Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • A Kaleidoscopic Glimpse at NYC in the Summer of '77
  • so-so
  • Great slice of history into 1977.....
  • Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning
  • The dingy decay and inner strength of 1970s New York in a good read
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City
Jonathan Mahler
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books
HistoryHistory | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Sports | Subjects | Books
New YorkNew York | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Mid-AtlanticMid-Atlantic | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:
  1. The Bronx Zoo: The Astonishing Inside Story of the 1978 World Champion New York Yankees The Bronx Zoo: The Astonishing Inside Story of the 1978 World Champion New York Yankees
  2. The Bronx is Burning The Bronx is Burning
  3. Birth of a Dynasty: Behind the Pinstripes with the 1996 Yankees Birth of a Dynasty: Behind the Pinstripes with the 1996 Yankees
  4. Bad Guys Won Bad Guys Won
  5. The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty : The Game, the Team, and the Cost of Greatness The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty : The Game, the Team, and the Cost of Greatness

ASIN: 0312424302
Release Date: 2006-03-21

Amazon.com

New York City in 1977 was in the middle of wild upheaval on all fronts, from the hunt for the Son of Sam killer and the citywide blackout to a brutal mayor's race and the rise of punk rock and the zenith of disco. In Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning, journalist Jonathan Mahler revisits all those storylines through another drama, which grabbed tabloid headlines all summer long: the outrageous--and pennant-winning--New York Yankees. The Yankees weren't the greatest baseball team ever assembled--they weren't even the greatest of the era (the talent-laden Cincinnati Reds were superior player for player). But no modern team has earned more type than the "Bronx Zoo" Yanks of the late '70s, thanks in no small part to such characters as meddling owner George Steinbrenner, firebrand manager Billy Martin, and flashy slugger Reggie Jackson.

But what more is there to say about a ball club, even one as stormy and successful as the '77 Yanks? Mahler wisely strays out of the dugout and into the chaotic city to give his chronicle breadth and shape. Mahler deftly brings together a host of characters and developments--from doomed old-school catcher Thurman Munson to congressional hellraiser Bella Abzug, from media kingpin Rupert Murdoch to battling politicos Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo, from downtown punks to the glittery decadence of Studio 54. The result is a lively read that will entertain readers who wouldn't know an RBI from CBGB. --Steven Stolder

Book Description

A kaleidoscopic portrait of New York City in 1977, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning is the story of two epic battles: the fight between Yankee slugger Reggie Jackson and team manager Billy Martin, and the battle between Mario Cuomo and Ed Koch for the citys mayorship. Buried beneath these parallel conflictsone for the soul of baseball, the other for the soul of a citywas the subtext of race. The brash and confident Jackson took every black myth and threw it back in white Americas face. Koch and Cuomo ran bitterly negative campaigns that played upon urbanites growing fears. Surrounding this braided narrative was a prowling murderer dubbed the Son of Sam, the acquisition of the New York Post by the unknown Rupert Murdoch, the opening of Studio 54, the infamous blackout, the evolution of punk rock, and the dawning of modern SoHo.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A Kaleidoscopic Glimpse at NYC in the Summer of '77.......2007-10-01

I had heard a lot of good buzz about this book since it was published a few years ago. When I found out ESPN was making a mini-series out of it, I decided to take the plunge and buy it. I actually didn't end up watching the mini-series, but I loved the book.
One of the things that initially kept me away was the much-hyped baseball angle. Like any red-blooded American baseball fan that doesn't hale from the Tri-State area, I am life-long Yankee hater, and those George Steinbrenner/Billy Martin teams of the late `70s gave me plenty to hate. The last thing on earth I wanted to read was some hagiographic account of the Bronx Bombers winning the 1977 World Series.
I needn't have worried. The Evil Empire's tumultuous season is just one of several neatly interwoven story lines: New York's fiscal crisis, the city's nasty '77 mayoral election, Rupert Murdoch's purchase of the moribund New York Post. Several other subplots add spice: the blackout riots, Son of Sam, the burgeoning disco scene. New York was a busy place that summer.
There's nothing too profound here, just a snapshot of our greatest city at one of the lowest points in its history. Well paced and enjoyable, the book got me through several long airplane trips.

