Book Description
There are tough times ahead for sixteen-year-old Billy. After his mother dies, he goes to Fort Worth with his father, whose drinking and gambling leave them all but penniless. Desperate to make a life for himself, Billy heads over to Colonial Country Club, where he hopes to get work as a caddie. He finds much more than he bargained for.
Before long, Billy makes a place for himself behind the privileged walls of Colonial. His attitude draws the approval of an eccentric millionaire club member, while his looks draw the attention of the millionaire's beautiful granddaughter--much to the displeasure of her boyfriend, the club champion. But Billy's run of luck is short-lived, as he confronts the hard realities of the world and of human nature both on and off the golf course. Now, Billy must face down his fears and doubts about where he comes from, where he wants to go, and who he really is. Bud Shrake's Billy Boy is an unforgettable coming-of-age tale of life, love, and beating the odds, set against the far-reaching horizons of the American West.
Download Description
Not since Larry McMurtry's The Last Picture Show has a novelist captured the poignant contradictions of young manhood in the American West the way Bud Shrake does in Billy Boy. And no novel has ever combined history, spirituality and golf into so potent a triumph of the human spirit. There are tough times ahead for sixteen-year-old Billy. He's just come to Fort Worth with his father, Troy, after the death of his mother back in Albuquerque. Troy's drinking and gambling will leave them all but penniless, and he'll soon move on and abandon Billy in this strange town to fend for himself. With only a vague idea of how he's going to live, Billy heads over to Colonial Country Club, where he hopes he can get work as a caddie and where he just might see his hero, Ben Hogan. What he finds there, under the watchful eye of his guardian spirit, teaches him unforgettable lessons about golf, life, love and honor. In Billy Boy, longtime novelist and screenwriter Bud Shrake takes us back to the early 1950s, in a story thick with the Texas dust. Hardscrabble Billy, tough as he thinks he is and smarter than he knows, makes a place for himself behind the walls of privilege at Colonial. He first draws the approval, then the ire, of the club's most eccentric millionaire member, while his looks and manner draw the attention of the millionaire's beautiful granddaughter -- to the displeasure of her boyfriend, the club champion. Billy survives a fierce initiation and a dreadful scene with his drunken father -- but most important, he comes in contact with two of the greatest figures in the history of golf in Texas, Ben Hogan and John Bredemus, each of whom takes Billy under his wing for different reasons and with different results.
Customer Reviews:
A Great Book.......2006-05-30
This book was a great read that was almost impossible to put down. People who like golf or just want a good book should definitely pick up this one and get sucked right in. I somewhat connected to Billy because of his sense of humor and the fact we are both caddies at a fancy golf club. Not every chapter ended with a cliffhanger but the ending sure did. The plot was believable which made it a good fiction and stayed away from science fiction. Over all I thought this was a great book and I would recommend it to all.
Great Golf Book.......2004-03-09
This is a fabulous book. I could not put it away. It was a great story and was very dramatic. It was the ideal book.
Another mystical golf novel.......2001-12-19
There are reasons why golf is described as 90 percent mental. It's primarily to sell golf literature like Shrake's novel. Ever read an intriguing golf book about swing plane and hip rotation?
Shrake's book is one in a long line like it. The main character, Billy, loses both his parents in a matter of weeks, and it is up to him to make it on his own. Set in Texas during the 1950s, two of Texas' golfing "Gods" guide Billy from being a caddie to beating the upstart young club champion. This book has all the cliched elements, including John Bredemus' role as a guardian angel, who unveils the mental elements of game, and Hogan, who teaches Billy "the secret" of the swing.
Had Sharke not written such a wonderful story, I would have cast it in the lot with all the other bad golf novels out there. There are life lessons more than golf lessons inside, including the drive to gain independence and what it means to honor yourself and family.
I just wish a golf novel could written without all those "Gods" watching down.
Bud Shrake Aces Another One.......2001-10-05
A terrific book for both golfers and dreamers. Read it, then keep it in your golf bag next to your 7-iron for good luck.
billy boy.......2001-10-04
thoughtful,fun,somewhat inspirational.just an all around good read even for a non golfer.
Customer Reviews:
Nice book for a young male.......2007-10-04
This is a nice book to buy your child if you want to enlighten them on the way of life that existed long before their time where they can appreciate the resources and choices that are available to them in in this generation.
