Brig Berthold

How do you review this book? The writing was inspiring. The depth of thought and analysis of culture was almost devastating. His cynicism was refreshing and beguiling. I loved it but I acknowledge how dangerous this book could be. Not danger in the “harmful” sense but danger in the “shatter the illusion” sense. I had no expectations. Now, I'm reeling. I'm afraid to give it five stars but I want to. I'm not sure I could adequately back it up. This was odd, important, and I'm glad I had this experience.

Meh.

Way too much extraneous detail. Lots of padding. There is anlot to recommend this story but I'm afraid much of it was lost in the quagmire of “mostly uninteresting and irrelevant.”

Despite being a bit of a departure from the entire series (specifically the switch into first person POV) I really enjoyed this installment. Gentry doesn't follow much of his traditional MO and that was actually interesting.

But, mark my words, Court Gentry will die before the last word of the final book in this series. I felt like this book is the beginning of the end and the subtle details from this story will appear voluminous in retrospect. I won't spoil anything by giving away details but I want it on record.

Well this is brain candy. And I'm not sure I was ever “hooked” or invested in the tale. I'm pretty disappointed in that. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, necessarily. It just didn't live up to the hype.

Brain candy. Nothing wrong with that.

I have loved everything Gladwell does. I find his logic the most fascinating experience. Somehow, he gives you a glimpse into the subject matter but also into the way he thinks and processes information. All of which is held together by incredible writing. Visceral. Immersive. Cerebral. Academic.

I didn't love this experience and I'm still trying to decide why. I didn't hate it, and for those who've read this book the reasons for that should be apparent. Perhaps it was the narrator. Perhaps it was me. I'm willing to be wrong.

Wow. I loved this book! The sheer expansion of the storyline, it's actually telescopic as it moves from this jarringly narrow focus to literal apocalypse. So, so awesome.

Thanks for the recommendation, Marci!

Damn this book was good.

At least one part of this book needs to be a film.

What an incredible life. What an interesting character study. What an awesome experience listening to Teddy read it himself.

It took me a short moment to get into this. But once I settled in, and started vibing with Marty's style, it was smooth as silk.

The book is seasoned with nuggets of wisdom on the single-serving stories contained within. I love long and short-form journalism. I love memoir. I love self-development. And I love sports. All of which you'll get out of this book.

Thanks, Marty. Thank you for being vulnerable, insightful an obsessed with being the most productive and accountable version of yourself.

I absolutely recommend this but it's not your typical western and that's part of what makes it valuable.

This book exploded with some of the best writing I've experienced in a long, long time. The pacing was perfect and the characters were just plain wonderful. Relentless, things stayed that way through about 75% of the book. Then, something odd happened.

The writing never slipped, it was still literary gold. But the pacing slowed just enough to throw me off. Then, around 85-90%, the pacing increased to and it felt a bit rushed. These details did not ruin the experience, by any means. It was still a sweeping epic, spanning three generations, against arguably the greatest landscape in contemporary American literature but it lost me.

Like a Cohen Brothers film, I left feeling a bit unresolved, though not in a disappointing way. More in a “well that's life” residual feeling...if that makes sense.

How the heck did it take me this long to read this?! So good. So fun. So intense. Great pace. Great characters.

Much better than I expected. Smart. Fun. Engaging.

Done!

The first half is in Gehrig's own words/voice, pulled from ghostwriter articles published at the time and some they only just discovered. The second half is more straight biography with a hefty emphasis on the ‘27 Murderer's Row club and how he fit in, contrasted with them.

You'd think that format would prove redundant but it never felt that way. Alan Gaff did a great job brining us a concise and sharp biographical account. He brings personalities to life, particularly Babe Ruth, spending enough time explaining Ruth to emphasize just how different Gehrig was.

The first half is narrated by Angelo Diloreto and Kyle Tait helms the second-half. People who know, realize that Kyle Tait is one of the best baseball audiobook narrators in the business.

This is a story collection. A River Runs Through It is only the first story. This is critical because THAT story is really good but I really couldn't get into the others.

Okay, I hated them.

The end.

Positive thinking not working?
Negative throught spirals the enemy?
Insert, Trevor and his clear, accessible, and relatable perspective on every day success.

Success is built brick-by-brick. Choices are the bricks and mindset is mortar. Laying one brick, with the correct mortar, and then the next is the key. Simple? Yes. Easy? No. Again, insert Trevor and his world-class friends dropping world-class advice bombs.

I loved this book. It's going on my immediate recommendation list for people who have goals.

Wow!

This book is fantastic. Talk about taking a complex topic and making it accessible.

This was pretty good. It lagged in parts while others are almost gripping.

Overall, this was a magical experience. I can't say enough good things about these stories. Filled with insights. The only reason I can't give this a full 5 stars is because these stories are written in dialect and it's somewhat cumbersome at times.

What a great ending. What a great experience.

This was decent. I thought the author pulled some punches in areas the story could have been exploited for an even darker narrative; though I don't fault her for that. She kept the tone at the appropriate popular fiction level and it was entertaining.

I found much of the plot predictable but that, oddly, didn't diminish how much I enjoyed it. Mostly because, as a lover of crime fiction, I was eager to see how daring the author would be about wrapping up certain details.

These are so solid. So much fun. So punchy. So ... Good.

This was totally awesome.

This was great!