2 out of 5 stars so-so.......2007-09-12

It didnt focus on the yankees as much as i thought it would, and when it did, most of it was about Reggie. All the events of that summer were interesting and I remembered a lot of it happening too which was cool.

5 out of 5 stars Great slice of history into 1977............2007-08-23

I was impressed with the amount of factual research Jonathan Mahler put into this wonder readaptation into the year 1977 in NY City. He takes a book and illustrates a wonderful slice of history into multiple aspects. There are several issues that keep the reader interested in the book. I particularly like books that have multiple plots and subplots. Mahler was able to keep each chapter full of intrique with a look into human experience and emotions of the key characters in this one year of magic. The final chapter he puts out: "The Bronx is burning, ladies and gentlemen, as we watch the 1977 World Series".......

1 out of 5 stars Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning.......2007-08-13

This is an excellent account of New York City and its troubles both on the baseball field and in the political arena. I highly recommend this for anyone who is interested in the NYY ball club and the politics of New York City, particularly in the late 1970's.

5 out of 5 stars The dingy decay and inner strength of 1970s New York in a good read.......2007-08-11

It's hard to believe the author of this book was a little kid when he first visited New York in the 1970s. I first moved to NYC as a young adult during this decade, and found this book reverberating with the discouraging urine-stained decay that was ubiquitous then -- graffitied subways, homeless bums, massage parlours, garbage strikes, crime, loan defaults...

And yet... beneath all this, there must have been some kind of resolve and determination... or perhaps simply infrastructure... that allowed Manhattan, at least, to ultimately avoid the suburban flight afflicting the rest of the nation's inner cities. New York is still New York, but those dark abandoned streets of 1970s Manhattan today sport boutiques and spanking-clean SUVs from one end nearly to the other (of course, the outer boroughs have not been so lucky). While this has also resulted in a loss of character and the sad conversion of Manhattan's old ethnic neighborhoods, it is also testimony to the endurance of urban culture, of some kind, in at least one American city.

Enough social commentary and onto the book! At first it seems that much of the plot may concern the dynamics of Reggie Jackson & Billy Martin and the Yankees; also figuring large are the 1977 blackout and the mayoral race. It would have been easy, and appealing, to showboat the charged conflict among Reggie, Martin, and Steinbrenner; but the author never succumbs to this temptation. Instead he seamlessly weaves the story of 1977 New York in the context of the cultural, political, and financial background of the times. Even Studio 54, punk rock, The Mercer Arts Centre, and Soho are given lip service.

What makes it all so good is the natural trajectory that makes for an entertaining read -- it is hard to put down, like a good mystery; it tells a story. This is great non-fiction: historic, accurate, nuanced, and atmospheric -- and as entertaining as any fictional narrative could be.
A City Laid Waste: The Capture, Sack, And Destruction of the City of Columbia
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Primary Document Finally Available
A City Laid Waste: The Capture, Sack, And Destruction of the City of Columbia
William Gilmore Simms
Manufacturer: University of South Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

GeneralGeneral | 19th Century | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Civil War | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Campaigns | Civil War | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
South CarolinaSouth Carolina | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
SouthSouth | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Military | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:
  1. The Golden Christmas The Golden Christmas
  2. War Crimes Against Southern Civilians War Crimes Against Southern Civilians
  3. Defending Dixie: Essays in Southern History and Culture Defending Dixie: Essays in Southern History and Culture
  4. Lincoln Unmasked: What You're Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest Abe Lincoln Unmasked: What You're Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest Abe
  5. Tales of the South by William Gilmore Simms Tales of the South by William Gilmore Simms

ASIN: 1570035962

Book Description

In the first reissue of these documents since 1865, A City Laid Waste captures in riveting detail the destruction of South Carolina's capital city as Gen. William T. Sherman brought his scorched-earth campaign to a hotbed of secession. William Gilmore Simms, a native South Carolinian and one of the nation's foremost men of letters, was in Columbia and witnessed firsthand the city's capture and destruction. A renowned novelist and poet who was also an experienced journalist and historian, Simms deftly recorded the events of February 1865 in a series of eyewitness accounts published in the first ten issues of the Columbia Phoenix. Later that year, he edited the Phoenix text, curbing some of his immediate outrage, and published the material as a pamphlet, Sack and Destruction of the City of Columbia, S.C. Reprinted here in its entirety and illustrated with a collection of drawings and photographs, the newspaper version of Simms's account! offers an unparalleled view into the horrors of invasion on American soil.

