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Love him or hate him, there's no denying the vast influence Frank Rich wielded as chief drama critic for the New York Times. Those he praised usually enjoyed great success; those he damned accused him of conspiring against their productions. Now, here's a volume, almost forbidding in length, that encompasses his work over 14 theater seasons. More than 330 reviews and articles brimming with plays and players, shows and showmen--famous and obscure, enduring and forgotten. Readers are likely to find something that--depending on their vintage--serves as a discovery or a reminder. Do you recall that Mike Nichols and Elaine May once appeared in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (The 1980 production accentuated Edward Albee's dark comedy, but left Rich "hungry for blood.") Or that FOB in the very same year launched the New York career of David Henry Hwang ("an unwieldy, at times spotty work"--one that nonetheless "hits home far more often than it misses"). Jump forward eight years to the same playwright's M. Butterfly and the circle is complete, as Rich lavishes praise upon Hwang's work, calling it one of his favorite new plays. Whatever readers may think of Rich's opinions (and he isn't shy about sharing them), they'll delight in his prose--at once witty and illuminating, sympathetic and sarcastic.
Revealed too in this tome is Rich's admiration and love for several mentors and peers, exemplified in moving tributes to the legendary critics Kenneth Tynan and Walter Kerr. Also poignant are footnotes to several reviews, outlining the real-life tragedies that befell mighty showmen like Gower Champion of 42nd Street. Rich traces the terrible toll AIDS has taken on Broadway, describing an era in which the celebrated and the unsung alike succumbed to the epidemic. Little wonder then, that Tony Kushner's Angels in America, rooted in the age of AIDS, makes such a profound impression on the critic: "I was so overwhelmed by Angels after a matinee in London that I canceled my theatergoing plans for that night; I needed time to think." All this makes Hot Seat more than just a compendium of reviews. It serves as a history and a highly entertaining read rolled into one, a portrait of the theater and, ultimately, of the critic himself. --Roy Wadia
Book Description
In his nearly fourteen years as chief drama critic of The New York Times, Frank Rich was both admired as a passionate advocate for the best in New York theater and reviled as "the Butcher of Broadway" for his presumed destructive power over the commercial fate of Broadway shows. Hot Seat is Rich's definitive chronicle of his long run--an encyclopedic anthology of more than three hundred of his best reviews and essays, interspersed with further thoughts, entirely new to this volume, about his adventures on the aisle at the tumultuous time when Broadway was decimated by AIDS and colonized by the British musical.
Rich's opening-night accounts of an era's biggest hits (from The Phantom of the Opera to Six Degrees of Separation) and most notorious bombs (from Moose Murders to Carrie) are here, as are his year-by-year reflections on major careers both established (Stephen Sondheim, Peter Brook, Jessica Tandy) and new (August Wilson, Kevin Kline, Caryl Churchill).
Here as well are Rich's final words on his sparring matches with Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Hare, among others, and his retrospective lists of which plays and performances he admired most and least--as well as lists of the productions he feels he over--and underrated the first time around.
From the tragic opening night of David Merrick's 42nd Street to the unprecedented triumph of Tony Kushner's Angels in America, Hot Seat captures what was in every way a dramatic chapter in cultural history, as told and lived by a journalist with the best seat and sharpest eye in the house.
Customer Reviews:
don't have to be a chicken...........2004-11-19
I am so tired of the cliché response to critics those who can't do, blah blah blah. As if it constituted some sort of argument. Here's another cliché saying for you: You don't have to be a chicken to smell a rotten egg.
As to the example of Rich's venality, let's walk through the argument:
1) Rich writes a somewhat favorable review in which he discusses things he think would make it a better play.
2) The producers make those changes.
3) Rich thinks it's a better play.
What a monster!
Also, I love the hypocrisy of "mindless drones." Don't read reviews to figure out what to think...unless of course it's my review of Rich's book. Talk about mindless.
Rich is a fine writer with true insights and provocative opinions. You don't like them? Fine.
Let's Not Forget.......2003-08-23
While Rich's book may be a somewhat useful book of reviews he created for the New York Times, it must be remembered how he nearly ruined Broadway by writing hostile reviews of shows written by creative people he didn't like and glowing reviews for his personal favorites. He and his soon to be wife (Alex Witchel) who wrote the Friday Broadway column in times gave new meaning to the words "conflict of interest" and nearly destroyed Broadway in the process.
those were the days.......2001-11-22
i miss frank rich's reviews so much. they were brilliant and insightful and funny. i loved re-reading them in this book. i love you frank!
