Champagne - And Real Pain: Celebrities In Paris In The Fifties

Customer Reviews:

Hell hath no fury...........1999-10-18

This book really is just a divorce tale with celebrities as the bait for the purchase. It is a dreary read. The author seems to be a lonely, living in the past with bad memories. As I tried to read the book I found that it involves the personal vengeance of an unknown journalist on unkown people that are already dead. It is more a sad personal diary of someone whose life did not work out than a book with a tale to tell.

Book Description

It is our national pastime, a sport as American as apple pie. Yet until now no one has told the story of the Native American who first played it, just 7 years after Wounded Knee and half a century before Jackie Robinson broke the league's color barrier. His name was Louis Francis Sockalexis, grandson of a Penobscot chief. The story goes that he developed his amazing arm throwing rocks across a lake near his home in Old Town, Maine. In 1897, he was signed by the team then known as the Cleveland Spiders and was considered one of the finest 'natural athletes' ever seen in the game until alcohol-and perhaps the mix of fame and racist hatred from some fans-took its toll. Years later, after his near anonymous death, the team would change its name to the Cleveland Indians in his honor. McDonald's vivid writing brings to life the raucous stadiums from the turn of the century, filled with rowdy fans, hard-drinking players, and corrupt team owners with ties to organized crime.

Customer Reviews:

What Might Have Been & What Was.......2006-10-22

The name of Louis Sockalexis in Cleveland (OH) pro baseball lore is usually associated with the tale that the team was named after the star player in recognition for being the first Native American in MLB.

It is about as accurate as Cooperstown, N.Y., being the birthplace of the game. The nickname was selected by a panel of Cleveland sportwriters in 1915.

Author Brian McDonald packs a wealth of information on Sockalexis, pro baseball and the era in which he lived and played hard, both on and off the field.

Sockalexis, 25, was a sensation at the plate and in the field during his 1897 rookie season with the Cleveland Spiders. The club was sometimes referred to as the Indians in stories filed by sportswriters. But the excesses that can grip star athletes is not new; Sockalexis pursued the late-night haunts where his celebrity opened doors, but ultimately shut the ones that should have mattered most.

If there ever was an athlete who needed a "role model" (guard) off the field, it was Sockalexis. He had baggage when he entered pro baseball, being expelled from the University of Notre Dame after ripping up a brothel when the madam made a racial slur to him.

But as the game within the game is still played today, the Spiders looked the other way as long as Sockalexis played like a star. It didn't last long, though. Later in his rookie season, he severely injured his leg while jumping out of a second-story window of a brothel.

He hung on for two more seasons in Cleveland before being released, but stayed in the game by playing & umpiring in the minor leagues. He died at the age of 42.

The history has been embellished for so many years and McDonald does an outstanding job in placing the life and times of Sockalexis in its proper context.

Great book, sad story.......2004-07-31

This book is more than a baseball story; it's a bit of insight into American culture at the turn of the last century as well. It is also an extremely fast read. The story flows smoothly and doesn't drag. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the career of Louis Sockalexis. Blessed with tremendous athletic ability, this Native American rises quickly to the top of the game, only to fall more rapidly. Here is a guy who by most accounts could have been one of the all-time greats of the game, but was used by owners, friends and hangers-on, until he was all-used up and cast aside. Certainly, much of his demise was his own doing; but some of it was the time period, the structure of the baseball business, the racism of the day. Regardless, it's a tale worth reading, as one can draw certain parallels to today's athlete - coddled, manipulated and directionless.

Louis Sockalexis - an American tragedy.......2003-09-05

Louis Sockalexis, as a great ballplayer, was the Roberto Clemente of his time. By all accounts, while in his very short prime, he made plays that defied description; he outran balls that could not possibly have been caught; he hit anything he wanted to hit. But his race (he was a Native American), his prediliction for drink, and a public that both adored yet patronized him all contributed to his demise and to a short and tragic career. Sockalexis, in some ways, may have been the first overindulged college ballplayer. Common nowadays, back then - probably due to his race - Sockalexis was given incredible leeway by Notre Dame specifically because of his sports ability. Eventually dismissed, he was allowed to continue his excesses simply because, as good as he was, he made a great drawing card for the team he wound up playing for - Cleveland. This book says as much about America and the way the country idolized, and idealized its non-white heroes as it does about Sockalexis. It also says much about what such idols had to deal with and how easy it was - and still is - to get caught up, and destroyed by fame and the price of it. A good historical perspective on how major sports, even then, could corrupt (and allow one to corrupt himself) somebody who might have been one of the best, ever.