Simms walked the fire-ravaged streets, interviewing Columbia residents and Union troops. His record of burned buildings constitutes the most authoritative information available on the extent of the damage. In addition he cataloged widespread looting, atrocities committed against women, the brutal treatment of former slaves by Union soldiers, and the destruction of historically significant documents, works of art, artifacts, and relics.

Describing the account as a Southern masterpiece, Simms historian David Aiken provides both a historical and literary context for Simms's reportage. In his introduction Aiken clarifies the significance of Simms's articles and draws attention to important factors for understanding the occupation's impact—the cultural prosperity enjoyed in Columbia prior to Sherman's arrival, the enormity of the invasion itself, the sufferings of the city's residents, and the efforts to cover up crimes and discredit witnesses such as Simms who dared to report atrocities.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Primary Document Finally Available.......2006-01-24

This eye-witness account of US troop atrocities on civilians can no longer be hidden. Scholars may have had an excuse for ignoring it, but now that excuse is removed by this easily available, beautifully produced university press edition. The majority of the so-called historians who have attributed the burning of Columbia SC to accident, alcohol, burning cotton, etc., are now shown to be the apologist propagandists for a sanitized American history that they most surely are. In contrast to the eye-witness account, their work now appears laughable. How can we take these "historians" seriously in anything else they do? Truth has a way of getting outside its bottle, and like the genie, it can't be put back. Congratulations to the editor and press for a job well done.
Home Fires Burning
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Surprising, Soulful Tale of a Hometown Editor
  • Carry these people around with you
  • One of the best books I've ever read
  • This is wonderful story-telling from a Southern viewpoint.
Home Fires Burning
Robert Inman
Manufacturer: Little Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

ContemporaryContemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
HistoricalHistorical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Dairy Queen Days: A Novel Dairy Queen Days: A Novel
  2. Old Dogs and Children Old Dogs and Children
  3. Coming Home: Life, Love, and All Things Southern Coming Home: Life, Love, and All Things Southern
  4. Captain Saturday: A Novel Captain Saturday: A Novel
  5. The Christmas Bus The Christmas Bus

ASIN: 0316418927

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Surprising, Soulful Tale of a Hometown Editor.......2004-04-18

The clatter of a moody Linotype ready to spit lead at the ceiling. The rattle of a typewriter. The eye-watering smell of ink on a hot summer evening, press night. The taste of good whiskey, shared with an old friend at the other side of the desk. The clutter that seems to be the required décor for any tradition-abiding hometown newspaper office.
If there's one thing that author Robert Inman has down pat, it's the atmosphere of a community newspaper, circa 1944.
And he uses that setting as an integral part of a story that is both comic and tragic, the story of Jake Tibbetts, the cranky owner/editor of a small-town southern weekly inherited from his grandfather, a Confederate war hero.
Jake and wife Pastine are raising their grandson, Lonnie, whose alcoholic, irresponsible father Henry is disowned, disinherited and thoroughly despised by Jake. Henry joined up with the National Guard. He's fighting in a hellhole called Bastogne.
In the meantime, Jake handles all matters on the homefront in his usual manner, stubbornly and cynically trying to control friends, family and the town.
"Home Fires Burning" is a story that surprises (the first chapter is a fooler), amuses with its cast of cornball characters, thrills with its flashbacks to the Civil War, and ultimately delivers thought-provoking messages about honor, the futility of foolish pride, and forgiveness.
It's worthy of your "must read" list.

