are attracted to this kind of character to begin with you are going to have a on of skill points, skill points gives you more options and uses for spending them.
Book Description
Becoming a Major League ballplayer for Dwight and me, that was the dream.
Dwight is Dwight Gooden. Most people know him for winning the Cy Young Award. To me, though, he’s family, an uncle, but at four years older, really a brother. I can still remember those games of catch with Dwight in the backyard: him rearing back, and me somehow getting my mitt up to stop one of his fireballs. Often the two of us would sit with Grandpa (Dwight’s dad), and he’d tell us how hard it would be to make our dream come true, how just playing our best wouldn’t be enough.
He’d talk about “inside power.”
At the time, I didn’t really understand what Grandpa was driving at. But I do now. After twenty years in the “bigs” and seven Major League teams, I understand. When I landed with my first team, Milwaukee, I thought being a ballplayer was about hitting home runs. I’ve always been good at that. It took me longer to learn that “the game” as it’s played at the Major League level with millions on the line and the cameras always turned in your direction asks far more of you.
If you’re a go-along guy, it can be great. I’ve just found that too often “going along” gets in the way of being a man. I love this game. Love the feel of the bat in my hand, the grass under my feet, the shouts of encouragement as I step into the box. I draw strength from the fans and play my heart out for them.
I just wish those who control the game had more respect for the guys doing the playing.
What I want to do in this book is show you what it’s been like taking this strange, wonderful, sometimes immensely frustrating life journey. “Malcontent” . . . “greedy” . . . “selfish” I’ve had plenty of adjectives lobbed my way, and believe me, they’ve stung. There are a lot of stories to tell from a life lived on and off the field: some sweet, others horrific. Everything from soaking up Little League glory to nearly being shot to death, from learning the startling truth of how I came by my last name to playing with and for characters like A-Rod, Jeter, Lasorda, Leyland, and Torre. And, yeah, I’ll finally set the record straight about a guy named Steinbrenner and a guy named Bonds.
It’s a story Grandpa would want me to tell. It’s a story I need to tell.
Customer Reviews:
2 Thumbs up for Gary Sheffield.......2007-08-24
If you like baseball, then read this book. This book describes most owners and GM's are just business men. It shows really how cruel the Yankees baseball staff is and how great the players. It shows how baseball is unfair to a lot of players and how it is becoming more of a racist sport. This book also shows inspiration and how money isn't everything. This book also shows that Barry Bonds is a really egotistical power-hungry maniac(no offense Giants fans). This is a great book. I picked it up and i didn't put it down until I finished it.
Great Book.......2007-06-18
Gary Sheffield Is one of My Favorite Players and David Ritz is One of Favorite Writers as well. bring there two Worlds together and you have a strong Book. what I dig about Gary Sheffield is that He is One of the very Few true Soul Brothers around who speaks his mind. I miss that from so many cats who are only too happy to grin and get the Money and Be Bought off. Sheff stays on the real.I dug what he said about his Grandpa I can relate to that. Great mentions of his Uncle Dwight "Doc" Gooden. a Strong Book from a Strong Minded Soul Brother.
Among the better Sports books.......2007-06-17
This is among the better sports-related books written recently. Gary Sheffield's story is about what makes a player tick -- and the motivation and self-hype that goes with it. A fast and entertaining read, it has some inside insights into the game of baseball. Sheffield, now playing for my Detroit Tigers, is someone I have never admired, nor liked. This book makes me neither like him more, nor admire him more - once a Yankee, always a Yankee -- but it certainly presents a slice of life into the world of baseball, big egos, and (thank God) ghost writers. A good sports book, that reads in about three hours. Don't look for any amazing revelations. Don't look for anything surprising about any of the (now 7) teams that he has played for. This is about pure ego and how it helps you excel.
inside power.......2007-06-08
the book was awesome Iam a Wrestling coach and i have asked all my Wrestlers to read it to see what a real work attic is all about
Good Read.......2007-05-27
This was a good read. Sheffield wasn't as outspoken as I thought he was going to be, but you learned a lot about what makes him tick in this book. He's a very intense person, who will go to great lengths to prove his worth, both to himself and to others. He doesn't like authority, doesn't like being told what to do or how to do things. This is the basic message you will get from after reading this book. The whole "Bonds" chapter was interesting. Not sure if I believe the steroids issue (I mean, come on, there's no way on Earth he's going to admit to using them--he's got MILLIONS of dollars and his legacy to worry about). He was definitely on juice back when everyone else was. He was IMMENSE! Now he's strong, but not even close to what he was back in 2000 or so. Other than the juice issue, the rest was fairly interesting. It was the kind of book that I read in its entirety in one day, because I didn't feel like putting it down.
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