An All Too Familiar Story.......2003-09-03

I had heard of Louis Sockalexis and knew he was from Old Town, Maine, but that was all. Author Brian McDonald has researched the baseball life of this Penobscot Indian, and provided us with a neglected subject in baseball's history. Sockalexis was on his way to having a superior season with the Cleveland National League team in 1897 while enduring the derisive taunts from fans throughout the league because he was an Indian. Sockalexis turned those taunts to cheers with his batting and fielding skills, while others attended games just to see this much heralded Indian play ball. It certainly wasn't known at the time, but the apex of Sockalexis's career was on the team's first visit to New York's Polo Grounds when he hit a home run onto 8th Avenue off the "Hoosier Thunderbolt" Amos Rusie.
As has been the case with numerous athletes throughout history, the love of alcohol and the night life brought this budding star's career to an abrupt end. While jumping out of a second story brothel window Louis suffered a broken ankle and his running ability was never the same. He managed to hang on through the seasons of 1898-1899, but was only a shadow of his former self. He had vowed to give up his drinking and take his baseball seriously, but it was not to be. The Cleveland team was known as the Spiders, and was changed during this time to Indians. Whether it was because Sockalexis was on the team in open to conjecture. In 1900 the National League dropped its four weakest franchises, Cleveland among them, which finished the 1899 season with the worst record of any team in baseball history, 20 wins and 134 losses. Sockalexis died from heart failure on Christmas Eve of 1913. We are also introduced to Indians' owner Frank Robison and manager Patsy Tebeau who endured the tribulations of managing his alcoholic star.
Interesting stories are also told of the St. Louis Browns' colorful owner Chris Von der Ahe who ended up selling his team to Cleveland owner Frank Robison at a sheriff's auction. Owning two teams was known as "syndicate baseball."
The author begins each chapter with interesting tidbits that were taking place in America during the years of 1897-1899. One was the two day postponement of the execution of a Choctaw Indian who was to be shot by firing squad so he could be in the lineup of the governor's favorite team.
The book is a worthy addition to a baseball library. His story, however, is an all too familiar one of wasted talent.

A Must Read-McDonald hits a GRAND SLAM!.......2003-07-08

This book is a must read for baseball fans and history fans alike.
McDonald tells the story of this unsung hero while interweaving facts about the struggles of Native Americans in general during the 1890's in this country. The author does both Sockalexis and baseball fans a great service by telling the story of this phenomenal talent. Sockalexis performed head a shoulders above the others players while facing adversity at every turn. It is difficult to believe that a player of Sockalexis' caliber is not touted along with Babe Ruth, and the like- such a disservice to the game.One can't help but wonder what type of impact Sockalexis would have had on the game if he had played baseball during a different time period in this country.

Book Description

Find your favorite actors in the buff. This guide includes Antonio Banderas, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ralph Fiennes, Lukas Haas, Ewan McGregor, Vincent Perez, Jason Priestly, Eric Stoltz, Mario Van Peebles, Mark Wahlberg and Bruce Willis and hundreds more. Videos include mainstream, independent, foreign and underground. Each is listed by title but if readers prefer to search by and actor's name, there's a complete index at the back of the book. All videos are listed by movie title in a single A-to-Z format making it easy-to-use. Each listing includes title, actor, description of scene and country. Also includes a

Mail-Order Video Renters' & Buyers' Guide. 144 pages.

Customer Reviews:

Easy-to-Use in A-Z Format.......2006-01-05

"An easy-to-use, video guide to full-frontal, male nudity in movies and videos--mainstream, independent, and foreign--this book is organized in a simple A-to-Z format, listing each video by title and providing its release date and a brief description of the nude scene. 100+ photos."--© zebraz

Excellent Guide.......2003-01-14

If you're looking for pictures of naked celebrities this is not the right book for you. There are no photos. But if you're a movie buff like me who prefers to rent or buy movies and DVDs unedited, uncut and uncensored, then Steve Stewart's guide lists them and helps you find them. It's a must-have. It guides you to rare, hard to find movies from around the world that you can't find anywhere else. He even lists the obscure web sites that rent and sell these movies. This book is a real bargain and worth twice the price. I highly recommend it and can't wait for the 3rd edition.

