Everything They Had: Sports Writing from David Halberstam

Author : David Halberstam Number of Pages : 432 Release Date : 2008-05-06 Publisher : Hyperion List Price : $24.95 Amazon Price : $7.98 Used Price : $3.80

Product Description

David Halberstam was a distinguished journalist and historian of American politics. He was also a sports writer. Everything They Had brings together for the first time his articles from newspapers and magazines, a wide-ranging collection edited by Glenn Stout, selected over the full scope of Halberstam's five decades as one of America's most honored journalists. These are dazzling portraits of some of the most compelling sports figures of our era, the superstars of popular sports like basketball, football, and baseball, but also fishing, soccer, and rowing, and the amateur athletes who play for the love of the game.

In "My Dinner with Theodore," Halberstam recounts his long anticipated--and unforgettable--meeting with Red Sox legend Ted Williams. Against the backdrop of 1960s Nashville, he beautifully recounts a lifelong love of football in "How I Fell in Love with the NFL." And "Men Without Women," set on a fishing expedition in Patagonia, is more than a hunt for giant brown trout--it is a story of fishing, friendship, and fellowship. These and many more stories exemplify the breadth and depth of David Halberstam's devotion to diverse sports and his respect and fascination for the men and women who play them so well.

The result is an intimate and personal collection that reveals the issues and the ideals David Halberstam cared about--racial equality, friendship, loyalty, and character--and creates a vivid and unforgettable portrait of the author himself. Everything They Had takes its rightful place alongside Halberstam's bestselling sports titles, which include The Breaks of the Game, The Amateurs, Summer of '49, and The Education of a Coach.

Customer reviews

Wonderful Sports Writing by .. Bookworm Plus (Redondo Beach, CA United States)
In "Everything They Had," we get the lighter side (in the best sense) of David Halberstam. A noted Pulitzer winning journalist and writer of contemporary history, he also wrote many books and articles about sports such as baseball, football, basketball, and fishing. Sports were the fun part of his life as a writer. In fact he noted that taking time for his sports projects were his way of taking a sabbatical. This shows in the sheer love and wonder he displays through half a century of sports writing. At times, I felt as I was reading an autobiography. Not being a professional sportwriter, Halberstam was able to pick and choose his subjects. Through his writing from the 1950's to the new millenium we see the rise and role of sports in America against the backdrop of the sociological and technological changes. Halberstam describes the rise of the NFL, the continual hold of baseball in the hearts of America, and the excitement brought by the NBA. We also gain insights into personal sports Halberstam loved such as fishing and rowing. Halberstam does not always present a rosy picture, but "Everyting They Had" is the work of an optimist and a man who looked for the best. It is not an all inclusive anthology as many sports such as Ice Hockey, Golf, and Motor Sports are left out. However, this compilation is Halberstam's story of a part of his life's journey and the writing quality is wonderful and memorable.

Worthwhile by .. CJA (Minneapolis, MN)
Halberstam was an even more prolific writer than I had thought, as demonstrated by this collection of his short sports pieces published in various magazines over the years. The collection demonstrates his keen eye for the cultural changes mirrored in sport and his appreciation for character. As for the latter, the portrayals of Ted Williams, Joe Torre, Reggie Smith, Muhammad Ali, and Pat Riley are excellent.

Two pieces on basketball are exceptionally strong -- a 1985 article about Indiana high school basketball (with some Bobby Knight mixed in) that captures the State's passion for basketball and the changes in society and sport since the 1950s. Another excellent piece concerns Halberstam's friendship with a little known basketball player who was part of the North Carolina team that beat Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas in the 1950s and who had a brief stint in the NBA.

Many of the pieces explore male friendships and bonding in the context of sports. Halberstam does not delve much into the darker side of sport, perhaps getting his fill of that in his political writing.

Some of the pieces in the collection are a bit superficial and lack the depth of reasearch and passion that gave so much life to Halberstam's longer works. They smack of taking a break and making a quick buck.

On the whole, a worthwhile collection.

A Solid Collection by .. Nicholas Franklin (Aust, TX United States)
This is a very solid collection, and a reminder of what a talented writer Mr. Halberstam was. The themes he would turn into books can be found throughout the essays. He was, it seems, most interested in the combination of race, the media, fame, and friendship. There is a certain weight toward his more recent writings (much of it available online through espn.com and other sites). Certainly worth reading, and for those of us who found Halberstam to be the most gifted writer who happened to write about sports, it is a must have book.