4 out of 5 stars Carry these people around with you.......2000-09-18

"Home Fires Burning" is a wonderful book about the snarls and knots of our family ties, the mental imprint of the past that edits our daily lives, and day-to-day experience of small-town Southerners surviving and struggling while a Great War rages far away. Jake Tibbetts is a somewhat crotchety, stubborn maverick who edits the local newspaper. He is troubled by his estranged relationship with his son, who has gone overseas to fight for his country. Inman nicely details the history of this family's father-son relationships down through the years and their effects on people from boyhood to their twilight years. Vivid characters and relationships abound, and the portrayal of small-town life in the 1940s is slightly sentimental yet realistic. Inman seems to go out of his way to create strange first names, which I thought went a bit overboard: Tunstall, Ideal, Rosh, Biscuit, Fog, Pastine (any Johns in town?), but this is a minor quibble. Also minor: I don't always believe that Jake is eloquent enough to write for a newspaper, but it's clear Inman does know the ins and outs of the business in the '40s; also, the scenes late in the book where a character comes back from the war seem incomplete and impact-less. Still, this is a marvelous book that will stay with you. Tibbetts' complex character and the genuine webs of interaction among the other townspeople are a great achievement. The book probably could have used a slightly better editor, but is in general highly recommended.

5 out of 5 stars One of the best books I've ever read.......1999-10-22

As an avid reader, I must declare this as one of the best books I have ever read. Well written and engaging, it is a colorful story that I will encourage others to read. I'll put it as the #3 book of all I've ever read. (#1 being _Watership Down_ and #2 being _Travels with Charley_.)

4 out of 5 stars This is wonderful story-telling from a Southern viewpoint........1999-07-21

Inman does a wonderful job of telling the story and developing his main characters. A must read for any reader who is nostalgic about their Southern heritage.
The Burning City
Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
  • Drop your assumptions at the door!
  • Much too long & pretty dry stuff
  • Rewards close attention
  • Well below Niven & Pournelle average
  • A burning question
The Burning City
Larry Niven , and Jerry Pournelle
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Niven, LarryNiven, Larry | ( N ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Pournelle, JerryPournelle, Jerry | ( P ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
EpicEpic | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
HistoricalHistorical | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:
  1. Burning Tower Burning Tower
  2. The Magic Goes Away Collection: The Magic Goes Away, The Magic May Return, and More Magic The Magic Goes Away Collection: The Magic Goes Away, The Magic May Return, and More Magic
  3. The Draco Tavern The Draco Tavern
  4. Building Harlequin's Moon Building Harlequin's Moon
  5. Beowulf's Children Beowulf's Children

ASIN: 0671036610
Release Date: 2001-05-22

Amazon.com

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle have created a unique and believable world set in the universe of Niven's The Magic Goes Away. The story begins nearly 14,000 years ago in Tep's Town, located on the future site of Los Angeles. Tep's Town is a city held captive by the slumbering god of fire, Yagen-Atep. Awakening only occasionally, he commands selected men to begin Burnings by giving them the ability to start fires coupled with consuming anger.

Whandall Placehold grows up in the stagnant, three-class society of Tep's town, part of a gang of thieves. No one gets in or out, since the town is hemmed in by a malevolent forest. But when Whandall is chosen by Yagen-Atep to start the Burnings, he resists the compulsion and, aided by Atlantean wizard Morth, escapes through the forest with a group of children he saves from certain death.

As the years pass, Whandall builds an empire, buys wagons and bison, and builds a trade route all along the California coast--except for Tep's Town. Life is good for Whandall and his bride, Willow, until they get a message from a desperate Morth: he convinces Whandall to return to Tep's Town and help eradicate, once and for all, an ancient magical being from Atlantis who has been trying to kill Morth for many years.

The Burning City is a lively book that deftly integrates social concerns of today with the magic and mythology of yesterday. Cameo appearances by the Native American god Coyote and the Norse god Loki add to the mischievous nature of the book. With a well-thought-out system of magic, characters with depth, unicorns, and swashbuckling adventure, this book is sure to please hardcore fantasy readers and fans of Niven and Pournelle. --Robert Gately

Book Description

Set in the world of Larry Niven's popular The Magic Goes Away, The Burning City transports readers to an enchanted ancient city bearing a provocative resemblance to our own modern society. Here Yagen-Atep, the volatile and voracious god of fire, alternately protects and destroys the city's denizens. In Tep's Town, nothing can burn indoors and no fire can start -- except when the Burning comes upon the city. Then the people, possessed by Yagen-Atep, set their own town ablaze in a riotous orgy of destruction that often comes without warning.