One of the best i've ever read.......2005-03-01
If I could've given this book 10 stars, I would've. I'ma 19 year old inner city black male--that said, I was on the verge of tears while reading parts of this novel, and crying isn't something regarded as "ok" to do where I come from (or for guys period). Emotionally maturation is a must when reading this. TRUST! This is my first review of any book. I've never felt so compelled to write one, to ask people "Hey you ever read a book called Billy?" The book is excellent, and I highly recommend it. And as far as the "grammar fiend" review up above--the dialect in the book is reflecting Southern talk from the 1930's and it only adds to the book, it captures the time period beautifully. Please (future readers) dont let that become an obstacle!! (And after the first 5-10 pages you get used to it)
Bad style.......2005-02-09
As a grammar-fiend, I must say that this book is really lacking. I realise it was written in the vernacular for a purpose, but really, after only 4 pages I found continuing to read the monstrous grammar painful. This book is practically a guide to how to speak as if one never had any schooling.
One of the most heartwrenching books I've ever read.......2004-09-04
1937. Mississippi. Two teenage girls. Two young boys, ages ten and twelve. A fight ensues and one of the girls ends up dead. The community is outraged and more interested in revenge than justice. Why? The girls are white and the boys are black. Should that matter? Regardless, it does. French unapologetically drops the reader right into the times with all its prejudices glaring. It's impossible to avoid an emotional reaction to Billy. The grief of the families' losses, Billy's confusion about what's happening to him as well as what happened during the fight, and the blatant racism all serve to make the reader question whether things have really changed since 1937 or whether all that racism really just boiling under the surface searching for any excuse to break free.
Absolutely Awesome.......2004-08-09
This book sat on my bookshelf for years and I finally picked it up. It took a while to get into at first, because of the language and writing style, but once I finally got it, I GOT IT!
I was almost in tears at the end. Great storytelling and storyline. French was able to capture the spirit of the southern mentality and bring it to light - straight no chaser.
Average customer rating:
- Well worth reading.
- Amazon running rampid
- Inspired a song too
- I'm not much of a fantasy fan, but . . .
- Pretty good, but not as good as the other reviewers claimed
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Breathe Deeply (World of Darkness)
Don Bassingthwaite
Manufacturer: White Wolf Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 United States | Horror | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Bassingthwaite, Don | ( B ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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Similar Items:
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The Silver Crown (World of Darkness)
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Watcher: Based on the Apocalypse (World of Darkness : Werewolf)
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Drums Around the Fire (Werewolf)
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The Last Battle (Werewolf: Time of Judgement)
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Conspicuous Consumption (The World of Darkness : Werewolf)
ASIN: 1565048814 |
Customer Reviews:
Well worth reading........2006-06-08
I've been a fan of Werewolf: The Apocolypse and White Wolf Studios for a long time and they've turned out some pure gold in the past and I had little reason to expect anything less from this book, despite it being one of the first novels they produced. Being based on the iffy card game, RAGE, I was skeptical as to whether or not it'd be any good. I've read other books based on video/card games and been dissappointed (Magic: the Gathering - "Arena" and Resident Evil: "Zero Hour" being prime examples) but this one had me hooked by the end of the first chapter. I'm not a speed reader and I don't think I read fast at all but I sat down and read this book cover to cover in 4 hours!
Don Bassingthwaite made every little bit of the World of Darkness' forbidding and oppressive atmosphere seem startlingly real without really going into too much detail or making the book seem like a work of pure fantasy. His handling of several sensitive social issues including the acceptance of gays into a community that frowns upon homosexuality was done with taste and maturity and left me wondering how much of this book was based on personal experience. Some things he describes in this book could only be imagined by someone of great vision and imagination or by someone who's lived it.
Betrayl by a lover, fitting in to a society that's not your own, being exiled and cast out by those you've come to call your closest allies. Reading about it, you begin to feel so greatly for, so deeply connected to the characters that you almost feel as if it's YOU --the reader-- who's experiencing these things. Throw in the fact that even a hardcore Werewolf fan like me could be amazed by the author's portrayal of things I had begun to take for mundane from the other books --Bassingthwaite's ability to make it seem truly extraordinary is enviable to even the most seasoned White Wolf Storyteller-- and this book is well worth the money I paid for it and then some.
