Books

How to Succeed in the Game of Life: 34 Interviews with the World's Greatest Coaches

Average customer rating:

Coaching advise from athletic coaches
Overcome Adversity
Inspiration
good
A great inspirational source

How to Succeed in the Game of Life: 34 Interviews with the World's Greatest Coaches
Christian Klemash
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0740760653

Book Description

What would Super Bowl Champ Tony Dungy say is the most critical quality for a person to be successful? Would his advice differ from 4-time World Series winner Joe Torre's? What would each say to a young person just starting out in pursuit of their dreams? What is the best advice they were ever given?

Now you can find out! Author Christian Klemash has written How to Succeed in the Game of Life: 34 Interviews with the World's Greatest Coaches. It took the author more than three years of research, persistence, and original interviews, but now he's ready to pass on the best advice you'll ever get. Klemash gives fans a once-in-a-lifetime chance to learn valuable life lessons from the most famous, intelligent, and victorious coaches ever. The legends span the sports world, from 16-time NBA Champion Red Auerbach, to 10-time NCAA Champion John Wooden, to nine-time Stanley Cup winner Scotty Bowman.

These coaches know how to teach top athletes about character and winning, how to manage pressure at crunch time, and how to bring out the best in their players when it matters most. How to Succeed in the Game of Life shares their insights into sports, life, and the most vital keys to sustain success.

Customer Reviews:

Coaching advise from athletic coaches.......2007-06-27

A fun read, especially if yoiu're a sports fan. I read it in search of things that would help my own ability as a coach in my company. Much of it is light stuff but the easy read makes it fun nonetheless and there are few golden nuggets laced throughout the book.

Overcome Adversity.......2007-04-12

Anyone looking for inspiration, either for their own life or to share with others, will find a gold mine of quotes here. This book isn't just for sports fans.

Inspiration.......2007-01-27

I have never read a more inspirational book in my life. Before, I never realized how much other people have struggled the way I have in life, and have actually succeeded! It was great for me to see that and to know that there are other people in the world with great adversity in their life and have come out on top due to hard work and great leadership. This book isn't for just sports fans, it's for all who are looking for great advice in the real world and need a little tap on the back saying that everything is and will be okay! This book is great for all ages and for any occupation!

good.......2007-01-18

As a coach I will use many things I found in this book. Wasn't everything it could have been but still a great read.

A great inspirational source.......2007-01-17

I purchased this book while I was searching for a "golden nugget" for a speech I was preparing for high school students. What I found was an entire gold mine of inspirational quotes and ideas! I truly enjoyed this book, and found many bits and pieces that I will share with others. I've already purchased a gift copy, and have shared mine with several others. I would highly recommend "How To Succeed In The Game of Life" to high school and college coaches, teachers, counselors, ministers, and parents....anyone who is in the business of working with young people and advising them as they navigate the difficult road to their future. There's plenty within for the "older folks" who need to be re-inspired in their own lives as well.

Average customer rating:

One of my FAVORITES!
Pickles is the pits
Nice illustrations, weak story
Nice sequal to an AMAZING book
Excellent Book

Pickles To Pittsburgh
Judi Barrett
Manufacturer: Aladdin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0689839294

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In Pickles to Pittsburgh, the Barretts' sequel to the delightfully funny, bestselling Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, we check back in with Kate and Henry as they eagerly await Grandpa's return from an unusual vacation. Kate dreams about a postcard Grandpa has sent, and the story begins.

Kate and Henry pilot a plane, landing on a runway of crisp bacon strips next to a field of giant broccoli stalks and oversized hamburgers. Passing through an orange-juice rain, they approach the town of Chewandswallow, which "used to be a very ordinary town, except that instead of weather, food rained down from the sky for breakfast, lunch, and dinner." Times have changed in Chewandswallow, and readers will love finding out how storms of gigantic food threatened normal life until eventually the Falling Food Company was created, sending food to hungry people around the world. Ron Barrett's comical, detailed ink-and-watercolor illustrations and the lively story make this a satisfying sequel to a delicious classic. Pickles to Pittsburgh is an excellent bedtime book--just keep a snack handy! (Ages 4 to 8)

Book Description

In this charming sequel to the classic Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Kate and Henry eagerly await Grandpa's return from a vacation that his postcard says has been one of the best and most unusual ever. Thinking about that postcard Kate drifts off to sleep that night and...

"With Henry as my co-pilot..." she visits the strange land of Chewandswallow -- a land characterized by massive amounts of food, immense carrots, leafy jungles of lettuce, and tuna fish sandwiches so gigantic they have to be moved by helicopter. What the people of Chewandswallow are doing with all that food is most intriguing of all. Fans of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs will applaud this return trip with its underlying message of generosity and a world community.

Customer Reviews:

One of my FAVORITES!.......2007-01-04

This is one of the BEST kids' books around. A fabulous sequel to "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs", this is just one of those fun books to share wtih your kids, and a must-have on the shelf, even if your kids are too old to apprecite it - everyone needs a little silliness now and again!

Pickles is the pits.......2007-01-03

This is a terrible book. It doesn't even compare to the first. My husband and I both hate reading it.