A rich and vibrant account of Frank Rich's Broadway........1999-08-29
What better way to view 10+ years on Broadway than through the eyes of a theatre critic? The so-called "Butcher of Broadway" has collected a large number of his reviews in this volume, and it is a must-read for anyone who remembers the theatre of the 1980s, or wants to experience it for the first time. Rich's reviews are insightful, well-written, and succeed very often at drawing you into the shows, and making you feel like you are part of the audience. The addition of editorial comments, from a modern day perspective, helps put some of the events his reviews and articles detail into an even greater context. Whether you agree with everything Mr. Rich says or not, there are few better windows into the twelve or so years of New York theatre while he was the theatre critic for The New York Times.
Almost as exciting as being there........1998-11-07
This is one of the best purchases I've made in a long while. I sat up way past my bedtime pouring over this wonderful book. Frank Rich became the NY Times Theatre Critic shortly after I began making annual pilgrimages to NYC and staying abreast of what was happening both on and off-Broadway. Consequently, almost every show I've seen over the years is reviewed somewhere in this book. And how wonderful it is to re-visit some of those cherished experiences through his eye! Reading Rich's reviews of "Dreamgirls", "Amadeus", and "Angels in America" again gave me chills. His reviews of "Moose Murders" and "Carrie" had me laughing out loud. And his review of the 3,389th performance of "A Chorus Line" left me in tears. But more than just these isolated moments, the book as a whole provides a rich, varied overview of the commercial theatre during the last decade and a half, obviously written by a man who loved his job and knew what he was talking about. It's a must!
Customer Reviews:
EXCELLENT.......2006-11-07
I reccommend all tourist to NY have this book so not to miss all the great historical sites clearly provided in the book!
mob trip.......2004-09-10
I didn't read this book until i was in new york, and i spend the whole morning druising around manhattan with it in hand.
it's funnier than other stuff henry has done- much lighter, but a great read nonetheless.
Funny, cool and nicely done!.......2004-08-04
I loved this book.
It's really easy to read, nicely researched and great fun.
Recommended...
Pathetic.......2004-06-22
As the other reviewers point out, this is another shameless attempt by Henry Hill to profit from the hard work of others, namely Martin Scorsese, Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro, and Joe Pesci. Any one with a minimal knowledge of organized crime could have written this book. Henry Hill makes the following insightful comments, "New York has four seasons and five crime families." "The worst trip to NYC is if you don't come back (alive)." "If you mispronounce Houston Street, you'll get whacked." Oh yes, Mr. Hill, the SoHo and Village residents will definitely kill when a tourist thrusts such a heinous indignity upon them. Complementing stories that aren't even up to New York Post standards are quite possibly the worst photographs I have ever seen. Photographs include the following: nightclubs at 10am with the shutters closed, an abandoned factor that could be anywhere in the US, a chain link fence at the end of a road, and surveillance shots of fatuously inflated lowlifes hanging around a junkyard. The unfortunate thing about this book is that it could be good. A serious book about the mob by one of its members could very possibly give insight to the rest of us. This is not that book. In Hill speak, other mobsters should have him `whacked' for embarrassing them since readers may assume the average mob mind is as weak as his.
HENRY HILL LIKES TO TELL STORIES.......2004-06-20
This book contains some interesting stuff but most of it is recycled from wiseguy and the wiseguy cookbook. In addition to being extremely fluffy some of the stuff he says is flat out wrong. He says that Vito Genovese somehow posthumously blew the door off of Frank Costellos crypt. Genovese died in 1969 and Costello died in 1973. Most crackheads can see the problem with this little tidbit. Save your money and read it at the store, it should only take about 15 minutes. By the way, I made the oven penitentiary sauce from his cookbook and it sucked.
Book Description
You know the name -- you've heard of the people -- and now the doors to Elaine's, New York City's famed night spot, are finally open. And no one, not even Elaine herself, is standing guard at the door.
Elaine Kaufman's creation certainly came from humble beginnings. Forty years ago the now legendary restaurant on Eighty-eighth Street and Second Avenue was deemed too far uptown for anyone of importance to frequent. It was there that Elaine served, catered to, and nursed young starving writers and artists of the day.
As these customers grew and matured into Woody Allen and Norman Mailer, Andy Warhol and Jack Nicholson, Elaine's grew with them. By the time these artists were deemed legends, well, Elaine's had already become legendary.