Amazon running rampid.......2000-07-29
For myself, this book was a little odd, but loved non-the-less. First, the character development was great. It hit topic of Garou society that aren't spoken of much. Although it's a strange and a little unsettling at times, there are issues of homosexuality in this book. It actually was interesting to see these events take place, due to the fact they are not normally addressed in World of Darkness novels normally. Personally, I much rather enjoyed another Rage novel called 'The Silver Crown' by John Birdges, this one still holds it's own on my shelf.
Inspired a song too.......2000-07-28
I especially loved that the main character was from Toronto. After years of reading novels set in other places, this one took me right along from page one because I knew all the places he was referring to.
For a book that was probably just intended to be a filler product, Bassigthwaite produced a book that stands up very well. I had yet to really delve into werewolf fiction, but this is still my favourite. Great characters, great twists, great atmosphere. I poured through this one in a day because I couldn't put it down.
I liked the book so much, my band and I wrote a song (same title) about it. We tweaked the lyrics so it could also be about street gangs, drugs, unsafe sex, etc, but the plot of the book is still in there..............
I'm not much of a fantasy fan, but . . ........2000-07-27
This book was a pleasant surprise. I must admit that before reading it, I knew nothing at all about the WoD, Rage, or even White Wolf Studios. I picked it up at a used book sale because it looked slightly interesting, but because it is based on a card game I didn't expect it to be any better than a second-rate novel. Boy, was I wrong. The plot was interesting, the characters were fascinating (and kudos on the sensitive handling of the gay issue), and Bassingthwaite's anthropological training shone through admirably in his great depictions of the Garou tribal system. The only problem for me was the large number of obvious typos within the text, but that is most likely the editor's fault, not the author's.
Pretty good, but not as good as the other reviewers claimed.......2000-04-11
I special ordered this book, because I saw all the good reviews on it. I have to admit that it's a lot better than the other werewolf book I read. There was quite a bit of surprises in the story that I didn't expect. A lot of good character development, especially with the main character and his "pack". I recommend it, but definitely not a 5.
Average customer rating:
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Breathe Deeply My Son (The Library of Holocaust Testimonies)
Henry Wermuth
Manufacturer: Vallentine Mitchell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0853032467 |
Average customer rating:
- Wisdom need not be complex.
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Breathe Deeply!: Healing Stories for the Soul
P. A. Burke
Manufacturer: Audenreed Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
United 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
General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1879418959 |
Customer Reviews:
Wisdom need not be complex........1997-11-23
As Patricia Burke demonstrates, simplicity is the key to true wisdom...and stories the most direct path to the soul. Since ancient times, storytellers have woven history, fable and metaphor into the very fabric of their cultures, and Patricia Burke has managed to create 14 illuminating parables that provide subtle, yet meaningful messages for readers of all ages. Adults will learn to find the child within; children will delight in the imagery that provides a clear path to maturity. Each of these stories directs readers and listeners inward, where compassion, understanding and healing truly begin. Thank you Patricia Burke!
Book Description
Breathe Deeply, This Too Shall Pass is a collection of thirty tales of trials and tribulations of parenting teens. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll consider selling your pre-teen!
Customer Reviews:
Got Teens? You've GOT To Read This Book!.......2002-10-19
I wish I knew Kimberly Ripley personally, as I think she'd be a great therapist for moms in the throes of parenting teens. Just when I thought I was the worst mom in the world, I read this book and found out I wasn't alone. Lots of teenagers pull stunts like the author's and mine! And with Kimberly Ripley's humorous perspective---both she AND her teenagers survived the years of teen angst.
Got teens? Got friends with teens? ANYONE with teenagers HAS to read this book. It's hilarious!
WRITING PARENT ACHIEVES SUCCESS WITH NEW BOOK!.......2001-01-16
This collection of hilarious and insightful essays is sure to thrill the parent in all of us, whether we actually have children or not! Mrs. Ripley's mastery of the tongue-in-cheek style that is obviously so necessary to not only parents, but family writers in general, is evident on every page of this enthusiastic and enjoyable collection of essays. A must for any parenting bookshelf, it would fit perfectly between Dr. Spock and Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul, it's also the perfect gift for parents of teens-to-be. Far from scaring them off, however, this collection of touching tales will only convince them all the more that the teen years are so very special and precious. (If only they could do something about the smell . . .)