Nice illustrations, weak story.......2006-03-20

We (kids and parents) loved Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, but no one was really impressed with the story. We spend more time just checking out the neat illustrations than reading the text.

Nice sequal to an AMAZING book.......2006-02-25

YOu must own Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs...please go buy that...then if you love that, you can get this book - which is a really nice sequal..

recommended.

Excellent Book.......2005-09-18

This book was a good sequel to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Average customer rating:

Similar to The Great Gatsby
A great start to a great career
First novel proves successful, despite flaws.
Great first novel, flaws and all
The awakening of Art

Mysteries of Pittsburgh: A Novel (P.S.)
Michael Chabon
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Summerland

ASIN: 0060790598
Release Date: 2005-07-05

Book Description

By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

Customer Reviews:

Similar to The Great Gatsby.......2007-05-10

This coming-of-age novel is compared to a variety of stories from literature, including The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye.

A great start to a great career.......2007-03-07

Before reading this book I had heard point of references ranging from The Catcher in the Rye to On the Road. After reading the book the comparisons don't quite mesh. In fact, I think the best point of reference would be The Great Gatsby. Certainly not in quality, I would never make that blasphemous claim for fear the literary gods would strike me down where I stand, but rather there are similarities in structure. Imagine, if you will, a world where, like Gatsby, there are two sets of couples (Nick/Jordan and Tom/Daisy) as well as a love triangle (Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy). Of course, in Chabon's version Nick is sexually attracted to Gatsby.

Stick with me here. In Mysteries the narrator, Art, enters the social circle of Arthur, Cleveland, and Jane. Cleveland and Jane are a dysfunctional couple embroiled in a good old fashioned love/hate relationship. Art starts seeing Phlox, a rather annoying and unsympathetic homophobe. At the same time Art and Arthur have budding feelings. I'll diagram it for you:

Art and Arthur (sexual attraction)
Art and Phlox (couple)
Art and Jane/Cleveland (friends through Arthur)
Arthur and Phlox (frienemies)
Arthur and Jane/Cleveland (friends)

Yeah, I know that the love triangle is all mixed up, but you have to admit that structures are similar. This leads to an obvious question: were Nick and Gatsby gay? It has been suggested in some circles that 19th century American literature is preoccupied with "blackness", slavery in particular. After all, in a society that claims to put equality at the center of its creed, to have completely marginalized a segment of our population has to affect our national psyche and our perception of ourselves. Likewise, in the 20th century, as gender roles became more fluid, perhaps the idea of homosexuality latched on to the national sub-consciousness. I don't have a whole lot of evidence to back this up, but it's interesting to think about.

Back to The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. Like most coming of age novels (of all ages) this one is light on plot. There is an unconvincing subplot about organized crime which leads to the eventual (albeit predictable) tragedy at the end of the book. Where the novel really shines is in the language and characters. Chabon has always had a way with metaphor and simile and it's impressive he had all but mastered these techniques so early in his career. The characters themselves are whimsical and uncertain. In fact the only character who, my opinion is completely certain is Phlox, and she is certain of her bigotry. This uncertainty perfectly captures the feeling of teetering on the edge of adulthood. The characters are so finely drawn that when characters change their bed-partners it feels earned and not gimmicky.

At times Chabon suffers from a case of aggrandizement, something he would learn to wield more confidently in his more panoramic novels and make his drawback a strength. While this tendency to go over-the-top doesn't work as well in a contained summer of uncertainty, it worked perfectly in the decades spanning Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

For those with an undying love for the twenty-something coming of age novel, then this should feed your hunger. For those, like me, who fell in love with Chabon's writing when they read Kavalier and Clay, I would recommend seeing how the maestro started out. It's a strong opener to a strong career.

First novel proves successful, despite flaws........2007-02-28

This book is incredibly evocative of the time right after college graduation - I just graduated in May of last year, and it still hits me now when I read it nine months later.

While the writing leaves the reader wanting more, and some of the scenes are over the top, most readers would probably just write it off as an expected issue with an author's first novel. Some might argue that no real person talks like these characters do. To be perfectly honest, I know too many people who talk like this. Furthermore, the characters are so artfully described and the feelings of summer so well drawn that the minor weaknesses of the novel become just that - minor.

The story revolves around Art Bechstein and his exploration of his own personality, dreams, and desires as he meets four new friends in the summer after college graduation in Pittsburgh circa 1983 or so. I refuse to discuss the plot in my review, but know that the sexual nature of the story isn't for all. However, if the topic isn't one that would produce discomfort, by all means, read this novel.

And just to add a tip - two songs are amazing sidekicks to reading this novel (a feat I accomplished in about four days, it being such a quick read, a compelling story, and my having so much time on the Metro). Youth Group's "Daisychains" and Death Cab for Cutie's "A Lack of Color" both accompany the novel perfectly. I would highly recommend both.

