October 08, 2003

Two (well, three) Books Worth Reading (That You've Probably Already Gotten To)

REEFER MADNESS, by Eric Schlosser. A collection of three investigative journalism essays on various aspects of America's black market -- marijuana growth and sales; cheap agricultural labor; and pornography. While this book isn't nearly as gripping and informative as Schlosser's FAST FOOD NATION (you've read that one, right?), there's plenty of fascinating reportage to keep you turning pages. The book, by its nature, is somewhat scattershot (the links between pot, cheap labor, and pornography are, well, kind of nonexistent), but definitely worth a browse. I wonder when will see the "Catch Me If You Can"-like treatment of Reuben Sturman's life on film.

MONEYBALL, by Michael Lewis. Fellow Berkeleyan Lewis goes inside the front office of the Amazin' A's, a team with a pittance to spend on players that somehow manages to make it to the playoffs year after year (during which, they make asses of themselves by losing series after having been up 2 games to 0.) This is a tale with many lessons, most of them dealing with the foolishness of conventional wisdom and how hard it can be for people to see the truth that is dangling right in front of their very eyes. Some understanding and appreciation of baseball helps.

Baseball fans who have not yet read BALL FOUR, Jim Bouton's uproarious 1970 memoir about pitching in the big leagues. Controversial because it threw light on the seamy underbelly of "America's Pastime." Funny because, well, it's funny.

Both MONEYBALL and BALL FOUR expose a certain religiosity appiled to the sport of rounders. People's relationship with the game seems to be one of faith. MONEYBALL shows how baseball people act a certain way, because, well, they've always done things that way. And when someone (like Paul DePodesta, the A's Assistant GM) questions it, they're treated like a heretic. BALL FOUR demonstrated that baseball's saints (Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams) were people, just like anyone else -- a truth that many of the devoted simply didn't want to hear.

Posted by peterme at 10:36 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Search


Travels

See Me Travel
Archives
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
Archives from June 13, 2001 to January 2003
Archives from before June 13, 2001
Recent Entries
Two (well, three) Books Worth Reading (That You've Probably Already Gotten To)
Subscribe to my feed:
Powered by
Movable Type 3.2