Every nook and cranny of modern family life is closely examined under Ripley's keen eye for observation and unique habit of catching perfectly the understated hilarity of everyday conversations. From dirty rooms to music recitals, from student drivers to telephone wars, Ripley evokes the lighter side of family life that no doubt has her own children blushing to this day!
Don't believe me? Try the following examples on for size:
"At that moment I wanted to fall off my chair and slither away like a snake. What I had expected to be a mother's proud moment was a nightmare. And I still had to go home and write the review!
"When the show ended the music director congratulated parents on their children's wonderful performances. I got a cold hard stare."
-An excerpt from the story "Bacteria"
"When our older daughter is in the house simultaneously she and Jim wage what we refer to as phone wars.
`Jim, I need the phone,' Judy will demand.
`Judy, I just got on,' is the standard reply.
"Of course he's been on for so long the receiver imprint on the side of his head has grown purple, but he won't relinquish his prize body part without a fight!"
-An excerpt from the story "Is Jim There?"
"Her room, in addition to housing my daughter and whichever girlfriends she hauls home for the evening, is also home to three large pet rats. The caged little darlings peer at me with their beady eyes, and slither their nasty tails at me each time I enter the room.
"As they slithered and I ransacked, I was aware of their impervious aroma wafting throughout the supposedly "clean" bedroom. Their beady eyes watched me as I confiscated eleven half-finished bottles of caffeine-free Pepsi, eight damp bath towels, nine dirty socks, and more pairs of dirty undies than I could count. There was no partridge in a pear tree. She doesn't own a pear tree."
-An excerpt from the story "Unnatural Disasters"
Though I'm not a parent, as an ex-junior high school teacher in the public school system, these poignant and pointed stories had me rolling with the memory of past students and relived scenarios. When the stress and emotional roller coaster of raising a modern teenager gets to be too much, reach quickly for "Breathe Deeply, This Too Shall Pass" and give yourself an unexpected treat. Your only complaint will be that each story ends too soon!
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Columbia Journalism Review, published by Thomson Gale on May 1, 2006. The length of the article is 1451 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Buy a TV, breathe deeply: a sober look at how the coal industry spins 'clean' coal, then pursues business as usual--foul the air, buy influence.(Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy )(Book review)
Author: Susan Q. Stranahan
Publication:
Columbia Journalism Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 45
Issue: 1
Page: 67(2)
Article Type: Book review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
Trade paperback version of science fiction novel. Originally published by Del Rey.
Book is large format, printed on bright white paper, perfect bound, with full color, plastic laminated covers. Books are autographed by the author.
Customer Reviews:
A Swahbuckling Sci-Fi tale amoung the floating cities of Saturn.......2005-09-24
This is my favorite novel by Michael McCollum. It doesn't have the following of his Antares or Life Probe series but it has a kind of well crafted elegance that sets it apart and I think above the rest.
Earth has been abandoned, rising solar radiation sterilizes our home world. Humanity has retreated to floating cities in the atmosphere of Saturn (plus some small colonies on the more mineable moons)
Human nature being what it is, intereige and conflict abound.
Our Hero, an interesting mixture of Han Solo and perhaps Sir Francis Drake, is drawn into a plot to bring all the independent cloud cities under one government ("to prevent war" quoteth the villain).
The author serves up a full helping of mystery and suspense, along with plenty of action. Charactor development is particularly strong in this novel and the inevitable romance is well handled.
I find the political overtones in this novel interesting. The idea of a single super government to "end all war" has a Wilsonian ring that students of history will recognize and it resinates stongly with our current international situation.
This novel should appeal to a wider audience then even the usual Sci Fi croud. The future tech is well crafted but stays in the background and doesn't intrude on the story.
So if you like adventure, in exotic settings, mixed with action, mystery and romance, this is one that you shouldn't miss.
Excellent science fiction .......2004-12-24
I picked this book up (literally) off an airline seat during a flight across the country...and began to read it as I had finished the novel (forgotten now) that I had brought with me. This book, however, I have not forgotten and has peaked my long-lost interest in science fiction again. Very well written with technically exciting details of 'future world' possiblities.
Easy reading, scientifically accurate sci fi.......2000-08-17
I hope Mr McCollum becomes wealthy writing books like these: they are fun and easy to read, and also (speaking as a physics trained guy) they are generally scientifically accurate. Most sci fi books these days make ridiculous mistakes with basic physical laws. Please write more books!