A. E. Hotchner was there at the beginning, is still there today, and has a table reserved for tomorrow. There is no better person than "Hotch" to tell the story of Elaine's. He was there for every bit of it.
They're all inside: Jackie O., Truman Capote, Frank Sinatra, Liz Smith, Joan Rivers, Lauren Bacall, Judy and Liza. The stories are all here. The night Jackie came to dance. The night Sinatra snubbed The Godfather author, Mario Puzo. When Sinatra's ex-wife, Mia Farrow, asked Michael Caine to introduce her to Woody Allen. When George Steinbrenner was turned away at the door the night his Yankees beat the Mets in the Subway Series.
Everyone Comes to Elaine's is more than a story about New York City. It's more than a story of celebrities. This is the story of a "family" with a domineering mother who will stop at nothing to protect those dearest to her. This is an American saga.
Elaine's is a microcosm of the people and events of the last forty years, from the sixties, when Beatles and Stones held forth there, to the start of the twenty-first century, when painful wakes were held for the regulars who perished on September 11. Just as Gertrude Stein presided over her salon in Paris in the twenties, Elaine now presides over hers.
So pull up a seat. You're invited. Everyone comes to Elaine's. Enjoy!
Average customer rating:
- years ahead of time
- Excellent Collection of Contemporary Themes
- Wow
- astonishing, powerful, truthful, real
- CONFUSION ON BLASTOFF STREET
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Life Is Hot in Cracktown
Giovinazzi
Manufacturer: Thunder's Mouth Press
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Poetry and Purgatory
ASIN: 1560250542 |
Customer Reviews:
years ahead of time.......2005-05-06
1993 and the city doesn't really want to know they're in the peak of a crack epedemic. Giovinazzo tells it all with all the "in your face" brutality and dirt that New York wanted to keep confined to the Port Authority Buiding and 42nd st. before it turned to Disneyland. You know what? It's all still there, just spread around more. Disturbing and straight from the hip,but it wasn't till years past that those very images have come to permeate our music ,literature, art and films. Take a ride on the crack train and while you're at it check out BG's outstanding film work like No Way Home with Tim Roth. A local guy who is a Euro cult star and fabulous drummer as well as director. I need another hit of Buddy G
Excellent Collection of Contemporary Themes.......2005-01-17
I was first interested in "Life is Hot in Cracktown" after hearing it was the new sequel if you will to Selby's "Last Exit to Brooklyn." While Last Exit is a classic, this book is fast-paced, contemporary, and ambitious. This string of distantly realted stories exemplifies the horror the criminal underworld and idolizes the good people caught the system. Some characters are good, some are bad unlike Selby's books in which all are truly wicked. I suggest you read this. Throughout the reading, you will feel a sense of hope pervading the most horrible of situation. Good look and enjoy.
Wow.......2003-03-09
Well, these vignettes are eerie, well written, and intense! He has a way of keeping you reading! Giovanazzo's other books are similar...and just as well written.
astonishing, powerful, truthful, real.......2002-08-04
Giovanazzo has trained his magnificent eye on the lives of some of New York's trash heap. The prose style is clean and unpretentious, and the portraits are sometimes touching, sometimes horrifying, but always real.
CONFUSION ON BLASTOFF STREET.......2002-06-17
This book will make you think, and feel. Its characters are complex people. But what makes their lives so tragic is their direct or indirect involvement with the homogenizing grind of crack addiction. As this currency and the pursuit of it control varying, but always overwelming amounts of the characters' time and energy, we see them stripped of all human traits except pain. And this, in action and ideation, is the sad fate of the addict. Superb, truthful book.
Average customer rating:
- Not Hot Enough!
- Don't waste your money
- Not Hot, But Lukewarm!
- The First of Many
- Great Book
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Hot Ice (Random House Large Print)
Nora Roberts
Manufacturer: Random House Large Print
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0375431675
Release Date: 2002-07-30 |
Book Description
Whitney Macallister. reckless and beautiful, she posses all the wealth and beauty every yeoman dreams of. Douglas Lord. His good looks and street smarts have made him a success at his chosen profession-larceny. She has the cash and the connections. He has the stolen documents leading to a fabulous hidden fortune. It is a business proposition, pure and simple. But the race to finds the treasure, from Manhattan to Madagascar, is only part of the game. For their fierce and dangerous attraction to each other soon threatens to overwhelm them--unless their merciless and shadowy rivals kill them first.