The Everything Soapmaking Book: Recipes and Techniques for Creating Colorful and Fragrant Soaps (Everything: Sports and Hobbies)

Author : Alicia Grosso Edition : 2 Number of Pages : 304 Publisher : Adams Media List Price : $14.95 Amazon Price : $9.94 Used Price : $9.93

Product Description

Completely revised and updated, The Everything Soapmaking Book, 2nd Edition is a complete guide to making all kinds of soap from simple bath soaps to beautiful, aromatic gifts, right in the comfort of your own home. Easy-to-follow steps lead you through the process of making soap, from buying the right kind of equipment to developing unique soap recipes. The Everything Soapmaking Book, 2nd Edition shows you how to:

• Find the right ingredients and equipment
• Experiment with different types of soap--from basic kitchen soap to the perfect facial soap
• Make and package soaps for holidays and special occasions
• Add special scents and colors to please the senses
• Master artistic techniques for unique shapes and sizes

Customer reviews

If you purchase only one book..... by .. L. Hastings (USA)
Make your book this one. The Everything Soap Book was included in the 3 books that I purchased, out of them all, this is the book that I'd tell a beginner to purchase. This book grows with you. It assumes you know nothing and by the end teaches you various methods of soapmaking. It's also easy to read and understand and covers a lot of ground. It is very thorough and answers a lot of your questions, provides a lot of soapmaking resources. I will keep an eye out for updated editions of this book.

Great book by .. Douglas Vossbrink ()
I am a fairly experienced soap maker, and the lavender soap recipe in this book made the best Lavender soap I've ever made! The recipes are simple enough that even a novice soap maker can do this with confidence. Would recommend this book to novice and experienced soap makers.

Just "meh" by .. Nymeria (Denver, CO United States)
Some people really, really love Alicia Grosso's style and other books. I do not fall into that category, apparently. I ordered this book because of the reviews here and the promise of wonderful recipes and I was pretty disappointed. I would not recommend this book to others, but if pressed I would say it is definitely more for fans of Alicia Grosso. My problems with the book boil down to three key issues:

1) Grosso tries to fit too much into one book. She tries to cover cold process, hot process and melt & pour in ONE book which makes it a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none sort of thing. Because she tries to fit so much in one book, it feels like she is leaving things out. I feel a lot of her descriptions and explanations have a "Well you know what I mean" sense to them. Therefore I wouldn't recommend this book to a beginner soapmaker.

2) It is poorly laid out. I like to have information in one section and recipes in another. This book flows like a stream of conscience which makes it hard when you just want to flip to find a recipe.

3)(and most importantly) The recipes are paltry at best. For instance in the CP section she gives you ONE base recipe and then just sort of builds off of that, and not in a meaningful manner. She adds lavender oil in one. In the next she adds lavender and something else. To me that means she put in ONE recipe and then offers suggestions for variations. The HP section is similar. I'm not sure how a book that really only contains 1 or 2 distinct recipes per section gets such high ratings.

Personally when it comes to soapmaking I recommend Anne Watson's "Smart Soapmaking" or Susan Miller Cavitch's "The Soapmaker's Companion." They are just better all around.

Excellent Resource for a newbie soap maker by .. Lady J (Mesa, AZ)
I am new to soap from scratch and I found this book to be a great resource for me. My first batch of cold process was from the basic recipe in this book and I had great success. It filled in missing information from other books I had purchased, as well.

Best Book on the Topic by .. Capricorn (FL)
I love this book. In our house it is considered the Soap Bible. Everything you need to know and more is between these two covers. Recipes, step by step instructions on the actual soapmaking process, a list of common essential oils to use along with medicinal and other propeties (including approx. price ranges for each), tips on packing, wrappers, and making gift sets.

This is the only book you'll need.

The Everything Blackjack Strategy Book: Surefire Ways To Beat The House Every Time (Everything: Sports and Hobbies)

Author : tom Hagen Number of Pages : 304 Publisher : Adams Media List Price : $15.95 Amazon Price : $0.36 Used Price : $0.36

Product Description

The Everything Blackjack Strategy Book includes:

The Everything Giant Sudoku Book: Over 300 Puzzles with Instructions for Solving (Everything: Sports and Hobbies)

Author : Charles Timmerman Edition : 7 Number of Pages : 368 Publisher : Adams Media List Price : $9.95 Amazon Price : $3.82 Used Price : $0.44

Product Description

Customer reviews

Bad First Sudoku Book by .. Anonymous (East Lansing)
Do not buy this book if you are new to Sudoku. There are MANY better books out there. Besides having poorly explained puzzle solving techniques- the difficulty levels are totally bogus. Many of the "Easy As Pie" skill level puzzles would be at least considered moderate in most books. Save yourself some cash and go to the grocery store and purchase a Sudoku magazine. You'll enjoy it much more!