Overall, the novel is quite good and reads incredibly quickly. I would highly recommend reading the novel, however, if you have any inclination to see the film adaptation (with Mena Suvari, Peter Sarsgaard, Jon Foster, and Sienna Miller). The characters are likable, for the most part, but still have glaring flaws. It's a great novel for anyone feeling nostalgic for the time of college, or anxious about leaving the best years of their lives.

Great first novel, flaws and all.......2007-02-12

Michael Chabon's "Mysteries of Pittsburgh" holds up well next to his other, more established novels, including "Wonder Boys" and "Kavelier and Klay". It really does. It's not a perfect novel--the implausibility of the characters' actions and their dialogue clang dissonantly. At times, you want to slap his characters for making the wrong choice, being immature, saying something overly fanciful, or just being too apparently well-read and smart. But then you realize that this is how just-graduated college students often do act, how they often do talk, and that they often are well-read. This is a well-written coming-of-age story that does feel like a throwback to the '50s, though its set in the 80s, which is why (I think) that so many made the connection to "Catcher in the Rye".

The awakening of Art.......2006-12-14

Art Bechstein, fresh out of college, notices an attractive young man in the library, no sooner is he outside the library than this attractive young man, the very appealing and flamboyant Arthur is standing beside him. In addition the attentions of Arthur, Art struggles with his uncertain feelings for Phlox, the strange girl who works in the library. So begins a summer of friendships, sex and parties, and a beautiful relationship that eventually dispels any doubts Art might have had about his sexuality. Add to that the hint of gangsters and the mysterious smoke from a factory; it all contributes to captivating read.
This is a thoroughly engrossing and interesting story, beautifully written and full of vitality, wit and humour.

Don't Call Me Boss: David L. Lawrence, Pittsburgh's Renaissance Mayor (Pih Series in Social and Labor History)

Average customer rating:

A Great Biography of a Giant in Pennsylvania Politics
An in depth and insightful book

Don't Call Me Boss: David L. Lawrence, Pittsburgh's Renaissance Mayor (Pih Series in Social and Labor History)
Michael P. Weber
Manufacturer: Univ of Pittsburgh Pr (Trd)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0822953978

Customer Reviews:

A Great Biography of a Giant in Pennsylvania Politics.......2005-06-21

David Lawrence, Governor of Pennsylvania from 1959-1963 and longtime Democratic Party leader in Pittsburgh, and to a lesser extent statewide, is the subject of this biography. While he directed the Pittsburgh Democratic Party for decades before serving as Pittsburgh's Mayor for 13 years and then capping his career as our Governor for four years, the one thing he refused to be called was "boss." While he was a leader, he refused to be considered by others as a boss, hence the title of this book.

Lawrence literally grew up in politics, volunteering in his first campaign at the age of nine. He performer various, mostly gopher and literature distribution tasks for the Democratic Party during the dark era when the Democratic Party was barely functioning. Lawrence rose to chair the Pittsburgh Democratic Party where he strove to create a political operation. Times were not good for Democrats: they would even lose the minority Jury Commissioner's seat to an independent candidate. At times, the electoral futility of the local Democrats would lead to calls for a new party chairman. Yet Lawrence held on for an important reason: no one else wanted to spend the amount of time Lawrence did in being the party chairman.

Lawrence brought slow but mixed successes to the Democratic Party. In 1929, he proudly announced that Democrats finally had enough supporters to place poll watchers at every Allegheny County precinct. On the negative side, the number of Democratic Party registrants fell in half while Lawrence was county chairman before it began increasing again. Lawrence even admitted that the Democratic organization frequently cooperated with the dominant Republican Party at times in return for patronage positions. Patronage then was very important, as half of the 5,200 registered Democrats in Allegheny County in the late 1920s held political jobs.

Two important events would shape politics, and with them, Lawrence's life. First, Republicans even back then were dishonest, as it was exposed that Republicans had illegally registered about 50,000 voters. This led the public to correctly identify the Republican Party as the party of corruption. Second, the election of Franklin Roosevelt and the efforts of Democratic Party's New Deal social programs to save America from depression transformed American politics. It would help David Lawrence's career that he was an early FDR supporter and that his work for Democrats won him much regard.

Following Roosevelt's election in 1932, George Earle became the first Democrat elected Governor in Pennsylvania since 1894. David Lawrence became Democratic State Chairman. In addition, Governor Earle selected Lawrence to serve as Secretary of the Commonwealth, which was a highly influential policy office. It also found Lawrence divided between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, as Lawrence continue to lead the Allegheny County Democrats. Meanwhile, Roosevelt's WPA program brought $70 million to Allegheny County, of which 80% of that went towards wages, brining many people out of the depression into employment. Soon, Democratic registration surpassed Republican registration in Pittsburgh. Lawrence is credited with building a powerful local Democratic Party organization, and it is noted that Republicans never won a major election in Pittsburgh from 1938 through 1966, when Lawrence died.

In Harrisburg, Lawrence was placed in charge of getting legislative approval of Governor Earle's Little New Deal proposals. Earle and Lawrence fortunately had cooperative Democratic House legislators, as the House had its first Democratic majority in half a century. Lawrence saw to it that the House Steering Committee consisted of members who supported the Little New Deal. Lawrence attended most House and Senate legislative sessions, sitting at the side with a vacant chair, where he provided his advice, often to a legislator sitting in the no longer vacant chair. Lawrence would call regular legislative caucuses where he would explain the Governor's, and the Democratic Party's, positions on issues facing them.