From the Paperback edition.
Customer Reviews:
Not Hot Enough!.......2006-01-28
I think Nora has spoiled me with her more recent writings. "Hot Ice" is an early attempt at suspense and romance, however, it was fairly boring throughout the story when ice cream heiress Whitney MacAllister and professional thief, Douglas Lord meet up. Their travels to find the hidden treasure dating back to the French Revolution and Marie Antoinette take them all the way to Madagascar. I think if Nora had written this story today, it would have been a real cliffhanger because the basic storyline is a good one. There were times during the story that I was actually "hooked" however, those moments were not long enough for this novel to be considered one of her success stories. Whitney is a spoiled rich girl and Doug is the typical good looking, strong, smart and very slick thief in her life. Toward the end of the book, things do get interesting when master mind villain, Dimitri and his bad boys come face to face with our hero and heroine and a long chase through New York, DC, and onto the jungles of Madagascar finally culminates. I enjoyed watching both main characters grow to a certain point by the end of their journey, however, the current sparks that Nora can grab from her audience with her outstanding writing is not in this novel.
Don't waste your money.......2005-07-01
I usually enjoy reading Nora Roberts books when I want a light hearted romantic change of pace. However, I found it difficult to get through this book. I felt like I had to force myself to keep reading. It was a bit too drawn out and even boring in parts. There was a great deal of suspense at times, but in between it lacked the page turning quality that I would have liked.
I noticed that the book was written in 1987 which explains some of it. This had to have been one of her earlier works and certain aspects of the story would never be an option now. For instance, Whitney uses credit cards everywhere to pay for things. In todays day and age we all know that leaving a paper trail when you are trying to elude a powerful enemy is asking for trouble. Other parts, just show their age.
I am sorry to say that this may be the first one of her books that I did not enjoy as much as I had hoped for. It's not even worth checking out from the library. Skip this one. There are plenty of others by this author that are far better.
Not Hot, But Lukewarm!.......2005-05-05
HOT ICE is an interesting tale about a wealthy woman and a first rate thief. Nora Roberts likes to use this premise and has used it in several of her books. However, each has different entwined subplots that make them each unique. She does use a few of the same guidelines:
1. The woman is beautiful and usually wealthy.
2. The thief (usually male) is always gorgeous and street savvy.
I personally am waiting for her to write about a really homely thief and a poor woman; now that would be an interesting concept, right? Ok, so maybe that's why I'm not a published author and Nora Roberts is one of the best!
One of the variances in HOT ICE from her other books is that the race to find treasure begins in Manhattan and ends in Madagascar. The usual trials and tribulations occur: passion trying to be denied, a rival enemy hot on their tails, etc. HOT ICE is more along the lines of pure romance with a little mystery thrown in for balance. In my opinion, Roberts's better efforts have more mystery and less romance, as she's excellent at setting the stage for suspense.
HOT ICE is a good story, but not fantastic. I wouldn't label it a "stop light book" as is my term for a book that is absolutely impossible to put down, so much so that you read a few lines while waiting at a red light in your car! I would much rather recommend MONTANA SKY, SANCTUARY, THE REEF or another more recent Roberts novel. However, if you've already read these and wish to fill some time, this would be the book for you!
The First of Many.......2004-11-08
The first book I've read by Nora Roberts, Hot Ice surely has sold me on this talented author- understandably, a best seller. Through fast paced story telling, multi-dimensional characters and exceptionally detailed settings, Ms. Roberts weaves a tale of adventure, romance and suspense. If you're looking to get swept away into a real page turner, I highly recommend this entertaining, well written book.
Great Book.......2004-07-11
At first I was reluctant to read this book, since I usually don't like books where there is a lot of suspense, and where there is killing, but since it was by Nora Roberts, I decided to give it a chance. I LOVED it. The way she wrote it made you fall in love with the characters. It is impossible to put down once you start, and truly keeps you on the edge of your seat. One of her best books.
Book Description
I’d had two murders since last spring, solved them both. The first one was prime and it got a lotta attention in the fish wrappers, so I had a bunch of clients for awhile. Just cause people saw my name in the paper they figured I was the best (which I might be). Not bad for a twenty-six-year-old gal from Newark, New Jersey.
It’s the middle of World War II, but not all the killing is happening overseas. In a sweltering New York City summer, scrappy steno-turned-sleuth Faye Quick–kicked upstairs when her boss ships out–takes on a new case that would make even the most experienced P.I. sweat bullets.
