Read Any Good Books Lately?
- Thread starter WhatsHisNuts
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Al, LITTLE MAN is a tremendous book, Lansky was a genius, no question about it. All those books about Siegel, Lansky, Genovese, Gambino, very intriguing. I read 2 books about Frank Costello. One is called UNCLE FRANK, BY LEONARD KATZ, 2 IS FRANK COSTELLO: THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNDERWORLD.
BAND OF BROTHERS is tremendous, the HBO Series is also good, but the book is tremendous. Every man should read this book and it will move anyone who picks it up.
Al, seabiscuit, same thing, movie doesn't book justice.
anything by the great writer Halberstam that recently passed in the car accident. The TEAMMATES, GREAT BOOK ABOUT TED WILLIAMS, DOM DIMAGGIO & JOHNNY PESKEY. SUMMER OF 49, THE BEST & THE BRIGHTEST, ABOUT JFK & JOHNSON.
bringing the House, very good book about bj in Vegas. Kevin spacey is filming the feature movie in Boston presently on this.
Got to go catch the Sapranos, finish this later.
Hoping your doing well well Al.
Shamrock
BAND OF BROTHERS is tremendous, the HBO Series is also good, but the book is tremendous. Every man should read this book and it will move anyone who picks it up.
Al, seabiscuit, same thing, movie doesn't book justice.
anything by the great writer Halberstam that recently passed in the car accident. The TEAMMATES, GREAT BOOK ABOUT TED WILLIAMS, DOM DIMAGGIO & JOHNNY PESKEY. SUMMER OF 49, THE BEST & THE BRIGHTEST, ABOUT JFK & JOHNSON.
bringing the House, very good book about bj in Vegas. Kevin spacey is filming the feature movie in Boston presently on this.
Got to go catch the Sapranos, finish this later.
Hoping your doing well well Al.
Shamrock
continued
like mob books, I also love boxing Books
Mohammed Ali THE RISE OF A AMERICAN HERO
UNFORGETTABLE BLACKNESS, RISE & FALL OF JACK JOHNSON, awesome book.
Sweet science by Liebling
champion Joe Lewis, by Mead
ONLY IN AMERICA, THE LIFE& CRIMES OF DON KING
A SAVAGE BUSINESS: THE COMEBACK& COMEDOWN OF MIKE TYSON
like mob books, I also love boxing Books
Mohammed Ali THE RISE OF A AMERICAN HERO
UNFORGETTABLE BLACKNESS, RISE & FALL OF JACK JOHNSON, awesome book.
Sweet science by Liebling
champion Joe Lewis, by Mead
ONLY IN AMERICA, THE LIFE& CRIMES OF DON KING
A SAVAGE BUSINESS: THE COMEBACK& COMEDOWN OF MIKE TYSON
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2 books about Bill Russell, 1 a second wind, by branch. 2 Russell Rules by Faulkner, great book about great human being.
Mitch album, TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE, this book will change your life, by the Detroit writer who often is on ESPN
the pistol Pete book is great that somebody mentioned, great book about father & son
Brothers Bulger, great Crime book, loosely based on to movie DEPARTED, WHITEY BULGER, South Boston Irish mob boss, and brother who is state Senate president.
Anything about General Patton
1 THE UNKNOWN PATTON
2 GENERAL PATTON' S LOOT
Mitch album, TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE, this book will change your life, by the Detroit writer who often is on ESPN
the pistol Pete book is great that somebody mentioned, great book about father & son
Brothers Bulger, great Crime book, loosely based on to movie DEPARTED, WHITEY BULGER, South Boston Irish mob boss, and brother who is state Senate president.
Anything about General Patton
1 THE UNKNOWN PATTON
2 GENERAL PATTON' S LOOT
thanks for the info danny....i made a note of some of the books.
you must be very happy now a days because of the way the sox are playing & the anticipation of the season that the pats will have ?
be well...al
heck, I'll mention this again...
heck, I'll mention this again...
I spoke of this title in the last thread we had here on books.
"King of the Jews" by Nick Tosches
A biography of mobster Arnold Rothstein, the fellow who reputedly fixed the 1919 World Series.
Tosches, tho, uses the bio to launch into many diverting alleys and tunnels---discursions on Biblical mis-translations, opium, early Rock and Roll, gangs of NY, lies of history and more. He's always a funny,cranky and fine writer. Book is more like a novel. An except from "King of the Jews" :
Then there came a time -- no one in old New York, no one, would have believed it -- when you could not find a firecracker, let alone an opium den, in Chinatown; a time when you could not find a sin in Times Square, save for the mortal sin of mediocrity; a time when you could not find an ashtray in a bar; a time when real life and real freedom, replaced by lip service to them, became the vice that New York, like the vast dying nothingness of America itself, was ashamed to mention."
and Tosches' book "The Devil and Sonny Liston" mixes boxing, the Mob and Las Vegas all in one!
heck, I'll mention this again...