Lawrence, though, not only disliked being called a boss, he did not act like one. Caucus meetings were considered a place of free and open exchange. He allowed dissent, so long as the dissenting legislator had a good reason. Yet, it is noted that Lawrence usually got his way. If there was dissent, a controversial bill was tabled until passage could be secured later. It is noted most of the Earle-Lawrence legislation was passed the House. Yet, most of it was then defeated by the Senate, which still had a Republican majority.

Major legislative battles resulted over how to handle Pennsylvania's depression-era budget. The Chamber of Commerce projected that state government would require a $326 million budget in 1935-36 with projected revenues of $148 million, leaving a gap of $178 million that was even greater than revenues. Further, the Federal government required state government to provide $120 million in relief in order to continue qualified for Federal assistance. State Senator and Republican State Chairman Harvey Taylor announced that Senate Republicans would agree to only provide the Federal government with $57 million. Long negotiations provided for a 6% tax on corporate income and increased taxes on utilities, gas, cigarettes, and amusements.

Democrats gained control of both legislative chambers in the 1936 elections. The Little New Deal, in what is considered as the greater era of liberal legislative in Pennsylvania's history, was passed. 365 of Governor Earle's 371 proposals were enacted with Lawrence's help. Administration bills would appear in pink folders so legislators would know they came from the Governor. Major legislation allowing collective bargaining, providing teacher tenure, creating a Department of Public Assistance, protecting employee rights, creating the Labor Relations Board, providing slum clearance and public housing, outlawing unfair bank practices, and creating the nation's first turnpike all became law.

On the negative side, Lawrence began a life-long feud with Attorney General Charles Margiotti. Margiotti accused Lawrence of illegally requiring county Democratic Party organizations to raise funds from patronage workers. Although Lawrence would be found not guilty after the fall elections, the scandal helped the Republicans return to power on election day. Lawrence was removed as Democratic State Chairman.

Personal tragedy would changed Lawrence's life and career. After two of his sons were killed in an automobile accident, Lawrence threw himself back into his work. He sought and regained his position as Democratic State Committee. While working to keep Democratic factions together, it was discovered the only candidate for Pittsburgh Mayor agreeable to the major factions was himself. Lawrence then ran for, and was elected, Mayor.

Lawrence set up to become a great Mayor. He met privately with New York's famed Machiavellian local policy maker Robert Moses for ideas on how to succeed. As Mayor, he spent many hours negotiating labor contracts and in dealing with disgruntled council members. He worked hard for flood control programs and lobbied hard for a dam that finally began construction in 1949. He fought the air quality problem by requiring the use of smokeless coal, knowing that this would, and did, cause many voters to turn against him when they were forced to pay more for this coal. Lawrence guided the Lower Hill redevelopment program which, at the time, was the largest such project undertaken although without a past for guidelines, resulted in mixed opinions of success. As Mayor, Lawrence implemented the Civic Unity Council to handle incidences of racial and religious discrimination. While this early Council had limited effectiveness, it was groundbreaking and would lead Lawrence to a later Presidential appointment.

In 1958, David Lawrence was elected Governor. After observing the previous Governor's struggles with the legislature, Governor Lawrence worked more towards legislative cooperation. For instance, he won legislative approval to increase the sales tax by agreeing to exemptions that legislators wanted. He won successes in balancing the state budget, establishing medical care for low income senior citizens, creating a law that registered and regulated lobbyists, prohibiting billboards besides interstate highways, and strengthening air pollution laws and fair employment laws. Interestingly, Lawrence maintained his Pittsburgh ties and would return to Pittsburgh most weekends to continue serving as Chairman of the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Lawrence was proud that he inherited a state budget deficit and ended his term as Governor with a $16.6 billion surplus in Fiscal Year 1961-62. Yet, to his chagrin, the taxes he raised in order to achieve this became a campaign issue that helped elected Republican Bill Scranton over Democrat Richardson Dilworth as Governor in 1962.

David Lawrence urged John Kennedy to select Lyndon Johnson as his 1960 running mate and even game the nominating speech for Johnson at the Democratic National Convention. In 1963, President Kennedy named Lawrence to chair the President's Committee on Equal Opportunity in Housing. Lawrence found this work frustrating at times as it would not be until after his death that the anti-discriminatory commercial housing lending practices he argued for would be adopted.

David Lawrence had a great career of ups and downs throughout several of Pennsylvania's political eras. In sum, he ranks as one of the great political giants in state history. Just don't say he was a boss.

An in depth and insightful book.......2000-05-17

Most often some of the most influential men in politics are ignored. This book on David L. Lawrence shows how important the man was to changing the way Pittsburgh and cities did businesses. Kudos to Mr. Weber on this biography of one of the finest mayors of the 20th century.