It all starts with a beautiful woman. Heartbroken Claire Turner turns on the waterworks in Faye’s office, begging for help in finding her beau, Private Charlie Ladd, gone missing while on leave from Uncle Sam’s army. But when Faye busts into Charlie’s hotel room, she doesn’t find anyone–anyone alive, that is.
But where’s Charlie? Because the corpse in the hotel room might not be him. And that leads Faye to wonder if the unfortunate stiff was Charlie’s target practice.
In a case with more twists, starts, and stops than the Third Avenue El, Faye learns that some shocking truths are hidden behind the fog of war–a personal war being fought on the home front.
Brimming over with big band music, hairdos in snoods, and unfiltered smokes–the same irresistible 1940s detail that made This Dame for Hire such a treat–the second adventure of indefatigable Faye solidifies her status as one of Sandra Scoppettone’s most appealing characters. Too Darn Hot is sizzling fun readers are sure to make Quick work of.
Customer Reviews:
Hollywoodized hard-boiled PI story.......2007-06-30
This is a home front story set in the New York of 1943. Back in 1940, Faye Quick had been hired as a secretary for a one-man PI agency. Now, while her boss is in uniform, Faye is keeping the business going. It's the era of the hard-boiled detective and Faye, to her own surprise as much as anybody's, fits in just fine.
Refreshingly, and quite unlike two books on which I've commented recently, author Sandra Scoppettone creates a convincing mid-War New York. But the New York she creates is not, I think, the one that actually existed on the Hudson River. No, her New York is the one that appeared in glorious black-and-white in double features on the screens of neighborhood Bijous, Rialtos and Roxies right across the continent.
Imagine PI Faye Quick as a young Joan Blondell. Here is the way she speaks:
"Yeah, it was hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk. I never could understand why people said that. Did somebody fry one then eat it? Who'd wanna eat a fried egg from the sidewalk? Especially in a city like New York. Maybe I'd try it. Not the eating part, the frying. But then people would think I was more a screwball than they did already....
"I'd had two murders since last spring, solved them both. The first one was prime and it got a lotta attention in the fish wrapper, so I had a bunch of clients for a while. Just cause people saw my name in the paper they figured I was the best (which I might be) and they hired me for everything from finding a dog to solving another murder. Not bad for a twenty-six-year-old gal from Newark, New Jersey."
Faye's words may or may not reflect the speech patterns of New York's Forty-third Street between Seventh and Eighth--her office address--but they are absolutely, authentically pure examples of the brassy, RKO B-picture, big city, tough girl, sub-dialect of the American language. That is the way Blondell talked, the young Lucille Ball, too, and even Ginger Rogers (before Astaire polished off her rough edges.) I love it all.
I think Scoppettone loves it and Hollywood, too. In fact, I suspect that she wrote this book with a big grin on her face. How could she not, considering the names she chose for her characters? Here is a partial list: Arden, Cagney, Collier, Cooper, Cummings, Davis, Duff, Duryea, Glenn, Grahame, Jory, Kilbride, Ladd, Lake, Lupino, Mostel, Powell, Ritter, Ryan, Sidney, Stanwyck, Swanson, Turner and Widmark. If those names mean nothing to you, then rush to your TV set, strap yourself in, and hunker down for a month of remedial study with the Turner Classic Movies--or at the very least, wear a hair shirt during your next visit to your local video store.
The mystery of this book, such as it is, is straightforward and pitched appropriately at the level to be found in the B-movies of the period. The sly Scoppettone (perhaps with a twisted little grin) is fully aware that we in our time are a little more sensitized to some things than Faye Quick might have been in 1943, so we readers are led to draw certain conclusions before Faye does. Part of the amusement of the book arises from wondering when and how she'll catch up.
This is a breezy, brassy book that honorably upholds the traditions of its models from the 1940s. It is true to itself and successful on its own terms. That justifies five stars as far as I am concerned.
a fun read.......2007-02-01
i really enjoyed the 2 books (so far) in this series. filled with atmosphere and quirky 40's speak, they are a pure joy to read and faye is a most likable main character. the mystery itself is a little week, but that's okay. there's so much else here to enjoy.
Funny and True to the Era.......2006-08-29
I read this in one sitting. I laughed out loud. The NYC setting in war time was perfect. And the mystery had me going. I read a lot of mysteries and I kept thinking I had it figured out and then there'd be a twist. I can't wait for the next one in the series.
