Editorial Review

An inspired blend of memoir and literary criticism, Read more

Reviews (287)

A book of books.
Nafisi's memoir, "Reading Lolita in Tehran", takes its readers deep into the life of a woman living under the ever increasing repression of the Iranian regime.She is an academic whose love of books drives her to use them as lenses through which to view the horrifying events that surround her. Each of the book's four sections takes the works of a different author and uses them to illuminate aspects of the oppressive Islamic regime under which she lives. The book presents a startlingly vivid picture of day to day life in Iran as suffered by a woman who, though very intelligent, is unsure of whether her allegiances lie with her government or with the west. Though Nafisi explains the political events surrounding the Iranian revolution and the Iran-Iraq war, she does so not from the view of the history that's been written, but from the view of a citizen living in the times, providing an essential shift in perspective.
A Stunning Reality
Although many people might question whether everything in this novel is true or not, it states on the front that it is a memoir, therefore that is how I thought of it while reading.As far as I am concerned, everything but the names and some situations ("to protect individuals") is the truth, and since I have not been to Tehran, I would not know any different.I found this book captivating in most every way from the detailed descriptions of the "girls" in the book club to the references to other novels such as The Great Gatsby.Although I have not read all of the books Nafisi referenced in her memoir, I still understood her story and appreciated her sharing the private (or public) moments with her readers.I was shocked when I read about some of the laws that women (and men) must obide by in Iran, and this book sparked my interest regarding the stunning ways of the country enough from the very beginning to encourage me to look even further into the culture.Being a secondary education English major, I would suggest this book to anyone from the age of 13 on, with hopes that he or she would read it, appreciate it, and try to gain some knowledge on a very different culture than our own while recognizing the everyday freedoms we take for granted on a daily basis.

A Vision of a Fundamentalist's Dream
If anyone wants to know what living in post-revolution Iran is like for a woman, this is the book.Great detail is given to how the messages of western literature apply to life in the theocratic totalitarian state. The scariest thing, for me, is how closely the vision of Iran held by muslim extremists conforms to the stated vision of the U.S. held by christian extremists.This touched me with reality the way The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood touched me with fictional possibility.
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Subjects:  1. American literature    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Books & Reading    7. Books And Reading    8. English literature    9. English teachers    10. Ethnic Cultures - General    11. Iran    12. Regional, Ethnic, Genre, Specific Subject    13. Study and teaching    14. Women    15. Women In Islam    16. Women's Studies - General    17. Biography & Autobiography / Women    18. Reading Group Guide   

Editorial Review

Malcolm X's searing memoir belongs on the small shelf of great autobiographies. The reasons are many: the blistering honesty with which he recounts his transformation from a bitter, self-destructive petty criminal into an articulate political activist, the continued relevance of his militant analysis of white racism, and his emphasis on self-respect and self-help for African Americans. And there's the vividness with which he depicts black popular culture--try as he might to criticize those lindy hops at Boston's Roseland dance hall from the perspective of his Muslim faith, he can't help but make them sound pretty wonderful. These are but a few examples. Read more

Reviews (265)

eye opener
Mike Young obviously did not read the book.I read it 3 times and it changed my life forever.The book clearly states that it is the autobiography of Malcolm X AS TOLD to Alex Haley and if you had read the book yourself you would realize that Malcolm was simply telling the story to Alex Haley.He was too busy to sit down and write the book himself and predicted his own murder in the last pages.Maybe you, Mike Young, should take on the challenge of being a thinking human being and read it on your own with an objective mind and then come back and tell us your real thoughts.

People Can Change!
Simply, one of the most amazing stories of change ever told in the English language - and still one of the most mis-understood men in the 20th century.

A tribute to Black Manhood
Some books can change your perception, but only a few can wipe out age-old assumptions, and force you to rethink everything you thought you knew. The question of RACE is at the heart of the American society, and in this book, not only African-Americans, but Americans of all colors, black, white, red and yellow, will find themselves reassessing what racism entails, for Malcolm X life, is a poignant testimony of the black man's struggle against both individual and institutional racism.
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Subjects:  1. Afro-Americans    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Black Muslims    7. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    8. Islam - General    9. People of Color    10. Political    11. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    12. Biography & Autobiography / People of Color    13. Biography: political    14. Black studies    15. USA   

Reviews (36)

Great story, Great man
This was a great read whether you're a Pirates and/or Clemente fan or not. You walk away from it truly appreciating the game, Roberto and his charitable side.