A MISGUIDED PURCHASE............2002-10-18

Oh, the pain of modern research! Yeah right. This is a painfully thin and disappointing "guide" for movie buffs--or more specifically fans of movie "buff". Precious few items of value here unless you're still a VHS junkie. Only a handful of the films listed are available on DVD which makes this book outdated. Even more disturbing are the listings featuring children naked. YUCK! What kind of audience do these people have in MIND? Who cares if this or that is "glimpsed" or a "brief shot"? And needless to say a lot of these titles are out of print so why bother? Skip this waste of time and look for something more accurate, in depth and less pedophilic. Somebody should yank THIS out of print.

Average customer rating:

Must Have for Newer Recruiters

Useless book

Good for any recruiter

For Recruiters by a Recruiter

Important base for recruiters

The Recruiter's Almanac of Scripts, Rebuttals and Closes
Bill Radin
Manufacturer: Innovative Consulting
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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How to Market & Sell Your Recruiting Services

Advanced Strategies for Recruiters

ASIN: 0962614777

Book Description

The ultimate tool for smooth dialogue and high billings! The Almanac contains countless recruiter-tested tactics for handling every phase of the search process, including: The target market presentation for new business development---The quick counteroffer countertactic---The silent observer technique for interviewing control---The take-away close---The one question you should always ask before extending an offer. Also includes over 25 practice dialogues to help improve your selling vocabulary and handle difficult situations with ease. A vital source of ammunition for rookie and veteran recruiters alike. A terrific value! Paperback, 144 pages. Bill Radin is a top-producing recruiter, manager and trainer whose innovative techniques have helped thousands of recruiting professionals achieve peak performance and career satisfaction. "Right on target! The Recruiter's Almanac is readable, reliable, rational and respectable." ---Robert O. Snelling, CEO, Snelling Personnel Services.

Customer Reviews:

Must Have for Newer Recruiters.......2007-07-16

If you are a newer recruiter, I would highly reccomend you buy this book. I read it from cover to cover three times, and have modified several of the scripts to my own style and have them pinned up at my desk. They are a great reference for overcoming objections, and I use them daily.

Useless book.......2007-04-04

This is a useless book, dont waste your money on this. This book is for someone who does not know anything about recruitment process. If you are a beginner then there are other choices also....there is nothing special in this book.

Good for any recruiter.......2007-01-10

I bought a copy of this book for each member of my staff. We read a chapter or section each week and discuss at our weekly staff meeting. We have found many good scripts, retorts and strategies that we can use in our business. I will say that some of the scripts were too harsh for our tastes. We are all female and all agreed some of the scripts would make us very uncomfortable to say. Maybe a man would see them differently? Regardless, the overall learning is tremendous. Something to keep on your desk at all times and re-read often.

For Recruiters by a Recruiter.......2007-01-09

Good workbook for going over all your recruiting methods and procedures. A very good help mate.

Important base for recruiters.......2004-07-04

Perfect book for recruiters. Clearly and easily. Best book to systematize your knowledge, skills and get new. I reccomend it.

The Recruiters Almanac of Scripts, Rebuttals, and Closes

Average customer rating:

The Recruiters Almanac of Scripts, Rebuttals, and Closes

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0962614726

Book Description

Adrenaline Books' search for the world's best and most exciting stories has taken readers from the peaks of Everest to the jungles of Papua, New Guinea to the battlefields of World War II. Now, the editor of publishing's most successful adventure literature series takes readers into the heart of organized crime. Some of our culture's greatest literary talent has been drawn to this topic, which taps into our culture's deepest preoccupations--greed, violence, desire. Mob features work from best-selling writers such as Peter Maas, William Kennedy, Martin Cruz Smith, and Mario Puzo; from acknowledged masters of the genre such as Nicolas Pileggi (Wiseguy, Casino) and Joseph Pistone (Donnie Brasco); and from law enforcement insiders and mobsters such as Sammy Giancana and Joseph O'Brien.