"TOO DARN HOT" by Sandra Scoppettone.......2006-08-28
I was initially drawn to "Too Darn Hot" by an interest in World War II and its New York setting. While the historical setting plays a prominent role, it is Faye Quick who will capture your imagination. A private eye with a keen eye understanding of the human condition, and a jaded urban sense of humor, she is a natural at her proffession. Just as all "naturals" must, she works hard to perfect and hone her trade. It is extremely clear that without the war transporting men overseas, Faye may have never gotten her shot to move from secretary to private eye. A young twenty-six, Faye is able to navigate the demanding and at times unaccepting waters of the male dominated NYPD. (Law enforcement officers were exempt from military service) Faye has a maturity beyond her years. There is a freshness to her youth, however, as she attempts to sort out her relationship with both her family and a love interest who is uncomfortable with her profession. While completely at ease in her private eye role, her youth is apparent when her insecurity is on display during her first venture to the 21 Club. The dialogue accompanied by her inner thoughts are extremely funny, and maintains the pace of the book.
If your trying to quit smoking, this may be a rough read. Its the price of historical accuracy.
Love this series!.......2006-07-07
Faye Quick from This Dame for Hire returns in a sizzling noir mystery set in World War II-era New York City, where women are taking over jobs for the men at the front. Faye has taken on running a PI firm and is developing a real reputation as a tough, smart broad.
Faye is hired by Claire Turner, a pretty young woman, to find her missing soldier boyfriend, Charlie Ladd. Faye discovers a body in Charlie Ladd's hotel room when she starts to track him down, and after some investigation, she finds out the body is not Charlie, but his buddy David Cooper.
Claire's estranged sister Lucille claims that she was raped by Charlie and had a baby that she gave up for adoption. Charlie's rich parents rush down from Rhode Island when they hear from Faye that Claire got a phone call from some thugs claiming that they have kidnapped Charlie, and Claire needs to deliver the money. The hot summer weather heats events to the boiling point: Dolores, Faye's nosy neighbor, is shot; the body of a young woman is found behind a fancy sweet shop; and Lucille, Claire's sister, vanishes.
Armchair Interview says: Too Darn Hot is perfect for those scorching summer days at the beach; and Faye is the perfect hot private investigator. There are twists and turns galore, and incredible and quirky characters inhabit Faye's New York City.
Book Description
In a nation distinguished by a great black athletic heritage, there is perhaps no sport that has felt the impact of African American culture more than basketball. Most people assume that the rise of black basketball was a fortuitous accident of the inner-city playgrounds. In 'Hot Potato,' Bob Kuska shows that it was in fact a consciously organized movement with very specific goals.
When Edwin Henderson introduced the game to Washington, D.C., in 1907, he envisioned basketball not as an end in itself but as a public-health and civil-rights tool. Henderson believed that, by organizing black athletics, including basketball, it would be possible to send more outstanding black student athletes to excel at northern white colleges and debunk negative stereotypes of the race. He reasoned that in sports, unlike politics and business, the black race would get a fair chance to succeed. Henderson chose basketball as his marquee sport, and he soon found that the game was a big hit on Washington's segregated U Street. Almost simultaneously, black basketball was catching on quickly in New York, and the book establishes that these two cities served as the birthplace of the black game.
'Hot Potato' chronicles the many successes and failures of the early years of black amateur basketball. It also recounts the emergence of black college basketball in America, documenting the origins of the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association, or CIAA, which would become the Big Ten of black collegiate sports.
The book also details for the first time the rise of black professional basketball in America, with a particular emphasis on the New York Renaissance, a team considered by experts to be as important in the development of black basketball as the Harlem Globetrotters. Kuska recounts the Renaissance's first victory over the white world champion Original Celtics in 1925, and he evaluates the significance of this win in advancing equality in American sports. By the late 1920s, the Renaissance became one of the sport's top draws in white and black America alike, setting the stage for the team's undisputed world championship in 1939. As Edwin Henderson had hoped -- and as any fan of the modern-day game can tell you -- the triumphs certainly did not end there.
Customer Reviews:
A Landmark Work .......2006-07-03
There aren't enough adjectives to describe this important work on an oftentimes overlooked part of U.S. history/sports.
Bob Kuska takes the reader on an exploration of the development of black athletics at the turn of the last century, with his focus surrounding basketball teams and leagues in New York City and Washington, D.C.