A Career and Life Beyond the Statistics
I have always been an admirer of Roberto Clemente. During his career he stood out because of his high batting averages in a period of pitcher dominance and legendary throwing arm. Watching his performance on television in the 1971 World Series sealed the deal for me. That World Series was one of the most entertaining of my life (I am not a Pirates fan) and his heroics were largely responsible. He really did seem to almost single-handedly lead the Pirates to victory over the favored Orioles, not withstanding the significant, if not vital, contributions of other Pirates such as Steve Blass (especially), Bob Robertson, and Bruce Kison. Although Clemente had a reputation for being a hypochondriac and difficult with the press earlier in his career, by this time he was universally admired and grouped with baseball's elite. Clemente, by David Maraniss, tells the story of how this came about. Starting with Clemente's boyhood in Puerto Rico, Maraniss chronicles his life and times. Besides describing his journey as a Hall of Fame ballplayer and development as a bona fide role model, Maraniss also presents a portrait of the era. Adding to the tragedy of Clemente's early death is that he could have had as equally a rewarding life after baseball as a public figure, philantropist and possibly a politcian.I learned a lot about baseball in Puerto Rico and the difficulties and discrimination Clemente faced as a black man coming into a foreign culture. The book is a reminder that bigotry did not stop in organized baseball with the advent of Jackie Robinson. For those interested in baseball history, the book contains an interesting profile of the World Champion 1960 Pittsburg Pirates and the city of Pittsburg in the fifties through the early seventies. The 1971 World Championship then served as Clemente's coronation into the baseball pantheon. Whether Clemente was truly one of the greatest of all time is open to debate. My opinion is that while he was a solid Hall of Famer, Clemente was a level below such players as Mays, Aaron, and Mantle. The stats simply do place him at their level. I understand that there is more to baseball than the statistics. At one point Maraniss acknowledges Clemente's statistical weaknesses, but he points that his greatness, like an artist, cannot be measured. I agree with him that there is more to rating a player than raw statistics. However, the same can be said for the three players mentioned above and many others. In my opinion, Clemente was a great player, but does not deserve the canonization that some call for to this day. However, as a man, Clemente should be judged on more than statistics when reviewing his life. I will conclude by saying he led a good life, made a positive and lasting impact on the world, and provided me (and many others) with many thrills and chills on the baseball field.

Baseball even if your don't know the game
I am not a sports fan so I don't follow any of the happenings in those fields.Therefore, I was not sure that I would enjoy CLEMENTE but listened to it anyway.What I am is a Curious Kitty meaning that I like to know about people and their lives.This book is that type of story.
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Subjects:  1. 1934-1972    2. Baseball    3. Baseball - History    4. Baseball players    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Biography / Autobiography    8. Biography And Autobiography    9. Biography/Autobiography    10. Clemente, Roberto,    11. Ethnic Studies - Hispanic American Studies    12. Puerto Rico    13. Sports - Baseball    14. Sports - General    15. Biography & Autobiography / Sports   

Reviews (166)

Ten kids, No work-ethic
A gritty memoir of life in the white ghetto where tribal loyalty struggles with justice. A portrait of the struggle for personal responsibility a primer and how to use and abuse the system.

Accurate. From someone who didn't live in "Southie" but in "Old Colony" at that time!
You'll see some people chime in here about this book, from "Southie". But Southie and Old Colony don't equal the same thing. You can be from the point and not be anything like someone growing up in Old Colony. Old Colony wasn't the same as D street or Old Harbor.Secondly, my aunt is mentioned in the book as skoochie(sp?). I'm not particularly fond of being from Old Colony or having my aunt in this book, but it's who i am. Lastly, i was good friends with Tommy Veins before he got out of cotrol and died. It's a sad story overall, if tommysdad is here, i'd like to say that my condolences, but this portrayal is not far from fact at all. I was there and grew up where these things happened. And let me tell you, the book is pretty accurate. Slight details here and there might be slightly off, but for the overall idea, Accurate. Everyone knew his mom... she was an outcast for sure and he mentions this several times. I personally couldn't put my own mom out there, but kudos for him for trying to be accurate.
Sad but true
Growing up in Southie and now living in Florida it was good to look back. The book broke my wifes heart who is not from Southie but it was everyday life fo us. Good read! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Boston    6. Ethnic Cultures - General    7. General    8. Irish American families    9. Irish Americans    10. Massachusetts    11. Personal Memoirs    12. Regional Subjects - New England    13. Biography & Autobiography / General    14. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (19)