Insiders' Guide to Pittsburgh, 3rd (Insiders' Guide Series)

Average customer rating:

Good as an accessory, but not main guide
information you don't find elsewhere
Pretty Useful
The Insider's Guide to Pittsburgh

Insiders' Guide to Pittsburgh, 3rd (Insiders' Guide Series)
Jenn Phillips , Loriann Hoff Oberlin , and Evan M. Pattak
Manufacturer: Globe Pequot
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City

ASIN: 0762735074

Book Description

Take an architectural walking tour of Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle, discover an array of cultural and entertainment amenities, and enjoy almost any kind of food, thanks to Pittsburgh's diverse ethnic population. Includes an in-depth chapter on Western Pennsylvania's many colleges and universities.

Customer Reviews:

Good as an accessory, but not main guide.......2006-09-05

As someone who had never visited Pittsburgh, I needed a comprehensive get-around guide that I could carry with me. Unfortunately, this was the only one I could find in my bookstore at short notice, and it wasn't very helpful for my (student) needs.

It goes into a lot of depth about restaurants, night life, recreation, accommodations, and other tourist-type subjects, but has only one partial map of Downtown Pittsburgh on one page--which was a shocker when I got it home and really looked at it. I wasn't going to Downtown Pittsburgh, so for me it was pretty useless.

This is a good book for you if you're already in Pittsburgh, know your way around, and want to explore the city in more depth. It's not the best if you're new to the city and need essentials--street maps, how the bus system works, finding parking (good luck), & other student stuff.

Now that I've been here for about a year, the Insider's Guide is a little more useful, especially if I want to look up restaruant info.

It's probably not the first book you should buy on coming to town.

information you don't find elsewhere.......2001-07-06

With summer travel in full swing, I found this guidebook pointed out several things about Pittsburgh I hadn't known -- namely, the great architecture and kids-oriented activities (amusement parks, science center, museums just to name a few). I'd once read an article in an airline magazine by one of the authors, and it piqued my curiosity to take a closer look at Pittsburgh. Glad I did. Also, I had no idea there were so many golf courses in Western Pa. I know people who will use that chapter more than myself, but still....lots of new facts learned about a city that has progressed over many decades.

Pretty Useful.......2001-06-11

I used this book to plan a recent trip to Pittsburgh and was generally pleased. I especially liked the information on local restaurants-- it was very detailed, and they took care to point out restaurants with vegetarian options, which I found helpful. However, some of the other recommendations were way off. The authors fall all over themselves praising Pittsburgh's Strip District, which is mildly interesting but also dirty (and it gives off a faintly creepy vibe)-- trust me, we found much better shopping/dining areas on our own. More maps would also help a lot! However, given that there are very few Pittsburgh travel guides on the market, I would recommend this book over the others that I glanced through (CitySmart, etc.) It also seems like it might be useful to people who are moving to Pittsburgh-- it has lots of information on childcare, healthcare, real estate, etc. which is basically useless to the common traveler but would probably help the new Pittsburgh resident.

The Insider's Guide to Pittsburgh.......2000-09-09

What a valuable book! Here is a great guide for entertaining out of town guests. Festivals and annuals events, area attractions, the arts, nightlife, restaurants, recreation, kidstuff, and much more are described in the book. Each description includes an address and telephone number for easy reference. The book is well organized and includes something for everyone in Pittsburgh - including seniors. The Insiders' Tip, a small rectangular box highlighting the authors' suggestions or comments, adds a special touch to almost every page. Now we have a book that answers the question, "What can we do?".

Average customer rating:

Reliving the Years
If you know Pittsburgh, you'll love this book
Relive the past you never had
take me back
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............

An American Childhood
Annie Dillard
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060915188

Amazon.com

Annie Dillard remembers. She remembers the exhilaration of whipping a snowball at a car and having it hit straight on. She remembers playing with the skin on her mother's knuckles, which "didn't snap back; it lay dead across her knuckle in a yellowish ridge." She remembers the compulsion to spend a whole afternoon (or many whole afternoons) endlessly pitching a ball at a target. In this intoxicating account of her childhood, Dillard climbs back inside her 5-, 10-, and 15-year-old selves with apparent effortlessness. The voracious young Dillard embraces headlong one fascination after another--from drawing to rocks and bugs to the French symbolists. "Everywhere, things snagged me," she writes. "The visible world turned me curious to books; the books propelled me reeling back to the world." From her parents she inherited a love of language--her mother's speech was "an endlessly interesting, swerving path"--and the understanding that "you do what you do out of your private passion for the thing itself," not for anyone else's approval or desire. And one would be mistaken to call the energy Dillard exhibits in An American Childhood merely youthful; "still I break up through the skin of awareness a thousand times a day," she writes, "as dolphins burst through seas, and dive again, and rise, and dive."

Book Description

A book that instantly captured the hearts of readers across the country, An American Childhood is Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Dillard's poignant, vivid memoir of growing up in Pittsburgh in the 1950s.