The chapters are in chronological order by year and highlights the important personalities, teams and events in the two cities and throughout the country - from youth leagues to the colleges and beyond.
I am particularly impressed with Kuska's acknowledgement of many individuals that time had seemingly forgotten. The ten years of research he did certainly accomplished his goal of giving the reader a complete understanding of the era.
To set a clear path to the future, our society must have an appreciation of the rough paths taken by those who confronted the hideous Jim Crow laws and other forms of racisim & truly learn from the past.
America's game was changed forever, but not just on the hardwood floors. These heroes knocked down barriers and opened the door for others to pursue their dreams, no matter what the odds.
A truly outstanding sports history.......2004-07-16
When one Edwin Henderson, a Harvard-educated African American physical education teacher - was introduced to basketball in Washington DC in 1907, he envisioned it as a method of organizing black athletes to allow them to excel at northern while colleges. In sports, he reasoned, blacks would get a fair chance to succeed. Hot Potato details the birth and rise of black amateur basketball in America, examines college basketball and the origins of the CIAA, and surveys the rise of black professional athletes. A truly outstanding sports history evolves.
Excellent summary of an important era in basketball history!.......2004-07-10
Kuska has given us some details to back up the legends of black basketball stars from the first half of the 20th century. Many of the individual names are known and the New York Renaissance team has been heard of by real basketball fans. This book gives us some details and further understanding of what the individuals went through and what modern basketball owes to them. A GREAT READ!! Hope to hear more from this fine writer and sports historian.
Name Correction.......2004-07-09
I am the granddaughter of Samuel Buck Covington. I'd just like to point out in the editorial by John Grasso, from Guilford, NY, that my grandfather, Samuel Buck Covington was mistakenly referenced as "Cunningham". Samuel Buck Covington was an outstanding athlelete and pillar of the Washington Metropolitan community. He was honored to be part of the writing of this wonderful book and the naming of the title "Hot Potato". Growing up he told countless stories of what it was like breaking barriers and playing semi-professional basketball for the Washington Bruins against teams such as the Harlem Globtrotters. This is a wonderful tribute to those who came through during this time who had gone unnoticed. I am proud to say he was my grandfather. Unfortunately, he did not live to see the final product of this book. Samuel Buck Covington died in September,1998 . . . Cheryl Moore
Great book on Basketball History.......2004-03-30
Seldom does a basketball historian find a book on basketball in which more than 75% of the material is new to him. Bob Kuska's new book - Hot Potato: How Washington and New York
Gave Birth to Black Basketball and Changed America's Game Forever is such a book.
It is a chronicle of the earliest days of Black basketball in the two cities where its impact was greatest and covers the period 1905 through the 1930s. There have only been a handful of
books written on basketball history of this period and none of them devote more than a few pages to Black teams.
More than a decade of research went into this work which includes a detailed reference section and twelve pages of photos.
The story begins with Edwin Henderson, the first major contributor to Black basketball and concludes with the New York Renaissance - the Hall of Fame team of the 1930s. Both amateur and pro basketball are covered.
Along the way the basketball exploits of such legendary figures as Paul Robeson and Cumberland Posey are detailed along with Fat (not Fats) Jenkins, Pop Gates, George Fiall, Bob Douglas and many others.
The intriguing title came about as a result of an discussion with Sam "Buck" Cunningham, one of the players interviewed during the research for the book. "The players today are much better than we were - ... but there is one thing that we could do better. We could pass the ball better than they can now.
Man, we used to pass that basketball around like it was a hot potato."
This is definitely a must addition to the library of a basketball historian. Thank you very much, Bob."
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The New York Times has long been acknowledged as America's newspaper of record because of the complete and authoritative way it chronicles events on a day-to-day basis. Its business coverage has proven no exception, and in The New York Times Management Reader, editors Brent Bowers and Deidre Leipziger of the newspaper's "Business Day" section assemble more than 65 highly illuminating and perceptive stories published over the past few years to show precisely how some of today's most cutting-edge companies are tackling the top issues. Following chapter introductions by David Leonhardt that highlight common themes--managing entrepreneurially, recruiting and retaining successfully, thriving after mergers and acquisitions, surviving when things go wrong--the original Times stories are presented (with updates at the end, when necessary) to put things into an even more useful perspective. There are articles on leadership succession at S.C. Johnson, the Martha Graham Dance Company, and TV's Nickelodeon, for example, and tales of movement from old economy thinking to new at places such as Bertelsmann, Hughes Electronics, and Harvard Business School. And while most examine the way the business world's Goliaths have reacted to 21st-century challenges, a few focus on interesting Davids, such as the independent California coffee shop that stared down a Starbucks in its neighborhood. The varied content and the way it has been grouped according to theme might just make these stories even more pertinent and instructive than when they first appeared. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
From outstanding companies and news-making business leaders -- smart, concise, practical strategies for managers.