It's bigger than Southie
I love this book! Once I started reading it I found it impossible to put down. I was laughing and crying not because it was sad but because it was so unbelievably familiar. MacDonald's honesty was frightening and liberating and to be honest comforting. Reading it gave me a sense of relief; relieved that someone had been where I'd been and seen what I'd seen.
Easter Rising
Easter Rising is an engaging and observant account of survival--how people,families, and communities struggle to reconnect and heal under extremely difficult circumstances, using whatever happens to be handy and available.
Great
Having grown up in Boston in the same music scene as Michael Patrick MacDonald and being of Irish heritage, I expected to identify with much of his book and i did. What I didn't expect to do was to recognize something amazing in my own mother that I had never really given her credit for: Toward the end of the book, while MacDonald is in Ireland with Ma (and is often embarrassed by what he perceives as her inappropriateness), she encounters a stranger whose son has died. Because her own losses have been so staggering (and because she is not embarrassed to try) she is able to console him.With a new understanding and appreciation of her, MacDonald writes:"You never know when you'll need to give whatever you've got to give."
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography And Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Boston    7. Irish American families    8. Irish Americans    9. Literary    10. Massachusetts    11. McDonald family    12. Personal Memoirs    13. Biography & Autobiography / Literary   

Reviews (1)

BOOK REVIEW:`Bad Faith' Reminds Us How Anti-Semitic Many French Were in 1930s, WW II; Catholic Hierarchy Force Behind Jew Hatr
By David M. Kinchen
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Subjects:  1. Antisemitism    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography And Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Europe - France    8. France    9. France - History    10. Historical - General    11. Historical - Holocaust    12. Holocaust    13. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    14. Public officers    15. Vichy    16. Biography & Autobiography / Historical   

Reviews (73)

Disappointed
In the beginning of this book I found it a bit disturbing; however, I pressed on and I was glad. I soon came to be highly disappointed by this book though because it seemed so cliche` in the fact that almost every drugged out junkie seems to find a god and heal themselves; then discuss it for 15 chapters. Aside from that fact, almost 3/4 of the book was about doing various drugs, I felt it was drug out too long and could have been summed up in fewer chapters. It got to be monotonous and tiresome reading about the authors junkie habits over and over again. Although the book had great potential and could have been one of the greats; I felt it became monotonous.

Cupcake, you are an amazing and inspirational woman who needs a better editor and copywriter
Cupcake Brown is, without question, an amazing woman who has risen from the ashes by her bootstraps to become a highly respected, influential lawyer and professional speaker.She has many important life memories to share with her readers; however, her memoir, as a whole, is a poorly edited, slightly-rambling account of a troubled youth and early adulthood.I'm not begrudging the author her success, or her well-deserved acclaim, but as a book, her memoir is sub-par.
There is a God!
If you do not believe in God or a higher power, you will after reading this book. This book is not a religious book but a testement to having a purpose in life, even when you dont believe or know you have a purpose. She does not through God in your face but from the troulbe teenage years you know that something greater than herself and propelled her to the point where she is now. This is an amazing book that lets you know that no bad thing last forever and that you can overcome ANYTHING. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. African American families    2. African American women    3. African Americans    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography And Autobiography    8. Biography/Autobiography    9. California    10. General    11. Lawyers & Judges    12. People of Color    13. Personal Memoirs    14. San Diego    15. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Editorial Review

As teenagers from a rough part of Newark, New Jersey, Sampson Davis, Rameck Hunt, and George Jenkins had nothing special going for them except loving mothers (one of whom was a drug user) and above-average intelligence. Their first stroke of luck was testing into University High, one of Newark's three magnet high schools, and their second was finding each other. They were busy staying out of trouble (most of the time), and discovering the usual ways to skip class and do as little schoolwork as possible, when a recruitment presentation on Seton Hall University reignited George's childhood dream of becoming a dentist. The college was offering a tempting assistance package for minorities in its Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Plus Program. George convinced his two friends to go to college with him. They would help each other through. None of them would be allowed to drop out and be reabsorbed by the Newark streets.Read more

Reviews (46)

