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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not much new...and hideous sportwriter prose,
By fechter@email.com (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Summer of '98 (Hardcover)
You should read this book if you fall into one of the following categories:1. You can't remember what happened last baseball season (perhaps the most memorable season of our generation); 2. You remember what happened but you don't mind reading about it for the zillionth time; 3. You want to know which of Mike Lupica's kids is the "nester"; 4. You crave more turgid sports writing, with its transparent efforts to create dramatic effect by using endless clipped sentences and paragraphs. Lupica is a master of this style. Why write a whole sentence when you can break it into two fragments? Or three fragments? Better yet, you can really enhance the drama of a sentence fragment. By making it a paragraph. The following are examples of "sentences" written by Lupica: "With the game." "And memories of Kerry Wood." "Then Jeff Bagwell." "And the Cubs right fielder, Sammy Sosa." "Yet." "Even in Grand Prarie, Texas." All of these are found on just two pages. Page 39. And page 40. And the last four examples were entire paragraphs! To be fair, Lupica does throw in some behind-the-scenes material, including conversations with: the scout who discovered Sammy Sosa, the best friend of Roger Maris, the high school coach of Kerry Wood, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Bobby Thomson, Daryl Strawberry, Cal Ripken, Derek Jeter. Even these are mostly predictable, though. The scout remembers Sammy as a ragamuffin in old spikes. Roger didn't like to talk much about his 61 homers. Kerry struck out a lot of guys in high school. And so on. Still, these little vignettes, wedged between the bad writing and the stories about Lupica's precocious kids and fabulous wife (who smiles, shakes her head, and sighs...'oh, those boys!'...as Mike and the kids sit glued to the tube watching yet another game) at least make the book tolerable. Plus it's a pretty quick read and the 1998 season was a great story. Just don't expect much insight, and put on some hip boots to wade through the Lupica prose.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Fan Returns,
This review is from: Summer of '98 (Hardcover)
Like many baseball junkies, I ended my long obsession (25 years of attending 30+ games) during the 94 strike, not watching or caring about the game for a couple of years. Gradually my interest returned and I started making trips back to the Oakland Coliseum to see my A's, primarily when a big draw like the Yankees came into town. Luckily, I had been able to closely follow McGwire's career from the start when he hit 49 dingers his first year. It seemed like everytime I'd go to a game, he'd hit one out for the small crowd of only 10,000 or so. Sadly, the inevitable happened and he left in 97. Our loss became St.Louis's and the rest of America's gain. The 98 summer was also marked (no pun intended) for me by the birth of our first son in July. Ironically, I was born in 61, the year of Maris. I really feel a connection to Maris, McGwire and Sosa and am so happy that all of this incredible baseball has been so beautifully recapped and chronicled by the great Mike Lupica. This book is very moving also because it's about fathers and sons and the very special bond brought by this greatest of games. In fact, I am in the process of buying a hardcover copy to be given to my son on his 10th birthday. Summer of 98 is a definite winner for any baseball fan!
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Big Disappointment. Really. I thought so.,
By Mr. Brad Bauer (Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Summer of '98 (Hardcover)
I bought this book only because I love baseball and only because it was [inexpensive]. My uncle is also mentioned in the book, so I thought Id give it a try. I assume Mr. Lupica is a sportswriter, but I wish he would stick to his day job. This book is an abomination. Lupica thinks by writing constant incomplete sentences that it adds emphasis to his sentences. Sure, this works for a while, but when there is one in every paragraph, it gets old. Fast. Real Fast. Example. Here for you. The Reader. Of my review: I mean, how does this drivel slip past the editor? I found myself skimming this book instead of reading it. Lupica repeats OVER AND OVER the phrase, "magical season," to the point where it's just not so magical anymore. When authors include their real life experiences, I like to hear how everyone really sounded. Lupica's 8-year old child just does not speak like this. I'm sorry. Ugh, I regret spending [money] on this and am sad that someone I know was mentioned. In it. Blegh
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