I spoke of this title in the last thread we had here on books.
"King of the Jews" by Nick Tosches
A biography of mobster Arnold Rothstein, the fellow who reputedly fixed the 1919 World Series.
Tosches, tho, uses the bio to launch into many diverting alleys and tunnels---discursions on Biblical mis-translations, opium, early Rock and Roll, gangs of NY, lies of history and more. He's always a funny,cranky and fine writer. Book is more like a novel. An except from "King of the Jews" :
Then there came a time -- no one in old New York, no one, would have believed it -- when you could not find a firecracker, let alone an opium den, in Chinatown; a time when you could not find a sin in Times Square, save for the mortal sin of mediocrity; a time when you could not find an ashtray in a bar; a time when real life and real freedom, replaced by lip service to them, became the vice that New York, like the vast dying nothingness of America itself, was ashamed to mention."
and Tosches' book "The Devil and Sonny Liston" mixes boxing, the Mob and Las Vegas all in one!
terry..
rothstein is another guy i'm interested in reading..
in the lansky (lansky, costello,& lucky all studied under rothstein) book the author debunks the myth that rothstein fixed the world series....
rothstein is another guy i'm interested in reading..
in the lansky (lansky, costello,& lucky all studied under rothstein) book the author debunks the myth that rothstein fixed the world series....
hey AR,
yeah, Tosches is very skeptical of the claim too.
The facts of the case are pretty obscure now. Except the most inevitable fact.
yeah, Tosches is very skeptical of the claim too.
The facts of the case are pretty obscure now. Except the most inevitable fact.
Agree. David Hackett Fischer's work is a great introduction to colonial migration patterns. Its a must read for anyone who wants to know who founded the American colonies, where they came from and what kind of people they were. It explains why Virginians were different from New Englanders, etc. It is of particular help to the genealogist trying to become familiar with the historical background of certain groups, e.g., the Scotch-Irish, etc.
Along those lines, I also liked these titles:
"The Peopling of British North America: An Introduction" by Bernard Bailyn. (The title says it all. Migration of folks from England to America, etc.)
"The People with No Name" by Patrick Griffin. Subtitled "Ireland's Ulster Scots, America's Scots Irish, and the Creation of a British Atlantic World, 1689-1764."
"A People's History of the American Revolution, How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence" by Ray Raphael. (Excellent read; a Revolutionary War history focusing on the Private and Corporal level of military, as well as what civilians did to help beat the Redcoats).
Also, I just finished reading:
"Far, Far from Home: The Wartime Letters of Dick and Tally Simpson, 3rd South Carolina Volunteers." Edited by Guy R. Everson & Edward W. Simpson, Jr., this one allows you to experience the Civil War through the eyes of two literate and well educated rebel soldiers (their dad was a Representative in the Confederate Congress).
Enjoyed within last six months:
"Johannes Brahms, A Biography" by Jan Swafford.
"The Modern Drunkard, A Handbook for Drinking in the 21st Century" by Frank Kelly Rich. (Hilarious).
Sounds like we have similar taste. Seabiscuit and Band of Brothers books are way better than the movie and mini-series.
Glad to hear about Bringin' Down the House.
Any updates?
I've got a few to bring up:
God is Not Great, by Christopher Hitchens - This was decent, but not great. He's got an edge to him, but that's about it.
The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman - I really struggled with this one until I got about a quarter of the way in. The chapter titled "The Quiet Crisis" was excellent and I highly recommend it. Good fodder for the political forum. The book is so damn long, it is hard to recommend more than a few of its chapters.
That's Not in my American History Book, by Thomas Ayres. I am not done with this one, but it is worth mentioning. Very short stories from American history that you've probably never heard. Makes a great bathroom book.
I've got a few to bring up:
God is Not Great, by Christopher Hitchens - This was decent, but not great. He's got an edge to him, but that's about it.
The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman - I really struggled with this one until I got about a quarter of the way in. The chapter titled "The Quiet Crisis" was excellent and I highly recommend it. Good fodder for the political forum. The book is so damn long, it is hard to recommend more than a few of its chapters.
That's Not in my American History Book, by Thomas Ayres. I am not done with this one, but it is worth mentioning. Very short stories from American history that you've probably never heard. Makes a great bathroom book.
the last book that i read was bringing down the house...finished it around the middle of july..since then & up until superbowl my reading has been & will be football...which i enjoy more.