Customer Reviews:

Reliving the Years.......2007-06-01

An American Childhood by Annie Dillard makes a vivid flashback of the years every person once had and cunningly makes her childhood seem like it was your own. She expertly describes Pittsburgh and makes the reader know the town just as well as they know the town where they grew up. Many people would never imagine a place such as the coal industry of Pittsburgh as a comforting and humble place. Annie's amazing writing skills make the transformation from a hard working town to a peaceful and lovely city.
Annie becomes a curious girl from the beginning. She sees that everything in life needs investigation and everything deserves to be noticed. She seeks to learn from all of her actions and keeps all the positive lessons in her mind. Annie describes something everyone has gone through and readers will realize that their childhood experiences lead to their personalities and talents. An American Childhood leaves readers with the memories of their times of innocence.

If you know Pittsburgh, you'll love this book.......2007-05-07

Dillard does a great job of blending her very unique childhood into its context in a city with so much history and charm. Her imagery is wonderful. This was a great read that I often give as a gift to my friends who live in Pittsburgh.

Relive the past you never had.......2007-04-15

Some may think this is a book of times long gone, unrelated to the experiences of today's youth, but I read the snowball throwing excerpt to my seventh grade class, and they clung to the words to the end, and then couldn't wait to reveal their own similar experiences. At the same time, I was shown a glimpse of a past I suddenly wanted to relive. Dillard tells the events in her life in such a way that, although we haven't shared exactly the same experiences, we want to nod at her and say, "I know."

take me back.......2007-02-21

An American Childhood, will seem slow and cumbersome to some. To me, it was a recollection of my growing up years well written. It is a memory of a time irretrievable, I am sure; a time when a child could run through the neighborhood at night in complete safety while all the while thinking it a clandestine adventure. Annie Dillard perfectly captures the mundane excitement of growing up in a safe American neighborhood that unfortunately may have disappeared forever.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....................2006-08-11

I had to read this book for an AP class, and it put me to sleep everytime i picked it up. The author rambles on about the same things that went on in her life throughout the whole book, and she adds the most pointless details and situations. The whole book is base don her views and opinions, so I really didn't care for it .If you don't want to go to the store to buy sleeping pills, just pick this one off the shelf and you will sleeping like a baby.

Reorganizing the Rust Belt: An Inside Study of the American Labor Movement

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The realities of social movement unionism

Reorganizing the Rust Belt: An Inside Study of the American Labor Movement
Steven Henry Lopez
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520235657

Book Description

This gripping insider's look at the contemporary American trade union movement shows that reports of organized labor's death are premature. In this eloquent and erudite narrative, Steven Henry Lopez demonstrates how, despite a hostile legal environment and the punitive anti-unionism of U.S. employers, a few unions have organized hundreds of thousands of low-wage service workers in the past few years. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has been at the forefront of this effort, in the process pioneering innovative strategies of grassroots mobilization and protest. In a powerful ethnography that captures the voices of those involved in SEIU nursing-home organizing in western Pennsylvania, Lopez illustrates how post-industrial, low-wage workers are providing the backbone for a reinvigorated labor movement across the country.
Reorganizing the Rust Belt argues that the key to the success of social movement unionism lies in its ability to confront a series of dilemmas rooted in the history of American labor relations. Lopez shows how the union's ability to devise creative solutions--rather than the adoption of specific tactics--makes the difference between success and failure.

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The realities of social movement unionism.......2005-03-11

The unenthusiastic accommodation reached after WWII between employers and labor unions began to be shredded in the late 1970s as employers took advantage of the weak labor laws of the US to de-unionize and defeat new organizing efforts. Anti-unionism now permeates the corporate world with devastating effects on unions. Labor theorists and academics, unions, and union members have absolutely been at their wits' end in coming to grips with the siege on labor and in devising strategies to resist employer onslaughts. _Reorganizing the Rust Belt_ is one man's attempt to do just that. In a research project, the author, a graduate student of sociology, is permitted to become an organizing intern on the staff of Local "A" (not the real name) of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), generally operating in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, to assist and report on efforts to organize a nursing home. Choosing the SEIU to follow is highly pertinent because the service sector now dominates the US economy and the SEIU is virtually the only union that has substantially gained membership in an era of precipitous union density decline.

Large elements of the labor movement are now proponents of "social movement" unionism. It is a rather fluid concept but it has at its core the mobilization of rank-and-file workers. The importance of union staffers is supposedly reduced as workers constitute the organizing committee, orchestrate face-to-face home visits, and conduct any number of workplace solidarity enhancing exercises like tee-shirt days, leafleting, petitioning the boss, etc. Another element of the "social" approach is drawing upon community interests and resources to enhance labor's position. In one case described by the author, an attempt to privatize a cluster of nursing homes was seen by the community as potentially threatening to elderly residents due to the clear implications of reduced services. A coalition involving the union and progressive and religious groups in the community defeated the proposal, but the self interest of the union was a secondary factor to those community activists. A contract campaign later conducted by the union did not resonate with the community, though it was successful largely because of the earlier rebuke of the county officials. In the more general case, the dispersion of workers' homes from the vicinity of a firm would make community support problematic; where is the commonality? The author did not stress that forming labor-community coalitions is difficult and usually involves special circumstances.