Customer Reviews:

MOB is the best book I've ever read........2004-03-09

This book is great,it is what got me hooked on stories about the mob and mafia. I would recomend it to any one who is intrested in organized crime.

A realistic, thrilling story.......2003-05-08

Overall, I think that this book was exceptional. The stories contained are, for the most part, gripping and real. I couldn't put the book down when I read the story by "Joey", the anonymous hitman. The most exciting thing about this book is the reality of it. The mojority of stories contained are about real people and real things. I recommend this book to everyone

Nice sampler from the mob buffet.......2002-10-22

Only the most ardent organized crime reader probably won't find something new in this collection of short stories dealing with reader fascination with dangerous lifestyles. This sampler of mob-lore covers stories allegedly by the folks who lived and died it, and some history to add dessert to your meal.

For those who like the relative safety of their reading chair, we get a step-by-step process of the so-called "hit men" of the mob. They are so-called because most members who have reached any decent level of leadership have all done at least one hit, so the true full-time professional is not that common. For this profession though, we do get an evolution of the man, and his general techniques.

The stories here are excerpts from other works, so if your a mob junkie, you might have read a lot of it already. I previously had read the Sammy Gravano book that contributed this excerpt. You not only get a sample of the self-admitted bad man, but also a taste of what I didn't like in the full-length book, which was a constant jabbering of what a decent, honorable guy Sammy really is. This book, was, of course, before the guy got busted out West for running meth labs while in witness protection.

My favorite of the "true life" stories was the one that inspired the movie "Donnie Brasco". Here we have the story of how a guy had to sacrifice a lot of family time over a period of years to do his undercover work, even once having to spend Christmas with mobsters when he promised his own family some quality Holiday time. The book I'm reviewing is good because now I want to read the whole "Brasco" saga.

In the history part, we do get a brief glimpse of how this whole type of society came about. True, the people of Italy were extremely oppressed at the time of it's formation, but it also tells how the local culture first establishes male "honor", then expects him to prove it via competition, and if you won by using your own rules, that made you that much more of a worthy opponent. To his credit, the editor of this compilation does not glorify this behavior, and makes it clear to the audience that any honorable "codes" only last as long as is convenient for anyone involved.

Read it or else...........2002-07-30

Fans of The Sopranos, the Godfather, and mob/crime fiction/nonfiction will find this Clint Willis-edited book a virtual Hometown Buffet of delicious crime treats. If you like mob fiction/nonfiction and don't read this you deserve to wake up with a horse's head in your bed.

A sign of this book's huge success is that it truly leaves you wanting more. You'll be so fascinated that you'll DEFINITELY want to go to each of the primary sources and read them too. It's a fast, fascinating read: chapters comprised of well-edited excerpts from books, magazine articles and two works of fiction.

I was especially fascinated (and motivated) by the excerpt from the fictional (I think) Godfather. I read the book when I came out, saw the flicks a zillion times but realized in reading this excerpt how great the original book was and how it differs from the movie (the Michael character actually seems stronger in the original story). I'll be re-reading that book soon.

Every chapter is a gem and there are too many to go into here. My favorites included Peter Maas' excerpt from Underboss, the story of Sammy the Bull Gravano; an excerpt from mob hitman "Joey's" book Killer (the code of honor, precisely how he makes a hit with such efficiency and low risk); part of Nicholas Pileggi's Casino, describing how a horrified businessman one day found himself cemented to mob-connected business partners; Defending the Mafia, the eye-opening and ultimately sad story of mob lawyer Gerald Shargel's use of his considerable talent to keep mafiosos out of jail; part of Boss of Bosses, the bittersweet saga of aging Don Paul Castellano, eventually murdered by ambitious John Gotti's skilled associates; and the saddest and most poignent piece of all, Jeffrey Goldberg's The Don Is Done, about the lives of children of bigwig mafiosos.

This book MOVES. And it'll send you scrambling to read more. A MUST to read or to gift.