Whandall Placehold has lived with the Burning all his life. Fighting his way to adulthood in the mean-but-magical streets of the city's most blighted neighborhoods, Whandall dreams of escaping the god's wrath to find a new and better life. But his best hope for freedom may lie with Morth of Atlantis, the enigmatic sorcerer who killed his father!

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Drop your assumptions at the door!.......2007-04-23

I tripped over this book in a second hand bookstore bargain bin and figured "hey, if it's Niven and Pournelle it can't be bad."

When I got home and read the synopisis I realised it was fantasy, and not their usual sci-fi. I was gutted, and almost didn't read it.

But I gave it a go, and it turned out to be a really refreshing read. If you forget what Niven and Pournelle are famous for and drop all your assumptions at the door, you will be pleasantly surprised. If you are expecting "The Mote in God's Eye" or "Ringworld" you will be disappointed.

The Burning City explores the uneasy life in a City ruled by lords who remain as separate and distant from the populace as they can. Below the Lords are the defeated populace of the original city - the Kinless - who do all the work, and the Lordkin. The Lordkin are the people who put the Lords in power, fighters, but not tradesmen or farmers. They live like parasites off the Kinless. They roam in gangs, stealing, fighting with each other for territory, and dying young. They drink wine and take drugs and then set the city on fire.

So, things in LA haven't changed much since the end of the last Ice age. :) In the World of Niven and Pournelle you have a mirror of modern society. A small elite class (Beverly Hills = Lords), a productive middle class (Citizens = Kinless) and an underclass (Gangs = Lordkin) who all live in an uneasy stasis. Enter Rodney King - or the Fire God - and things explode.

I know this book has been lashed by some, but I found it a really good and very enjoyable read. It is a clever satire on modern SoCal society.

2 out of 5 stars Much too long & pretty dry stuff.......2007-01-25

Not recommended. The book is too long and there is not much of a plot. I found the plot elements hard to follow based on the characters' dialogue. It was like the authors knew what they were talking about but could not successfully communicate the concepts to the reader. The ending was not at all satisfactory. There was no build up to anything important!

4 out of 5 stars Rewards close attention.......2006-11-07

I didn't like this book nearly as much as Mote at first either. Then I re-read it paying careful attention to detail. Now I think Burning City (and it's sequel, Burning Tower) are among Niven and Pournelle's best work. Once again Niven gives us one of his trademark 'tourist' characters, but this time the tour he's on is the balance of his life. The setting is rich and (if you're paying attention and buy the Warlock universes underlying premise,) believable, and the writing is just as good or better than earlier N/P collaborations. Just my humble opinion. And I've read everything Larry Niven has ever written, so I should know.

2 out of 5 stars Well below Niven & Pournelle average.......2006-09-11

This is not a good book. I was tempted to stop reading it. On the positive side:
+ N & P do know how to tell a story.
+ There are some interesting elements in this fantasy world, like the social organization of the city and the magic system.
On the negative side:
- The plot is too disconnected to grab your interest.
- The characters are rather shallow.
The ending is part ingenious (fighting the elemental), part nonsensical (burning the contract).

3 out of 5 stars A burning question.......2005-06-01

In fantasy fiction, the author holds all the cards. Location, characters and events may be fully invented or adapted from reality as the writer wishes. The better writers usually provide an explanation for some of the more unlikely depictions. In fantasy, the implausible is part of the attraction. All that's left for the reader is to accept the result. This book is such a confused melange of fact and fantasy that the reader is likely to finish it dismayed. Ostensibly taking place in Southern California at the end of the Ice Age, one might believe the fantasy is the frosting on the cake of reality. Instead, it's the reverse - fantasy dominates and reality is plugged in rather at the authors' whim.