Though the author is a staunch advocate of social movement unionism, his analysis clearly shows that so-called business unionism is well entrenched. Labor unions have been sold for decades to workers as providing bargaining and contract enforcement services. Union staff people, perhaps assisted by member stewards, are expected to perform the work. If unions are not successful in providing those services, or even worse, unionized factories are shutdown, members or potential members are inclined to place blame on the unions. The author repeatedly encountered disenchantment with unions on the organizing drive.

A contradictory fact is that social movement unionism requires more staff, not less. Rank-and-file mobilization does not just spontaneously occur. Union staff or paid member organizers have to carefully nurture an activist workplace mentality. And that is costly to unions. An earlier unsuccessful attempt to organize the author's nursing home was attempted through the less staff intensive methods of mass mailings and sparsely attended union meetings. Union staffers are often disinclined to get involved in worker motivation preferring to provide the services for which they are obligated. In addition, activist workers can often undermine the more limited, but predictable, power base of union officials. Costs and the concerns of staffers and officials will continue to part of the union dynamic, stated or otherwise.

The author is concerned with not only the sustainability of worker mobilization from a psychological standpoint, but also whether unions even know how use worker activism beyond organizing or contract campaigns. He finally seems to be content with the notion that workers once mobilized can be ramped up again when needed. It is an irony that a key component of business unionism, servicing the contract, remains most important once mobilization has passed.

Is the successful nursing home campaign applicable to other sectors of the economy? Clearly, the author's experiences demonstrate that the general public is concerned with conditions in nursing homes for both residents and employees, but working conditions for Wal-Mart workers seem to be of minimal interest. In addition, closing a nursing home to avoid a union would tend to be less tolerated than shuttering a retail establishment. Despite the difficulties, organizing a nursing home is one of the more favorable situations that exist in today's economy.

The author does not really probe the SEIU version of worker mobilization in terms of its limitations and what it could be. Achieving enough solidarity to vote for a union is commendable, but hardly exhausts worker solidarity or empowerment. A vote for union representation will not change the fact that workers have no say in a business beyond wages and some aspects of working conditions. It was not that many decades ago that US workers were concerned with actual worker control in workplaces. Even now the codetermination found in European workplaces gives workers more real voice in workplace decisions than do contracts that largely seek to constrain workers. Worker input is definitely not tolerated.

The author makes much of his findings that movements are defined by what they must overcome as opposed to the view that movements take advantage of existing conditions. The point seems rather minor as the campaign on which the author worked had both situations. The book is sad commentary on the status of working Americans. So much effort must be made to simply achieve a place at a bargaining table where decisions that have long-term consequences for workers cannot even be discussed. Corporations, if they must, will make that trade every day: a few cents an hour in exchange for nearly complete control of the business and its profits.

Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City

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If You Were to Write a Love Letter to a City...
Pittsburgh is more than you think!
A stunning narrative and photo essay of a renewed city
A 'must-have' for any millennium book list.

Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City
Stefan Lorant
Manufacturer: The Derrydale Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0967410304

Book Description

This book is based on years of research and includes contributions by such noted American historians as Henry Steele Commager and Oscar Handlin.

Customer Reviews:

If You Were to Write a Love Letter to a City..........2005-12-20

If you were to write a love letter to a city, what would it look like? Pretty much like this book, a history in prose and photographs that is a true delight.

Lorant knows that most people from Pittsburgh love it. Most people who are born in Pittsburgh never leave it. Most people who live there for a time and then have to move on, come back to live there again. Why? The people.

Attitudinally speaking, it is the last of the Eastern Cities meeting the first of the Midwestern Cities, so Pittsburghers combine the tradition, culture and energy of the former with the welcoming warmth and openness of the latter. Lorant captures it all, and more. If you haven't read this book, open it and you will find yourself reminded of people and places--and smile.

Pittsburgh is more than you think!.......1999-12-01

As a lifelong resident of Pittsburgh and author of an upcoming guidebook to the area, I believe Pittsburgh: Story of An American City is a wonderful book for more than Pittsburghers.

This book lifts the lid on all our progressive city has to offer, it educates those who have outdated knowledge of Pittsburgh, and it makes a great gift book.

If that's not enough, it provides an ideal history lesson for all as Western Pennsylvania has many historic sights to see as well as splendid architecture!

After reading, you'll want to extend your next business trip to Pittsburgh, shop in more than our airport, and visit our family-friendly parks. Don't forget: Mister Rogers lives here! Your kids will love Idlewild Park, with the only life-size Neighborhood of Make-Believe.

If you can't be our neighbor, come see us. You won't be disappointed!

A stunning narrative and photo essay of a renewed city.......1999-11-06

The latest edition of Pittsburgh is an expertly crafted and beautifully photographed continuation of the Lorant chronicle. Although Mr. Campbell finished the work after Mr. Lorant's death, the new chapter flows with the Lorant style. The edition uses an impressive array of photos to help tell the story and give a sense of the kind of people who have remained at the hard work of rebuilding an industrial city. Like the editions before, the work emphasizes the positive about the city and concentrates on physical renewal. Yet you come away thinking that whatever its problems, people working together can come up with a solution. People from the area will like this book but others who believe in the importance of cities will find it interesting and instructive.

