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writesdave's reviews
360 reviews
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Frank Deford was a brilliant writer, the sportswriter I and my peers wanted to be, but the look back was jarring. Not surprisingly, the takes of a middle-aged sportswriter from an Ivy League college do not hold up well, owing to a blindingly unenlightened viewpoint generally. Seriously, I found myself cringing over some of the NPR scripts and wondering how NPR felt about these opinions emanating through their airwaves.
By the way, this book would have come out just before his soft-core profile of Anna Kournikova for Sports Illustrated (ca. 2002), though I will consider his editors gave him marching orders for the kind of story he was to report and write. The story just oozed with something, knowing who wrote it, and I doubt Deford considered it among his best.
Again, though, the man could turn a phrase. Highlights include the profile of a 40-year-old Bobby Knight, and the closing feature on sports' immortal barriers coming down.
By the way, this book would have come out just before his soft-core profile of Anna Kournikova for Sports Illustrated (ca. 2002), though I will consider his editors gave him marching orders for the kind of story he was to report and write. The story just oozed with something, knowing who wrote it, and I doubt Deford considered it among his best.
Again, though, the man could turn a phrase. Highlights include the profile of a 40-year-old Bobby Knight, and the closing feature on sports' immortal barriers coming down.
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
In assessing memoirs/biographies, I'm never sure whether I review the life lived or the storytelling of that life. And it's hard for a figure to take on their memoir without coming off like a self-indulgent egomaniac.
Nonetheless, Herbie Hancock comes off as one of the most interesting men in all of music. He has played with anybody and everybody who has come to him with a forward-looking concept, or who buys in to whatever his vision for a project happens to be. From his origins as a math-science nerd who played classical piano at the urging of his parents to the musical visionary we all know and love, he lovingly and thoroughly chronicles his journey. Equally insightful with the people and projects, you learn quite a bit about both—that two words of praise from Miles Davis could make your month, let alone your day; that salesmanship from Herbie's managers and producers to record label executives saved more than one groundbreaking project from the scrap heap; that Herbie learned well from Miles the trait of always looking at the horizon for the next thing, if not with the art than with the application of technology; that Herbie had to overcome his own musical snobbery to truly follow his instincts.
I also gained some insight into Buddhism, which has clearly made a huge difference in his life. I didn't find this discussion to be as overbearing and distracting as some others, but I won't start my own practice right quick, either.
For learning how one man has forged his musical path through life, it doesn't get much better than Herbie Hancock pulling back the curtain in this must-read for any music lover.
Nonetheless, Herbie Hancock comes off as one of the most interesting men in all of music. He has played with anybody and everybody who has come to him with a forward-looking concept, or who buys in to whatever his vision for a project happens to be. From his origins as a math-science nerd who played classical piano at the urging of his parents to the musical visionary we all know and love, he lovingly and thoroughly chronicles his journey. Equally insightful with the people and projects, you learn quite a bit about both—that two words of praise from Miles Davis could make your month, let alone your day; that salesmanship from Herbie's managers and producers to record label executives saved more than one groundbreaking project from the scrap heap; that Herbie learned well from Miles the trait of always looking at the horizon for the next thing, if not with the art than with the application of technology; that Herbie had to overcome his own musical snobbery to truly follow his instincts.
I also gained some insight into Buddhism, which has clearly made a huge difference in his life. I didn't find this discussion to be as overbearing and distracting as some others, but I won't start my own practice right quick, either.
For learning how one man has forged his musical path through life, it doesn't get much better than Herbie Hancock pulling back the curtain in this must-read for any music lover.
dark
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Rebecca Solnit's prose is beautiful, reflective of a life well-lived in this collection of essays drawing parallels between her life and getting lost — which doesn't always spell disaster.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this in high school after my sister left behind the contents of her bookcase after graduating college. Might be worth a reread.
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Be warned — this is not the lighthearted Twain of "Huckleberry Finn," "Tom Sawyer," or "Connecticut Yankee." This is a darker, more cynical and angry Twain. Fed up with the human condition and enriched enough by the aforementioned works to go his own way, he really let fly his discontents. My rating sort of averages all of them out; some are brilliant, other less so. And it took me six years to read them, all of them, one at a time. Makes for good reading on public transit.
This volume combines all 159 of Twain's short stories, including a couple of novellas that stretch the definition of "short;" "The Mysterious Stranger," which closes the collection, is 70 pages long. It opens with a classic, "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."
This volume combines all 159 of Twain's short stories, including a couple of novellas that stretch the definition of "short;" "The Mysterious Stranger," which closes the collection, is 70 pages long. It opens with a classic, "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Didion's meditation on mourning and grief as her world crumbled around her just rattles you with its beauty and universal truths. This should occupy the shelf next to Kübler-Ross's "On Death and Dying" in the canon of end-of-life planning and reflection. As much a tribute to the man Didion loved as to their life together, "Year" is a lovely and devastating tale.