Tep's Town is a structured community in the Los Angeles Basin. There are Lords at the top, Lordkin in a vague middle and the kinless at the bottom. The kinless wear a rope noose [to indicate the possibility of lynching for disobedience?] around their necks as a sign of their status. They haul the water, cut the wood and provide just about everything the Lordkin wish. The Lordkin "gather" a term translated in the book as "steal" - "confiscate" would do as well. What has held such a chaotic society together long enough to build towns and trade routes remains unexplained.

One Lordkin, Whandall Placehold ["freeman", one presumes], is a "street-smart" kid who accidentally visits an aristocrat's home. He almost falls in love, but his hormones aren't yet up to the task - he's only nine. Still, the event provides Whandall with a new view of that element of society. He gains greater insight into the bottom rung, as well. Especially when he encounters "the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen". She's ensconced in a hidden compartment of a wagon with other kids, road dust and certainly the excrement of their extended journey. That condition is blithely ignored - by the authors and Whandall alike, leaving our Hero smitten, but not besmirched. His olfactory powers being minimal, his magical powers are correspondingly ample. He has a god, Yagen-Atep, at his call. Y-A is hot stuff - and Whandall can fire up whole communities with his spirit.

The resulting conflagration sends Whandall, along with his nubile, but unconsummated love, on the road. Giving up his life of privileged idleness, Whandall follows the trade routes and expands his knowledge and experience. Keeping his pyromaniacal deity at bay, he takes up a quest imparted by a wizard, Morth. That this wizard is from Atlantis is one of the more jarring notes in this book. We have The Ice, redwoods in LA because the Times reported them, and a greenhouse-full of obnoxious plants. But, "Atlantis"?? Morth, anticipating later reality, succumbs to "gold fever" a la the Forty-Niners, but the gold is magic and the "fever" the madness of possessing its power. Is that power on the wane? is the big question here, and Whandall, as a protagonist, struggles to find out.

There are worse fantasy books than this one, but not much. The authors, who have excellent SF and "real world" credentials, seem to have tried to incorporate too much from both here. The mixture is a marginal success because their prose skills are highest quality. They've tried to break from traditional [i.e., Tolkienesque] fantasy, but it doesn't quite work. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Cities burning (Broadside poets)
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Cities burning (Broadside poets)
    Dudley Randall
    Manufacturer: Broadside Press
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Unknown Binding

    United StatesUnited States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | African American | Asian American | Classics | Collections & Readers | Drama | General | Hispanic | History & Criticism | Humor | Jewish American | Letters & Correspondence | Native American | Poetry | Short Stories | Women Writers
    ASIN: B0006BUX8W
    Burning City
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • the people, the people!!
    • Beautiful, Complex Look at Growing Up
    Burning City
    Ariel Dorfman , and Joaquin Dorfman
    Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    Action & AdventureAction & Adventure | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Issues | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Literature & Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Issues | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
    Action & AdventureAction & Adventure | Literature | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Literature & Fiction | Teens | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
    All 4-for-3 DealsAll 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
    Similar Items:
    1. Other Septembers, Many Americas: Selected Provocations, 1980-2004 Other Septembers, Many Americas: Selected Provocations, 1980-2004
    2. Mascara Mascara
    3. On the Head of a Pin On the Head of a Pin
    4. The Secret Under My Skin The Secret Under My Skin
    5. Heading South, Looking North: A Bilingual Journey Heading South, Looking North: A Bilingual Journey

    ASIN: 0375832041
    Release Date: 2006-05-23

    Book Description

    It is the simmering summer of 2001 in New York City. Heller is the youngest employee of Soft Tidings, a messenger service whose motto is “news with a personal touch.” At Soft Tidings, a message is not handed over but told to the recipient. And the messages, as a rule, are not especially good news. Heller prefers his bike to the mandatory Rollerblades, and he gets away with his maniacal bike riding because he is, hands down, the best deliverer of bad news. This summer will be memorable for Heller as he finds himself drawn into the lives of a wildly diverse cast of characters, accidentally falling in love, and relating to people in a whole new way.


