If you liked The Open Man, you might also like The Breaks of the Game by the late David Halberstam. The Breaks of the Game chronicles the fortunes of the Portland Trailblazers in the late 1970's as they went from NBA champions to a middle-of-the -pack team in less than three seasons due to injuries (most notably Bill Walton), contract squabbles and a racially divided locker room.

Posted by crazystengel on 6/5/2017 11:57:00 PM (view original):
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this passage from Gibson's book:

It was an interesting dynamic to be around a celebrity like _____________. There was the time, for instance, where we were attending a party at his house and_____________ was behind the bar mixing drinks. The thing of it was that _____________ didn't drink and didn't know a thing about mixing drinks, but for the hell of it he was throwing all kinds of crap into the glasses and handing them off to the guests, most of whom were saying, "Wow, this is really great stuff!" All the while _____________ was behind the bar gagging.

Fill in the blank!

No guesses, huh? I suppose he's not very well known anymore. The answer is Bill Cosby -- the Fat Albert guy. He had a show in the '80s too, but I never watched that one. No idea what he's up to now.

I just finished Giant of the Senate (2017) by Al Franken, a memoir covering Franken's career as a senator, and what led up to it. I've read and enjoyed several of his books, but this one left me a bit cold: not as funny, not as vicious (even when mocking people like Trump and Ted Cruz, he's pretty restrained), overall too careful and even corny. Maybe when he's done in politics and doesn't have to worry about getting re-elected he'll go back to his no holds barred style of satire.

I just read E.L. Doctorow's short story "Wakefield," which the new movie starring Bryan Cranston is based on. I've read a couple of Doctorow's novels and not been very impressed, but this was a pretty good story, in the John Cheever vein, although the ending kind of stunk. Has anyone seen the movie?

Just finished the bronx is burning, (way different then the series that ESPN series)

The ESPN show featured the Yankees and the 44 caliber killer, while the book featured the yankees, the Mayor race, the black out and then very little on the 44 caliber killer.

The SEC rushed a report of the Beame's admin. handling of the Bond crisis a week before the primary. Sound familiar

Just received The Last Innocents from Amazon...it's the story of the 1960's Dodgers told against the backdrop of the significant social changes that took place in the decade...can't put it down...vm

Sounds like a good one!

Greeeeeeat thread - im loving it

I am reading Winston Churchill's History of the Second World War (I am only on volume 1).

Don't tell me how it turns out, I want to be surprised.

I've been on another Stephen King binge this year... (all read for the first time)

Started with the entire "Dark Tower" series read in order... I've only eaten lobster a few times in my 60+ years but probably won't again. Dad-a-chum?

"The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" was a pleasant surprise... I ventured off the beaten path while hiking once, and it aint no fun.

"Insomnia" was okay but not one of my favorites of King's... I did like the little bald doctors though.

Just finished "11-22-63"... it's a corker from start to finish - the ultimate What If? novel.

Re-reading "All the President's Men" and "The Final Days" by Woodward and Bernstein

For these dark times in America

For dealing with these dark times, I recently started reading It Can't Happen Here, a 1935 novel by Sinclair Lewis. There are many disturbing parallels between the fictitious "Buzz" Windrip and the all-to-real DT..vm

the thing about 1935 is, there was a clarification soon thereafter

you might say a cleansing. the tree of liberty et al

we don't have enough farmers mechanics and DIYers to man a mobile infantry

i hope them robots and drones are all they're cracked up to be

and we can shoot down ICBMs like fish in a barrel

Originally published---1705!

My Secret History (1989), autobiographical novel by travel writer Paul Theroux. There's not much of a plot, just six long chapters, barely connected, covering different stages of the narrator's life from age 15 to his forties. The first half of the book is especially good -- hilarious storytelling in a Jean Shepherd/early Philip Roth kind of way. It peters out in the second half, but I'd still recommend it.