A Fine Collection.......2002-04-30

This is, for a "fan" of the Mafia, is almost a must own. It is filled with book excerpts and magazine articles and 2 works of fiction, the rest is all "true". Or at least as true as Mafia stories go. My favorite excerpts from this book were the brief portion of Donnie Brasco. It showed just how mundane going undercover in the Mob can be. I also quite enjoyed the section from "Killer". We get to see the mob through a hitmans eyes. He tells you how cold he is and how after the first couple of hits, he could murder someone then go spend a quiet evening with his family. He never felt remorse because in his mind "You must have done something pretty bad to bring em to your door." Also the excerpt from "Boss of Bosses" is comical in the sense that the Mafia Don of the Gambino crime family convinced the 2 FBI agents that had him in custody, to take him out to lunch. All in all this a fascinating collection that shows the dark side of the mob that tends to get glossed over by the Hollywood productions.
Thanks for your time.
T

Book Description

Contents

Overture Another Voice

Piecmeal Shelters

Piecemeal Shelters
Art of Pariahs
Language and Shame
Alphabets of Flesh
Passion
Skin Song
Whose House is This?
House of a thousand Doors
Hotel Alexandria
Sidi Syed's Architecture
Tangled Roots
Poem by the Wellside
Bobating
Her Garden
Erupting Words
Aunt Chinna
Coda from Night-Scene

Translating Violence

Bordering Ourselves
Her Mother's Words
Ashtamudi Lake
Translating Violence
Desert Rose
Estrangement Becomes the Mark of the Eagle
Accidental Markings
Great Brown River
The Storm: A Poem in Five Parts

Making Up Memory

That Other Body
'A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse...'
New World Aria
No Nation Woman
White Horseman Blues
Migrant Music
A Durable Past
Performing the Word
For Safdar Hashmi Beaten to death Just Outside Delhi
Moloyashree
Making Up Memory
Brief Chronicle by Candlelight
San Andreas Fault
The Shock of Arrival
Paper Filled with Light
Skins with Fire Inside: Indian Women Writers

Fracturing the Iconic Feminine
In Search of Sarojini Naidu

Coda

Theater of Sense
Aftermath: Title Search
Well Jumped Women

Customer Reviews:

Don Henley's greatest gift to the presrvation of the earth!.......1998-11-08

Don Henley and David Marsh have collaborated on one of the most thought provoking environmental essays since the lengendary Henry David Thoreau. Don Henley has been at the forground of environmental issues for many years. Growing up in a small Texas town, Don has been heavily influenced by nature and the natural beauty that surrounds us. This is paticularly evident to anyone who has ever heard any of (Mr.Henley's/ The Eagle's)music. Many of Don's songs include images or scenes of nature. In "Heaven Is Under Our Feet", Don assembled some of today's prominent figures to give their analysis of the growing environmental issues that plague us today; and our children tomorrow. Hopefully by using "high profile" figures, more people will become aware of the problems that surround us in our everyday environment. The main message that I received from the book was that many people live in a state of apathy. People don't care what goes on around them as long as they get theirs. We need to change this way of thinking. We need to start thinking globally, instead of thinkig locally. The greatest resource we have is our children. The best gift we can give our children is a chance. A chance to experience nature as it was created. "HEAVEN IS UNDER OUR FEET AND ABOVE OUR HEADS"

Charles Rapp

Average customer rating:
Heaven is Under Our Feet
Don and Marsh Dave Henley
Manufacturer: 1991
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O645L0

Average customer rating:
Heaven is Under Our Feet: A Book for Walden Woods
Don / Marsh, Dave Henley
Manufacturer: Longmeadow Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NZS1MQ

Average customer rating:
Heaven is Under our Feet: A Book for Walden Woods
Don and Dave Marsh, eds. Henley
Manufacturer: Longmeadow Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K4QUDW

Average customer rating:
Heaven is Under Our Feet
Don and Marsh Dave Henley
Manufacturer: Longmeadow Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O604PG

Average customer rating:
Heaven is Under Our Feet
Don Henley; Editors And Dave Marsh
Manufacturer: LONGMEADOW PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OK5YOS

Average customer rating:
Heaven is Under Our Feet as Well as Over Our Heads Bookmark
Tracy Porter
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 0836223268

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