Fantastic! Awe inspiring........1998-12-28
This story envelopes the reader from start to finish. Since Mr. McCollum is himself an engineer, he has a good idea about the theories that he has based this story on. That is just the beginning. This novel is fantastic!
Humanity living in cities that float in the skies of Saturn, and a battle is taking place.
A great read,a true sci-fi classic........1998-02-05
I read this book when it first was released and after reading Michael's other books, this one was a little slow.
Average customer rating:
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Through the Clouds of Saturn
Henry F. Stone
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Adventure
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1425728219 |
Book Description
Through the Clouds of Saturn tells the story of those intrepid astronauts, Smelly, Belly, and Jelly, who, on assignment from SpaceCentral, blast off on a mission to save the galaxy from the nefarious doings of that All-Around Really Bad Guy, Flummox MacSneere. A rarity among scientists, MacSneere was truly an evil genius, in the same class as the infamous Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes's arch enemy. MacSneere had set out to steal at least one of the rings of Saturn, and it was up to our heroes to put a stop to such madness and all-around badness. To allow MacSneere to control such riches and power was unthinkable, right? After a history-making space battle, the Goferit, our heroes' trusty space ship, was damaged and forced to the surface of Saturn, down, down, down through the thick cloud cover of the ringed planet. And having achieved a safe landing on the formerly unknown core world, Smelly, Belly, and Jelly meet and deal in a variety of ways with the planet's strange inhabitants with equally strange names like Gleeps, Frongprotzils, Chibabba-Chibabbans, and Fardraytenkopps - some good, some bad (just like living creatures on Earth itself). They experience wonders undreamed of, their wits and super-astronaut training and downright bravery put to the test at every step along their perilous way. Belly's large stock of peanut butter certainly contriuted to . well, something or another. The results of their experiences? You must read the story to find out. Do the boys make it safely back to our familiar old Mother Earth? Ditto. And what of MacSneere? Oh, beware of MacSneere!
Book Description
The first book to chronicle the rise of Robert M. Parker, Jr., the world's most influential and controversial wine critic, who, over the last twenty–five years, has dominated the international wine world and embodied the triumph of American taste.
This is the story of how an American lawyer raised on Coca–Cola caused a revolution in the way wines around the globe are made, sold, and talked about.
To his legions of fans, Parker is a cross between Julia Child and Ralph Nader –– part enthusiastic sensualist and part consumer crusader. To his many enemies, he is a self–appointed wine judge bent on reducing the meaning of wine to a two–digit number. The man who now rules the world of wine has been the focus of both adulation and death threats. He rose to his pinnacle of power by means of the traditional American virtues of hard work, determination, and integrity –– coupled with an unshakeable ego and a maniacal obsession with a beverage that aspires to a seductive art form: fine wine.
Parker's influential bimonthly newsletter, The Wine Advocate, with more than 45,000 subscribers across the United States and in more than thirty–seven countries, exerts the single most significant influence on consumers' wine–buying habits and trends in America, Europe, and the Far East, and impacts the way wine is being made in every wine–producing country in the world, from France to Australia. Parker has been profiled in countless magazines and newspapers around the world and most of his dozen books have been best sellers in the United States and abroad. Yet, despite the world's attention and unending acclaim, Robert Parker stands at the center of a heated controversy. Is he a passionate lover of wine who, more than anyone else, is responsible for its vastly improved quality, or is he, as others claim, waging a war against centuries of tradition and in the process killing the soul of wine?
The Emperor of Wine tackles the myriad questions that swirl about Parker and reveals how he became both worshipped and despised, revered as an infallible palate by some and blamed by others for remaking the world's wine industry into a single global market, causing prices to skyrocket, and single–handedly reshaping the taste of wine to his own preference.
Elin McCoy met Robert Parker in 1981 when she was his first magazine editor, and she has followed his extraordinary rise ever since. In telling Parker's story, McCoy gives readers an unmatched, authoritative insider's view of the eccentric personalities, bitter feuds, controversies, passions, payoffs, and secrets of the wine world, explaining how wine reputations are made, how and why wine critics agree and disagree, and tracking the startling ways wines are judged, promoted, made, and sold today. This fascinating portrait of a modern–day cultural colossus shows how a world that once was the province of gentlemen's clubs and the pastime of stuffed shirts turned into a sensual hobby for the middle class, creating a luxury industry bent on making money on a worldwide scale –– and how one man has revolutionized the way the world thinks about wine.