The Pact... Packs some good information for young people and their parents
The Pact was a book that I was interested in reading for some time. My son (9 yrs old), and I decided that the best time to read the book would be before his bedtime. We would alternate reading different chapters. The Pact was an inspiring story that I believe anyone could relate too. It's about community support, friendship and perserverance. This generation needs to hear stories about what is possible, and this book delivers on that message. I strongly recommend it for youth groups everywhere. We need to teach our kids how to choose friends, and that friends can support and nurture each others dreams. Dream BIG!
I will put this on my recommended list for students
One of my biggest challenges as an educator is building literacy. I know that the most successful students read outside of class, but I have a hard time finding books that manageable and interesting enough to grab the interest of the students that I work with in DC. I will recommend this book to my students because it helps make the choices of black students real in clear language. How do you successfully defer gratification for years and years to build a career? This book doesn't have definite answers but it does give an example that students can look up to. More programs like the Seton Hall program that helped bridge the transition to college are necessary for first-generation high school students. I also dug the fact that these three black men did not seem to be supermen in the way that Cedric Jennings was portrayed in "The Hope In the Unseen". Books like "The Pact" show that the best dreams are birthed by students in the presence of consistent mentoring. I hope that all urban mentors and educators will consider this book for motivational fuel.
Great read...
I read about these three in some magazine (Essence?) while I was in a bookstore cafe. I went upstairs to browse the book and ended up buying it. I'm so glad that I went to that bookstore just to browse around or I would have never known anything about it.I'd heard of these three from another magazine I subscribe to but never really knew what their deal was.It was very interesting to read about three young men who grew up in the inner city projects of Newark, two of them exposed themselves to crime, all of their manhood was tested, and two went to jail/juvenile hall. But with all those pitfalls, each one of them had a personality that would not let each other fall down.One was an activist, the next was a serious hard worker, and the third an optimistic motivator who stayed out of trouble.These guys were so good for each other. It was interesting to read about their sides of the story in a conversational tone that showcases their down-to-Earth personalities, their mild secrets that the other two will enjoy reading, and even a couple love interests would probably be flattered too.
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Subjects:  1. African American physicians    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    7. Medical - General    8. Medical - Physicians    9. People of Color    10. Practice Of Medicine    11. Sociology Of Medicine    12. Biography: general    13. Family & Relationships / Child Care    14. Medicine    15. Reading Group Guide   

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Budapest    3. Eastern Europe - General    4. Exiles    5. History    6. History - General History    7. History: World    8. Hungary    9. Jews    10. Jews, Hungarian    11. Modern - 20th Century    12. United States    13. History / General   

Reviews (61)

Rubin Cartert, the true story - it's not enough to see the movie
If you have seen "The Hurricane" motion picture, starring Denzel Washington (an amazing peformance), surely you'd think that you know everything there is to know about Rubin Carter. Unfortunately, that's incorrect. Furthermore, it's not even close.
A True Account
I bought this book my sophomore year of high school and that was over 7 years ago.It has literally been my bible to life.Rubin and his book have changed my life more than anything else I have ever encountered.Too often than not we find false heroes in this world.People like Paris Hilton who some look up to as a hero or a role model, but the true heroes in this life are often over looked or never seen at all.Rubin Carter is a true hero, I have never even heard of such a troubled life an to come out on top both a champion of his sport and one in life.A wise man told me once that it is now how we live this life but what we do during it.If your looking for a uplifting book of a true hero an a book that will give you strength when all doubt you, this is the one.

Brilliant and Touching
Obviously no one can write his story better than Rubin himself.This story is both and inspiring story of a man who has never stopped fighting and a terrifying reality check into the American judicial system.This book is filled with an anger that is only kept in check by the author's own love and compassion.Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Boxing    5. Criminals & Outlaws    6. People of Color    7. Personal Memoirs    8. Prison Life    9. Sports    10. Sports - General    11. Biography & Autobiography / People of Color   

Editorial Review

In this first of five volumes of autobiography, poet Maya Angelou recounts a youth filled with disappointment, frustration, tragedy, and finally hard-won independence. Sent at a young age to live with her grandmother in Arkansas, Angelou learned a great deal from this exceptional woman and the tightly knit black community there. These very lessons carried her throughout the hardships she endured later in life, including a tragic occurrence while visiting her mother in St. Louis and her formative years spent in California--where an unwanted pregnancy changed her life forever. Marvelously told, with Angelou's "gift for language and observation," this "remarkable autobiography by an equally remarkable black woman from Arkansas captures, indelibly, a world of which most Americans are shamefully ignorant." ... Read more

Reviews (285)

