Some Book Reviews

A few days ago my pal Dan asked why I don't do many book reviews in The Grandstander.  Ask and ye shall receive.  

Some mini-reviews of some books I have recently read, and can honestly recommend that you read.....

This was an intriguing read. The author, Gene Weingarten, a two time Pulitzer Prize winner, picks one day totally at random, December 28, 1986 (how The Day was selected is a cool part of the story), and examines things that took place on that day, which was the slowest news day of the week, a Sunday, in the slowest news week of the year, the one between Christmas and New Year's Day. Some of the stories/events of The Day are important, some mundane, and some had far reaching implications that could not possibly have been foreseen at the time, and many off them took place in communities just like the one that you and I live in. It's worth reading. 

Three Stars from The Grandstander.

In April 1986, the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles caught fire. The fire raged for over seven hours before several different fire companies of the LAFD were able to extinguish it. It destroyed 400,000 books and damaged over 700,000 others. The main library was shut down for six and a half years as a result. Susan Orlean of the New Yorker Magazine writes of the story of that fire and of the history of the Los Angeles Public Library in this really good part-detective story, part-history book, and in doing so, tells us of the roles that libraries have played throughout history and how they are reinventing themselves to continue to be relevant and important in the digital age of the 21st century and beyond. She also tells the story of Harry Peak, who was suspected of and accused of starting the fire. He is a character that, if you saw him portrayed in a movie, you would say that he was totally unbelievable. If you are a frequent or even not-so-frequent user of your local library, I recommend this book to you. Fittingly enough, I got my copy of "The Library Book" from the Northland Public Library, but according to the author's website, it is now available in paperback.

Two and one-half stars from The Grandstander.

As the National Football League continues to celebrate its 100th season with all of the PR pomp and ceremony that only the NFL can deliver, this book from 2018 by John Eisenberg is worth reading.  As the sub-title indicates, this history of the early days of the NFL centers around the stories of five pioneer owners in the League -  George Halas of the Bears, Tim Mara of the Giants, George Preston Marshall of Washington, Bert Bell of the Eagles (and the Steelers, too, believe it or not), and Art Rooney of the Steelers - worked together to establish the NFL and keep it going through many lean years, including the years of the Great Depression and World War II, when the idea of "professional football" was pretty much a pipe dream.  No one in the 1920's and 1930's could possibly have imagined what a colossus the NFL was to become.   These five men all  made sacrifices and decisions, often at the expense of their own franchises, for the greater good of the League.  

The book takes us from George Halas and a few others meeting in a Canton, Ohio automobile showroom to set up the first formal professional football league in America up to the 1958 NFL Championship, the overtime victory of the Baltimore Colts over the New York Giants, the game that most agree marked the turning point when the NFL took over the reigns from Major League Baseball and became America's national pastime.

Three Stars from The Grandstander.