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Helping us face the stark truth of our past

Revisado: 05-16-22

This will be a difficult book to read, but the subject matter is so compelling, that I found myself settling in to have my worldview seriously challenged. The fact of the matter, white Christians, more than likely, are attending a mostly white churches with a multi century church tradition that teaches the parable of the Good Samaritan and the imago Dei, but fail to stand up for racial justice, and for much of our American history, we have been the perpetrators. And with our white washed church services devoid of ethnic discourse, we are still perpetrating in more subtle ways. This book helped me see that along with pages of gut wrenching violence that the church has unleashed on our black brothers and sisters. It is a wake up call, and the book points out that there are signs of change within the white Christian church. There is still hope!

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Ray Porter…Wow!

Revisado: 06-26-21

Friendship that spans light years is the heart of this book. The care and craftsmanship of this book is staggering. The attention to detail is not a burden to the listener, but allows us to develop a love and affection for these characters.

And it followed the formula, and indeed the story arc of The Martian. The ingenuity of humans to experiment and test hypotheses becomes the backbone of the narrative. As each progressive chapter is carefully painted, we are given basic instruction in physics. It is not pandering, and you will probably be familiar with many of the concepts, but the quick review that he gives does not interfere with the story, but you will be grateful for. And you will be amazed at how Andy so seamlessly works these mini tutorials into the story. In the end, he creates a character so relatable, that it brought tears to my eyes.

Ray Porter did not narrate this book. He performed it. His voice, his ability to speak with multiple accents, made this story all the more immersive. It was a masterful performance.

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Sobering yet enthralling

Revisado: 05-12-21

The book harkens back to my love of Tom Clancy novels. In Tom Clancy’s novel, Debt of Honor, the author of the novel had the audacious imagination to imagine someone flying a jumbo jet into the US Capitol. This was 7 years before 9-11. The point is, we have to have imaginations that will envision a future that is frightening and unthinkable. That is what this book does. It is about a world war where the unthinkable happens. If we can wrap our brains around what the implications of this 2034, maybe we can start making the difficult decisions now of how to avoid a global conflict with a peer-adversary like China.

I have heard much better narrators. One good narrator could have done all of the voices in this book well. But instead they employed several narrators. This did not make the story more immersive. Still. The voices grew on me, and as I became attached to the character, the narrator’s voice was part of that.

Very highly recommended!

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Can’t judge a man until you’ve walked in his shoes

Revisado: 05-16-20

I was enraptured with Bob Gibson when watching Ken Burn’s Baseball documentary, where a section was devoted to the Cardinals teams of the 60’s. Bob with his menacing pitching piqued my interest to learn more about the two time World Series Champ and HOF alum. However, one day when I was browsing autographed balls on the Official Hall of Fame website, I saw Bob’s autographed ball discounted by 25%. Autographed merchandise is rarely discounted that much. I purchased his ball and this audiobook.

It is said it is best to hear both sides of the story, and Bob eloquently and candidly explains how he suspects the became a “Stranger to the Game”. This man grew up in the dawn of the civil rights movement, and the prime of his career was sandwiched between the assassinations of JFK and MLK. He was a man who was frequently the target of unbelievable bigotry. Early in his career, he made the decision to aggressively guard the inside of the plate, while simultaneously employing a glowering demeanor on the mound that followed him off of the field. He openly admits that the anger over the racism of the day provided ample fuel for his dominant pitching. At the end of the book, he concludes that his has been estranged from the game for being a black man with an attitude.

The beginning of the book we see him growing up in the hood of Omaha with his older brother, Josh, acting as his father, coach, and mentor, and then the journey to The Show, which included a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters. Yes, Bob feels that basketball was his best natural sport, and he supplemented his income while trying to break in to MLB. The heart of the book covers his career with the St. Louis Cardinals from the early 60’s into the early 70’s. He provides overviews of many of the seasons as well as play by play of many of the important games of his careers. He gathered many quotes from teammates and opponents including Hank Aaron. Other noteworthy players include his battle with Sandy Koufax and Roberto Clemente. All the while, he provided a consistent, non-apologetic defense of his anger fueled play style and insistence on pitching inside. Both, he reasoned, were to gain an edge on the opposition in a win at all costs style of gameplay. He reasoned that if he were a white man, his style would not have been called into question, and his lifetime reputation would not be so severely and irreparably damaged.