    From the Hardcover edition.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars the people, the people!!.......2005-12-22

    i was given an advanced copy of this book and i didn't want to read it. i hate 'sports' books. i never even picked this up until after it was already in the library and cataloged and on the shelf. man was i an idiot:)

    this book is great! wait, it's better than great:) the characters are amazing (and really, they make this book). every distinct, vivid, realistic, snarky, wonderful person in this story rocked.
    heller meets people over and over in manhatten rather conviniently, and the story line is a little on the, shall we say, unrealistic side. however, these flaws are totally easy to overlook when the dialog happens. (besides, when was the last time i saw a movie with a realistic story line???)
    absolutely unique.

    5 out of 5 stars Beautiful, Complex Look at Growing Up.......2005-06-04

    New York City, summer before 9/11. Heller Highland works for Soft Tidings, a messenger service that delivers "news with a personal touch," meaning that the message is spoken to the recipient instead of written. Heller is known as the "Angel of Death" at the office for his innate skill at delivering bad news. During the week following his sixteenth birthday, he encounters a colorful cast of characters, including a Turkish bookseller who becomes his best friend and a pretty coffeeshop worker that he falls in love with.

    Burning City is very fast-paced, thanks mainly to the snappy, clever dialogue and scenes describing Heller's bike riding skills. Heller is also a fascinating and incredibly likable character. There was a certain innocence about him that I miss in most teen novels. He wasn't blind, just hopeful. His developing relationships unfold with such compassion and complexity that I was blown away. More than anything, this novel is about relationships and what it means to really care about people. When I put the novel down, I felt like I understood the world around me just a little bit better.

    Please read this book!
    Three Great Novels: Dixie City Jam; Burning Angel; Purple Cane Road
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Three Great Novels: Dixie City Jam; Burning Angel; Purple Cane Road
      James Lee Burke
      Manufacturer: Orion
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      Burke, James LeeBurke, James Lee | ( B ) | Authors, A-Z | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
      GeneralGeneral | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
      Similar Items:
      1. Heaven's Prisoners Heaven's Prisoners
      2. Black Cherry Blues: A Dave Robicheaux Novel Black Cherry Blues: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
      3. Crusader's Cross: A Dave Robicheaux Novel (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries) Crusader's Cross: A Dave Robicheaux Novel (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries)
      4. A Morning for Flamingos A Morning for Flamingos
      5. Cadillac Jukebox (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries) Cadillac Jukebox (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries)

      ASIN: 0752853538

      Book Description

      DIXIE CITY JAM When a Nazi submarine is discovered lying in sixty feet of water off the Louisiana coast, some troubled ghosts are ready to be released. A local businessman is offering Detective Dave Robicheaux big money to bring the wreck to the surface, but he is not the only one after the submarine and its cargo. A new spirit of hatred is abroad, and its embodiment is stalking Robicheaux's wife... BURNING ANGEL When Sonny Marsallas entrusts a mysterious notebook to Dave Robicheaux, a series of violent events is set in train. What did Sonny's girlfriend know that results in her murder? What are Sonny's connections with the Mob that finally lead them to send a hitman after Dave? Burning Angel outstrips its crime thriller label to produce a rich, sardonic and terrifying portrayal of contemporary America. PURPLE CANE ROAD Detective Dave Robicheaux embarks on a painful journey to a murky past, when he his told that his mother, Mae, was a hooker and ended her life drowned in a puddle by two cops working for the Mob. Dave learns to confront and accept his mistakes as he tries to track down his mother's killers and bring them to justice.
      The rise and fall of the Paris commune in 1871; with a full account of the bombardment, capture, and burning of the city. Illustrated with a map of Paris and portraits from original photographs.
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        The rise and fall of the Paris commune in 1871; with a full account of the bombardment, capture, and burning of the city. Illustrated with a map of Paris and portraits from original photographs.
        Michigan Historical Reprint Series
        Manufacturer: Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan Library
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback

        GeneralGeneral | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | World | History | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | France | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | England | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Ireland | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
        United StatesUnited States | History | Historical Reproductions | Formats | Books
        ASIN: 1425562418
        Release Date: 2005-12-22