A 'must-have' for any millennium book list........1999-10-22

We landed at Pittsburgh International Airport a little after dusk, impressed with how the runways appeared to grow out of the natural contours of the land. We joined the flowing rush hour traffic as the comfortable limousine sped in towards the city. Joe, our driver, talked enthusiastically about the change from steel city to high tech city, the history of an era that changed from black to white, but nothing was to prepare us for what was to follow. As we escaped through the Fort Pitt tunnel the night light panorama left us breathless-this surely is one of the new post-modern views of a post-industrial age.

The purpose of our visit had everything to do with `The Book'; the style in which Pittsburgh's citizens would affectionately refer to Stefan Lorant's monumental opus Pittsburgh: the story of an American city. With an initial ten years in the making, first published in 1964 and revised in 1974, 1980 and 1988, Lorant was completing a fifth edition when he died in November 1997 just 100 days short of his 97th birthday. Twenty-five thousand copies of this new version, the `Millennium Edition' are now on the bookstalls due to the tenacity, talent and sheer hard work of Bruce and Gail Campbell who inherited the copyright. Lorant himself was tenacious, immensely talented, capable of recognising talent in others and certainly subscribed to the work ethic. It is intriguing to speculate why a Hungarian, a foreigner and stranger to the city could write such a volume, on the surface a notion to be easily dismissed but a reality that became spectacularly successful.

Stefan Lorant was born in Budapest on February 22nd, 1901 and died in Rochester, Minnesota on November 14th, 1997 at 96-years-of-age. He was a witness to the century with his life spanning a period of political turmoil, war and social change. Lorant became a legend within his lifetime. His work as a visual and literary editor allowed him to pioneer and develop the genré of picture based journalism at a period in time which saw the emergence of modern mass communications. Internationally he became a guiding force, disseminating his ideas and political knowledge throughout Europe in the late-twenties and thirties by working in Germany, Hungary and England, eventually spreading his sphere of influence to America where he introduced the concept of the pictorial biography. His innovative layouts, his `exclusive' interviews and thirst for knowledge became a familiar part of millions of everyday lives, largely through the pages of his own creations, and in particular the legendary media icon Picture Post. His vision of photography as a documentary medium inspired Life and Look magazines in America, and paved the way for the eventual emergence of the television documentary. For this he became recognised as `the father of picture journalism'.

Originally published in 1964, the first edition of Pittsburgh: the story of an American city is the mature Lorant at his most brilliant. `The Book' had a specific local audience as well as a wider interested public throughout America and that is reflected by the reviews of the first edition. Harrison E. Salisbury in The New York Times sees `The whole tumultuous story of Pittsburgh, magnificently illustrated... is presented in this volume... the study of the metamorphosis is all here-the bloody struggles of the nineteenth century, the grit and smoke, the politics, the toil, the sweat-the imagination.' Publishers' Weekly was equally congratulatory but in a different way. `It is certainly one of the most fascinating detailed picture histories yet attempted of any city anywhere. For readability, thoroughness (ten years of research went into it), graphic quality, and broad scope (it covers political and social history, daily life, labor problems, architecture and what have you), this is a model history of an American city.'

Lorant's Pittsburgh: the story of an American city is not just a biography of a city but a microcosm of the American peoples. Just ten or so days before he died in November 1997, Lorant complained that he only needed a good day to complete `The Book'. To be accurate Lorant's `good day' did not mean a working period of time between dawn and dusk, or any other measure within that 24-hour cycle. It was an infinitely variable amount of time necessary to complete the story to Lorant's satisfaction. He was not to have that `good day'. He had completed the layout for the new pages and commissioned the new photographs, most of which were in place. Picking up the editorial reigns, Gail and Bruce Campbell have produced this new edition with Bruce weaving the strands of the new final chapter from 1988 to the millennium which he entitles, `The best is yet to come'.

There are parallels with which Lorant would have been acquainted. Mozart's pupil Süssmayr, well appraised of his master's procedure and intentions completed the final masterpiece-Requiem in D minor. By comparison, the Campbell's share an affinity with Lorant's intentions and have produced a contemporary and forward looking vision which retains Lorant's classic composition.

Those of us who knew Lorant well, can still visualise him sat at his kitchen table in his farmhouse in Lenox with a copy of the new Millennium Edition open in front of him. For a while nothing would be said, though nothing would be missed. Eventually there would be a slight shrug of his shoulders, a nonchalant wave of his hands. `It is good, very good-but with my help, perhaps we could have made it ten percent better.' That would be praise indeed from this great Hungarian editor, for without question Lorant would have approved.

This is a `must-have' for any millennium book list!

Fighting Back
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Fighting Back

Manufacturer: Rocky Bleier, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1878205188

On the wing: The story of the Pittsburgh Sisters of Mercy, 1843-1968
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On the wing: The story of the Pittsburgh Sisters of Mercy, 1843-1968
M. Jerome McHale
Manufacturer: Seabury Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 0816404666

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