Not the hardest of the puzzles, but certainly math problems that anyone can do by .. Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States(cashbacher@yahoo.com))
Sudoku is a puzzle that is very simple in form and has taken the world by storm. A nine-by-nine matrix is created and split into nine different three-by-three sections. Each three-by-three section is to contain the numbers one through nine and no row or column must have more than one instance of the same number. You are given some of the entries and the goal is to fill in the remaining entries.
This book is a collection of 300 such puzzles and solutions are included at the end. The first eight pages are a history of the puzzle as well as a description of solution strategies. They are fairly simple and easy to understand, which in part explains why the puzzle is so popular. To appeal to a mass audience, the masses must be able to understand and solve the puzzle.
I enjoyed working the few puzzles that I went through. While not hard, they do require that you think and that is always a good thing to do. My thirteen year old daughter Katrina also loves doing these puzzles, she does them by the hour. I don't think it is a coincidence that her math grades have gone up since she started working them.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission

This Sudoku book is a little late at this point by .. J. Guild (Toronto,Canada)

Overall,this Sudoku book is a bit of "a dollar short and a day late". A year ago,it might have warranted a 4 Star,but barely.
To give it credit,it does show that the Sudoku puzzle was not invented by the Japanese,but by Howard Garnes,a retired architect and introduced at at an American Puzzle convention in 1974 and later in Dell's Mental Puzzles and Word Games as "Number Place" in 1979.It was taken to Japan in 1980,became popular and brought back by Wayne Gould.
The book comes up short in solving methods and hints; which are very minimal.
The puzzle size is good;at about 4 X 4 inches.The paper quality is good;the cover is soft with a glued binding.There are 3 levels of difficulty in the 300 puzzles.
The price would have been fair a year ago,but in comparison to the many other Sudoku books available ,it is now too pricey. A brief look around will result in finding many books at greatly reduced prices.The old laws of Supply and Demand are flexing their muscles.

Great sudoku book by .. L. R. Johnson (Connecticut, USA)
Great variety - from easy to challenging. The grids are an ideal size to scribble cheat notes within the cells. All puzzles are numeric.

Sudoku is great!` by .. ()
I love Sudoku and this book! I just received it today from my best friend and we were solving it at my house, and now I'm working on it. I've already solved one! Yay! They're really challenging but very fun and great to get the brain moving.

Have fun with it!

~Livi~

Everything Golf Instruction Book: From Teeing Off to Sinking the Putt, All You Need to Play the Game (Everything: Sports and Hobbies)

Author : Rob Blumer Number of Pages : 273 Publisher : Adams Media Corporation List Price : $14.95 Amazon Price : $6.97 Used Price : $1.00

Product Description

Customer reviews

Good source for "basic" swing troubleshooting by .. Jim Kucera (Los Alamitos, CA)
I'm a 9 handicapper and a long time subscriber to Golf Digest. After reviewing the material, I purchased three copies of this book (newer cover & discounted) for some of my aspiring golf buddies. This book does a very good job of explaining the technical aspects of the game that a high handicapper can easily understand. "Cause and Effect" is very important in the game of golf no matter how long you've been playing. The "average" hacker needs something to fall back on when "the wheels fall off" of his game. This book is a good basic reference book for the general golfing public that can't afford private lessons but need some help.

Excellent Book for Beginners by .. Ke (Fort Washington, Md)
While the info can be founded in other sources, I found the book to be a keeper because the presented instruction works; and while the book covers a lot of topics, I as a beginner, like the option of going to one source on many golf instruction topics.

I highly recommend this book for beginners and that beginners use this book to supplement their practice sessions and lessons.

Would have rated it as five stars if more illustrations were provided, Particularly on the stages of driver, iron, and wedge swings.

Written for 1st Graders? by .. Bill Bates (Augusta, Ga.)
This kind of informational book is a waste of everyone's time. It is so juvenile it appears to be written for grade school kids. Maybe it was. If so, it should be said on the cover somewhere. Don't waste your money. All the instruction in this book is easily available on the internet and most all of it can be seen in a couple of monthly golf magazines.