How do innovative managers actually motivate employees, beat the competition, and keep up with the new economy? In more than fifty lively, incisive profiles, New York Times reporters take readers inside companies like Citigroup, visit Harvard Business School, and interview Carly Fiorina and other prominent figures to uncover the essence of effective leadership.
Organized around such vital business issues as bringing together two corporate cultures, retaining a top-notch workforce, and exploiting new technologies, these real-world stories illuminate the theory and practice of good management.
What gets employees to stay when headhunters call -- offers of better compensation or bosses who are invested in employee job satisfaction? What's the best way to build teamwork -- in off-site training programs or in the office, where power struggles and other problems arise? Each case presents the objective and comprehensive review of the facts that readers expect from The New York Times and provides timely, knowledgeable answers to questions managers face now.
Customer Reviews:
Information, Analysis, and Entertainment.......2001-08-21
Bowers and Leipziger have assembled and edited one of the most valuable collections of essays now available in which various authors examine what the subtitle correctly suggests are the "hot ideas and best practices from the world of business" during the past two years. The material is carefully organized within ten sections which range from "The Real World: When Theory Meets Practice" to "Visiting Olympus: The Corporate Legends." In the Foreword, Harold J. Leavitt suggests that there are at least three reasons why this volume can be helpful: "These verbal snapshots, taken together, provide a panoramic view of the actual organizational world circa 2000"; "In this era of volatility and impermanence, of mergers and takeovers and of wild markets, these readings remind us of a reality too easily forgotten: that much of organizational management has not changed"; and finally, the various essays "spotlight something far more than this year's managerial beats and beauties, and more than the unchanging, deep heart-beats of organizations. They catch the new, new thing: the speed, turbulence and instability that have sharply and permanently differentiated the new organizational surround from all its predecessors." In effect, what we have here is a "yearbook" which correlates the past with the present while suggesting what an uncertain future could prove to be.
It remains for each reader to determine which of the sections and which of the individual essays (to which David Leonhardt has written crisp and insightful introductions) are of greatest interest and value. I hasten to add that, as a reader's needs and interests change, there will be what Adrian Slywotsky calls a "value migration." Hence the importance of determining which essays are grouped within each section. (I wish the editors had listed them in the "Contents" section.) At the moment, the sections which interest me most are "Moving with the Times: Old Economy Meets New" (#3), "The Talent Squeeze: Recruiting and Retaining Employees" (#6), and "9-1-1: When Things Go Wrong" (#9). I also enjoyed "Visiting Olympus" (#10) which features brief but rigorous discussions of "corporate legends" such as Warren E. Buffett, David Merrick, Tom Landry, Bill Gates, and Peter F. Drucker, followed by a lengthier discussion of Sanford I. Weil. Julie Flaherty provides an appropriate Afterword in which she briefly compares and contrasts certain business principles (and cultural values) in the 19th and 20th centuries. Great stuff.
In the Foreword, Leavitt says this about the material in this volume: "No ribbons and bows here, no airbrushed warts and scars, just sharp, clear pictures of the new whirling managerial world, a world that will surely be whirling even faster by the time new M.B.A.s are ready to jump aboard a year or two from now." As we proceed into a new century, change may well be the only constant and yet....and yet, as various authors represented in this volume suggest, certain "hot ideas and best practices" have been essential to commerce throughout human history. Plus ça change....
Of all the business books I have read within the past year, this is one of the very few which is as entertaining as it is informative. If a higher rating were possible, I would give it.
Book Description
Su Doku makes every day just a little more fun. You don't need to be a mathematical genius to solve these puzzles; it is simply a question of logic and a little patience.
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- Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach (with Economic Applications Online, Econometrics Data Sets with Solutions Manual Web Site Printed Access Card)
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- Keys to Drawing with Imagination: Strategies and Exercises for Gaining Confidence and Enhancing Your Creativity
- LC/MS: A Practical User's Guide
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- Lovell and Winter's Pediatric Orthopaedics (2-Volume Set)
- Man and His Symbols
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