Customer Reviews:
A great read for those who love wine.......2007-08-21
I loved this book. Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down. If you are into wine and subscribe to Parker's website or newsletter this is a must read. A fasinating perspective on the world's most influencial wine critic.
great overview of how a lawyer became a wine king.......2007-01-05
Good overview describing how robert parker became robert parker. No big nuggets, but well written and good insights and background since parker clearly cooperated with the writer, who is a wine critic in her own right and thus understands the business. Informative and a good story while also telling you how the wine industry works and how it evolved from the days of Almaden to today.
Thats a lot of wine.......2006-11-01
Parker has almost made me a beleiver. But why does it take 100 points to tell him if it tastes good or not. I can do it in 20.
Absorbing Read on Robert Parker and the Wine Industry.......2006-09-18
Elin McCoy's 'Emperor of Wine' is an absorbing account of the rise of wine critic Robert Parker and his influence on the international wine industry. McCoy's biography works on a number of levels:
--as a Horatio Alger saga of a rise to fortune and prominence through passion and hard work;
--as a business biography about the creation of influence and wealth by filling an emerging niche;
--as an examination of the cultural and economic forces that have shaped wine consumption over the past 30 years.
I enjoy wine, but am hardly an expert on the subject. I had a vague awareness of Robert Parker, but had no idea of the extent to which he has shaped consumer wine options in the past two decades. But even on the basis of my casual consumption of wine, it is clear that Parker's preference for big, fruity reds and oaky whites have consistently pushed certain wine-making styles to the head of the class in the American liquor store and on the American restaurant menu.
Has Parker's influence been helpful or harmful? Probably both, in Elin McCoy's assessment. On the one hand, Parker has made wine more accessible to consumers, held producers accountable for their product, and conducted himself ethically in an industry often characterized by shadowy alliances and influence peddling. At the same time, Parker's ability to move markets in accordance with his palate has led to considerable reduction of local diversity in wine production, as producers in the U.S., France and Italy flock to develop wines that reflect his preferences.
Any deficiencies in 'Emperor of Wine'? McCoy seems to take an uncommon interest in Parker's weight gain over a 30-year career. Granted, weight gain is probably an occupational hazard for someone who tastes thousands of wines annually, but McCoy's continuing preoccupation with the topic is eventually jarring, and makes one wonder if she is taking a covert jab at her subject.
Overall, however, I found Elin McCoy's portrayal of Robert Parker and the international wine industry absorbing and even-handed. Despite his occasional arrogance (at least as depicted by McCoy), there is much to like about Parker, including his level-headedness, his generosity, his integrity, and his devotion to his wife and daughter. As well, this story of Coke-drinking lad from small-town Maryland making it big in the world of international wine is heartening to those of us who enjoy a story about a little guy who persists and wins.
Whether you are an occasional wine drinker or serious oenophile, the 'Emperor of Wine' should make an absorbing read. Highly recommended.
Probably a solid 89.......2006-08-22
I subscribe to several wine publications and enjoy drinking, and recently, collecting wine.
The more I researched wine, the more Mr. Parker's name came up. I became curious as to how he became one of the world's most revered wine authorities.
I have read "Noble Rot" and watched 'Mondovino". This book had far more information particular to Mr. Parker. Unfortunately, it is very dry.
It has none of the snap, or flow, of other great food and wine writers.
The author seems to veer between reverence and disdain in a somewhat schizophrenic manner.
All in all, I appreciated the information, but can't recommend this book to anyone just looking for a good read
Books:
- Blue Plate Special: A Novel of Love, Loss, and Food
- Bobby Rex's Greatest Hit
- Brimfield : A Novel
- Bulldog Drummond (The Bulldog Drummond Series)
- Charming Billy
- CHLOE DOES YALE
- CHRISTMAS EVE ON LONESOME "HELL-FER-SARTAIN" AND OTHER STORIES
- Chump Change
- Crazy In The Cockpit: A Woman Pilot's Adventures In The Air
- Cutting Lisa
Books Index
Books Home
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My Usual Game
The Greatest Course That Never Was: A Novel
The Back Nine
Shanks for Nothing: A Novel
My Life in and out of the Rough: The Truth Behind All That Bull**** You Think You Know About Me