Intersectionality as described by Maya Angelou
In her autobiographical novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou recounts her life story as a young, keenly intelligent but insecure black girl in the South during the 1930s and California during the 1940s. The book conveys the difficulties associated with the mixture of racial and gender discrimination endured by a southern black girl, though, and this is perhaps the most fundamental theme explored in her autobiography. The intersectionality of race and gender is a pivotal thread of Angelou's theme, where more than one type of subjugation results in a multiple burden for the victim. Overall, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is a powerful, stirring account of the intersectionality of race and gender regarding black women. Though segregation had been officially declared null and void, many of the Southern states were steeped in racist tendencies that further multiplied the gender inequality that exposed black women to a multi-faceted oppression. Peiss, Hine, Terborg-Penn, Bederman, et. al. all examine threads of this intersectionality, and in discussing these threads, one can draw a distinct comparison between anti-black, anti-black women sentiment and Angelou's personal experiences. As a girl, Angelou believed her gender to be a limiting factor. She considered herself to be unheroic, and incapable of achieving spectacular feats like the boys in her comic books. In the narrative, being female for Angelou is just as trying as being black, and she struggled with the double burden, rather than embracing it. However, as more and more black women slowly overcame their troubles as a result of the overwhelming intersectionality of the time, so did Angelou. The novel ended with hope because she bucks the stereotype to become the first black female streetcar conductor. Angelou's spike in confidence and belief in her ability reflects the gradual evolution of black women's race and gender after decades of imprisonment, and foreshadows a future of activism, struggle for respect and eventual victory in those regards.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The Essence of Dreams...The Creativeness of Silence...The Fortitude of Love...
If only this scale had negatives...
Never before has such a poorly written book received such acclaim. Maya Angelou wrote this story not with candor and grace but with a bias rarely allowed to sit on shelves let alone the top of a best-seller list. She was not humorous but had a heinousness of character and action that places her beyond the limits of human pity. This "inspiring author" did not demonstrate poignancy and depth but the crude rudiments of writing skill below that found in the essays of a primary school student.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Afro-American women authors    3. Authors, American    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Discrimination & Racism    9. Literary    10. People of Color    11. Women    12. Biography & Autobiography / People of Color    13. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (15)

Quite intriguing
This book is another in a recent spate of very well written books that explain (and translate into modern terms) key aspects of Spinoza.This book is unique in its seamless style of inserting these concepts as rewordings and quotes.The single most amazing aspect of this book is its ability to humanize and personalize what seem to be necessary aspects of Spinoza's lifestyle and personality.I liked this.

A wonderful book
A wonderful book indeed. Ms. Goldsteinreveals Spinoza's philosophy, but never all at once. No "sound bytes," no "catch phrases," but a gentle and progressive exegesis, slowly building to a denouement, one idea or part of an idea at a time. She claims to be very moved when her college students begin to 'see' Spinoza, begin to understand this remarkable man's philosophy and approach to life - and she wants us, her anonymous readers, to share in this excitment as well...and I, for one, got very excited (knowing very little of Spinoza beforehand, the author has stimulated me to want to go out and learn everything I canabout Spinoza.) It's a wonderfully personal book - I don't know Professor Goldstein, but I suspect she is the only person who could have written this particular book in this particular way. It is a wonderfully quirky book--and I mean that in a very positive way. Sometimes I had to go over a paragraph 5 or 10 times to "get it," and even then I'm sure Imissed a lot-- but, stimulated by Prof. Goldstein, I've bought a copy of Spinoza's Ethics , and hope to correct at least some of my deficits.
The iconoclast behind the icon
As with her biography of Kurt Godel, Rebecca Goldstein has a way of intuiting the flames that fired a crucible of genuis.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Heretics, Jewish    6. Jewish Sociology    7. Jewish Studies    8. Jewish philosophers    9. Netherlands    10. Philosophers    11. Biography & Autobiography / Philosophers    12. Biography: general   

Reviews (20)

REVISIONIST HISTORY
I would like to remind the readers, who are crying over the fate of the poor victimized Palestinians, that every inch of the State of Israel was bought from these so-called victims, not only with blood, but with hard cash. Try to remember the little blue box marked "Keren HaKayemet," where even school children donated part of their allowances so more land could be purchased.
The Lemon Tree will open your eyes
After years of seeing the Israel-Arab conflict through the eyes of an agenda driven media,I was pleasantly surprised to learn that behind the bombs and gunfire live very real human beings.Tolan's presentation is heartbreaking and very touching.For the first time I realised that there is two sides to this story and none of the parties can hope to get everything they want unless a compromise is reached.
A wonderful reading journey
I just finished reading "The Lemon Tree" and I truly enjoyed it. Much of my reading took place during the most recent conflict/war in Lebanon. It is so sad that we still have to witness so much bloodshed.
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Subjects:  1. Arab-Israeli conflict    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Ethnic Cultures - General    5. History    6. History (General)    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Israelis    10. Middle East - General    11. Palestinian Arabs    12. History / Middle East   