The final part of his book details his life after baseball, which is largely bereft of baseball. This superstar of the game with Cy Young’s, Gold Gloves, and MVPs to match, had a very anemic career in baseball. And he blames that in large part to the permanently damaged reputation he garnered as a pro. Hence the title of the book, “Stranger to the game.”

This book was very enjoyable, and like all good autobiographies, I felt like I was sitting at the kitchen table talking to Bob myself. It might be tempting to conclude that Bob ultimately reaped what he sowed when baseball turned its back on him after he finished playing, but you simply cannot do that. He was a black man in a white man’s world at probably the most tumultuous time for race relations in the last 100 years. Though he downplayed it in the book, he basically feared for the life of him and his family. The trauma that inflicted cannot be overstated.

The narrator Fred Berman was absolutely excellent. His inflection was amazing. And he delivered the words with punch, like I know no doubt Bob would have done if he narrated the book himself. The book was written in 1994, and does not account for the most recent 26 years (this review was written in 2020). But that 1994 ending is still the same ending. He still never received any job in baseball. At the time of this writing, he is battling pancreatic cancer.

Interestingly, his book contains very brief mentions of two figures. The first is Donald Trump, who tried to start up a rival baseball league to compete against MLB in the early 90s. And. Bill Cosby. Of all the things that he could say about this man that he socialized with on occasion is that Bill knew how to mix very tasty...and strong...alcoholic drinks, even though Bill never drank alcohol. How eerily prescient.

I recommend this book without any reservation whatsoever. This was a wonderful time in baseball history!

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This feels like a personal conversation between Jeff and me

Revisado: 06-27-19

I know that I will probably never meet my all time favorite musician, Jeff Tweedy. And even if I did, I couldn’t ever have the kind of deep conversation that I would love to have with him. However, having Jeff read this book, I think this is pretty damn close to realizing that dream. This is the most personal, tender, and vulnerable autobiography I have ever read/listened to. My 20 year journey with Jeff has so much more context and texture. I am blown away by this work.

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This book tells you why the monuments were taken down.

Revisado: 05-29-19

While walking through the French Quarter in the Spring of 2019, I saw an artistic photo of Lee on his pedestal in Lee Circle, and I was transfixed.

Why was he removed?Fortunately, Google did its job, and within minutes I found this audio book by the man who actually made the call to remove not just Lee’s statue, but three other Confederate statues including an obelisk which I had no idea had any confederate connection.

Now, make no mistake, this is a political resume for Mitch Landrieu, like so many other books by presidential hopefuls. And the first half of the book was somewhat underwhelming.

But if you stick with the book, you will hear thoroughly enthralling stories about David Duke and Katrina from the eyes of a true Louisiana insider. Regardless of your party affiliation, these are good stories.

The climax of this story is the dismantling of the statues.

Before I go on, I want to say that I am a social conservative. So I hope this gives you some reassurance.

You will definitely want to hear the about the process of getting these statues removed. The sheer logistical, political, and emotional challenges are staggering.

In the end, this book does a good job of guiding a moral discussion about the defining moral issue of this country. Mitch Landrieu does not portray himself as some sort of a morally superior, but he explains his rational and thought process in a very humbling manner.

In summary, I am not a Democrat, but I enthusiastically recommend this book without any reservation whatsoever. Regardless of how you identify politically, this is a story about a man who made a sound moral decision that came with huge political consequence.

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Wil Wheaton does not disappoint

Revisado: 12-29-17

It seems appropriate that the ambassador of all things nerd be the one to narrate this book, this love letter to geeks of all ages, but hitting the Gen X nerds right square in the heart. Thank you Wil and thank you Ernest for giving us a this space. I relived memories both wonderful and painful, but mostly wonderful. My hope for Wade and the reader is that the atheist worldview that dominates the bleak dystopia of Ready Player One and this present dystopia we live in now is challenged. That perhaps in the closeness that only another human can give is at least some evidence to the purposeful design of our world.

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