        Book Description

        This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program.
        BANARAS, CITY OF BURNING AND LEARNING
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          BANARAS, CITY OF BURNING AND LEARNING
          N.K. Sharma
          Manufacturer: Hind Printing Works Bhadaina Unknown
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback
          ASIN: B000IWR1X4
          The Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City
          Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
          • A Great Read
          • A slice of NYC life
          The Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City
          Jonathan Mahler
          Manufacturer: Picador
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback

          GeneralGeneral | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
          New YorkNew York | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
          Mid-AtlanticMid-Atlantic | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books
          HistoryHistory | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Sports | Subjects | Books
          Similar Items:
          1. The Bronx is Burning The Bronx is Burning
          2. The Bronx Zoo: The Astonishing Inside Story of the 1978 World Champion New York Yankees The Bronx Zoo: The Astonishing Inside Story of the 1978 World Champion New York Yankees
          3. New York Yankees 1977 World Series Collector's Edition New York Yankees 1977 World Series Collector's Edition
          4. Legends in Pinstripes (Babe Ruth The Life Behind the Legend / Where Have You Gone Joe DiMaggio / The Definitive Story of Mickey Mantle) Legends in Pinstripes (Babe Ruth The Life Behind the Legend / Where Have You Gone Joe DiMaggio / The Definitive Story of Mickey Mantle)
          5. Birth of a Dynasty: Behind the Pinstripes with the 1996 Yankees Birth of a Dynasty: Behind the Pinstripes with the 1996 Yankees

          ASIN: 0312427026
          Release Date: 2007-06-26

          Book Description

          A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

          Scheduled for release in July 2007 as an ESPN original miniseries, starring John Turturro as Billy Martin, Oliver Platt as George Steinbrenner, and Daniel Sunjata as Reggie Jackson.

          A kaleidoscopic portrait of New York City in 1977, The Bronx Is Burning is the story of two epic battles: the fight between Yankee Reggie Jackson and team manager Billy Martin, and the battle between Mario Cuomo and Ed Koch for the city's mayorship. Buried beneath these parallel conflicts--one for the soul of baseball, the other for the soul of the city--was the subtext of race.

          Deftly intertwined by journalist Jonathan Mahler, these braided Big Apple narratives reverberate to reveal a year that also saw the opening of Studio 54, the acquisition of the New York Post by Rupert Murdoch, a murderer dubbed the "Son of Sam," the infamous blackout, and the evolution of punk rock. As Koch defeated Cuomo, and as Reggie Jackson rescued a team racked with dissension, 1977 became a year of survival--and also of hope.

          Customer Reviews:

          4 out of 5 stars A Great Read.......2007-09-29

          What can I say the book was a great read with a tremendous introspective in on some yankee legends. A great read not only for any baseball fan but also anyone who enjoys a great read. The product was in superb condition as well when I recieved it.

          5 out of 5 stars A slice of NYC life.......2007-08-01

          A must read for anyone who grew up in the City. This was a low-point for NYC with race driven politics, a pair of losing ball teams, blackouts, riots and a brush with bankruptcy. Throw in the Son of Sam and disco, and anyone who could afford to was fleeing for the 'burbs. Mahler captures the mood along with the gallows humor and manages a happy ending.

          Books:

          1. Lady Friday (The Keys To The Kingdom)
          2. Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language
          3. Magic Item Compendium (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)
          4. Mary Kay: You Can Have It All: Lifetime Wisdom from America's Foremost Woman Entrepreneur
          5. Master of Dragons (Dragonvarld Trilogy, Book 3)
          6. Mein Kampf
          7. Memoirs (George F. Kennan Memoirs)
          8. Monkey Business: 7 Laws of the Jungle for Becoming the Best of the Bunch
          9. NIV/The Message Parallel Bible (New International Version)
          10. Orcas, Eagles & Kings: Georgia Strait & Puget Sound

          Books Index

          Books Home

          Recommended Books

          1. My Life So Far
          2. Epicenter: Why Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future
          3. The Saving Graces: A Novel
          4. The Well of Lost Plots
          5. A Man of Letters
          6. Biology of Floral Scent
          7. Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy
          8. The Risko Book
          9. The Ultimate Golden Retriever, Second Edition
          10. War, Religion and the Pursuit of Sex