Editorial Review

The beauty of former Negro League star Buck O'Neil's autobiography is its tone: it's filled with thankfulness for the life he's had. Born into an era of racial segregation, O'Neil--truly aninspirational presence in the Ken Burns documentary Read more

Reviews (19)

Charming and Informative
This easy-going autobiography combines sunny optimism, seriousness, and rich baseball history. John J. "Buck" O'Neil was a first baseman in the Negro Leagues during the 1930-1940's, and he then spent another half decade in baseball, both in the Negro Leagues and in the majors.Here he recounts his upbringing in Florida during segregation (where he was denied entry to high school) and his long career in baseball.O'Neil details life in the Negro leagues, including barnstorming and low pay, playing for the famed Kansas City Monarchs and his friendship with stars like Satchel Paige and Hilton Smith.He also describes managing in the Negro Leagues, coaching for the Chicago Cubs (the first black coach in the majors) and spending decades as a baseball scout.O'Neil is an intelligent man gifted with great charm, and he's often described as the "ambassador to baseball."That charm shines in the prose of co-writers Steve Wolf and David Conrads, and lets O'Neil attack injustice without losing effectiveness via stridency.
A fun read about a forgotten era.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Lou Dials at a Baseball card convention.He was there with a small table, some cards, and some baseballs.I didn't know who he was and he kind of looked out of place.My curiosity made me ask."ok so what are you doing here and I am sorry to ask who are you?"He smiled and asked "Have you ever heard of the Negro leagues?"To which I replied of course and named the common known names such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, and of course Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays.He smiled and said he played with them and spoke of others such as Buck O'Neil.
insight to a great guy
I was lucky enought to attend an All Star game a few years ago. When i was their i wanted to get an autograph i saw a group of guys around one man so i went up got an autograph not knowing who he is. After i saw the signed baseball i made out the name Buck O'neil. I looked him up online and saw he was a negro league player and first black coach in the majors. I then stumbled across his book on here and decided to order it and that turned out to be a great decision as i loved this book.
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Subjects:  1. African American baseball players    2. Baseball    3. Baseball players    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Blacks And Sports    8. General    9. History    10. Negro leagues    11. People of Color    12. Sports & Recreation    13. Sports - Baseball    14. United States    15. Biography & Autobiography / General    16. O'Neil, Buck   

Editorial Review

The sequel to Frank McCourt's memoir of his Irish Catholic boyhood, Read more

Reviews (555)

'TIS A GRAND BOOK, !
Poignant,intense, exciting, gutwrenching yet heart warming are the scenes, actions and memories described inthis continuation of an indepth look at the the trials, tribulations and successes of FrankMc Court and his family. As you read it,you "are there" in New York, in Ireland, -at Mam's almost reunion with Frank's father, - in the army with Frank in Europe, - in church,- in the boarding house which provided meager temporary shelter, - in the countless dull mind-numbing jobs he had beforebecoming a teacher,- in the classroom trying to inspire lethargicstudents.With wit, and a lot ofmischievious charm, author Mc Court escorts us through his romantic liasons, marriage and birth of his daughter, -his brothers arrival and existence in New York,- his own "coming of age in America" as he matures, -and the death of his beloved mother, Angela, (Mam).
THE CONTINUING MEMOIR, BY THE AUTHOR OF ANGELA'S ASHES
Frank McCourt has a flowing, gifted writing style that is all his own. This, the second in his memoirs, tells the chapter of his life where he leaves Ireland for a life in America.How one can endure his hardships and still keep a witty sense of humour is nothing short of amazing.Low paying jobs, racial criticism, and scorn await McCourt upon his arrival.
Dissapointing but with a few gems
I felt that he was trying to gain sympathy for his situation unlike the frankness of Angelas Ashes. I was dissapointed with this sequal. He was brave to tell the truth of his situation, however he must have cringed upon reflection of his early life. He does use humor throughout the book and that mak