Amazon.com

Tiger Woods: A Pictorial Biography could also be called Tigermania, since it celebrates the golfer's meteoric rise from a teenage phenomenon to the hysterics-inducing hero he is today. Some 20 photographers contribute roughly 90 photos--all splendidly reproduced in color to capture the golfing star in all his intensity, grace, determination, and fist-pumping jubilation. One can't help noticing how intensely his eyes focus on the tiny white ball in shot after shot or what a winning smile he has when things are going his way on the course and he's "in the zone."

As you begin delving into the now legendary story of this young marvel--who at 21 became the youngest man and the first minority player ever to win the Masters, by a record 12 strokes in 1997--you realize he possessed genius from his first swing. His father, Earl (who named him "Tiger" in honor of a friend who saved his life during two tours of duty in Vietnam), had been grooming him almost from birth. Rudy Duran, his first golf coach, exclaimed early on that "young Tiger is the 20th-century equivalent of Mozart." This book is a testimony to his gift, an early tribute to a young champion who is already considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. After Tiger won the 1995 U.S. Amateur Championship, Earl Woods proclaimed, "Before he's through, my son will win 14 major championships." If you aren't a believer already, this book may well convert you. --Walt Opie ... Read more

Reviews (1)

And what not
Man. This book was like a dream come true. As I saw Tiger winning all of those tournaments and what not, I had to say damn. Then, I read this book. It was like another dream come true. He was hitting the birdies and eagles and what not. That day made me proud. Everyone should buy this book. ... Read more

Book Description

Among the recent books about frank sinatra, many critics picked this as the best-now in paperback. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Book of a Frank Sinatra Slave
When I read this book I felt like I was reading a tex book. The only important things in the book, and the majority of it, were names and dates. Throughout the whole book - constantly.He also worships Sinatra. Anyfault of Franks was obviously forced upon him, according to the author. Ohand most importantly, "Sinatra is God."

Amateurish trifle
Mr. Clarke's "book" is really more of an extended ( and poorly written ) magazine essay. However, I'm not sure what magazine would publish it ( surely not the NEW YORKER or DOWN BEAT ). Clarke never sheds any lighton Sinatra's upbringing, personality or musicianship. Not for a moment doyou feel either the man or his music come to life. There are literallydozens of examples of his amateurish writing; in one amazingly idioticpassage ( page 132, 3rd paragraph ) he states that the title of Sinatra'sfamous album "SONGS FOR SWINGIN' LOVERS" has become "mildlyirritating" (!). He goes on a moment later to ask whether"swinging" was a euphemism for suburban wife swapping (!!). Noone should shell out $$ for this type of drivel. By the way, Mr. Clarke,if you're amusing yourself by reading this review in between writing your"books"; I DIDN'T buy it ( thank God I merely checked it out ofthe library! ). To concur with some of the other reviewers: regarding themusic, try Will Friedwald's "THE SONG IS YOU; A SINGER'S ART" orCharles Granata's upcoming "SESSIONS WITH SINATRA". For anextremely well-balanced, thorough account of Mr. Sinatra's life, try RandyTaraborelli's "SINATRA: A COMPLETE LIFE". For a short butpoignant essay, try Pete Hamill's "WHY SINATRA MATTERS". For afamous account of Sinatra c.1966, try Gay Talese's essay entitled"FRANK SINATRA HAS A COLD" ( available in the FRANK SINATRAREADER ). Other short but informative passages on Sinatra have been writtenby Shirley MacLaine and Mia Farrow ( I forget the exact titles of theirbooks ). As far as Clarke's volume is concerned, it only ranks slightlyabove Kitty Kelley's stinker; in other words, it deserves a spot deep inthe bowels of Dante's inferno.

A third-rate book written by a second-rate writer
You get the feeling reading this book that Donald Clarke sees himself as a far more noble and heroic character than some mere mortal like Frank Sinatra. Clarke has taken self-righteousness and developed it into something approaching an art form. A waste of time, a waste of money, awaste of paper, glue, ink, and whatever else was needed to print this"biography". By the way, give the word "biography" theloosest interpretation possible. Donald Clarke has even less of a clue asto what the word "biograpy" means and his book is the bestevidence to support my thesis.

Don't Pay Cash For Trash!
There isn't a single word in this book that's worth the time it takes to read it. The reader below who claims that "five stars isn't enough" is either related to Donald Clarke or else he's an employee of the publishing company. No book that was ever written about Frank Sinatra(including Kitty Kelley's) is more deserving of going out of print. Let'sall hope that it happens sooner rather than later. It's Mr. Clarke himselfwho apparently doesn't know the meaning of the word "biography".I suggest he try reading anything written by Peter Guralnick to see howit's done.

The Australian Guy Was Right On The Money!
This book is even WORSE than the guy in Melbourne says it is! Just check out the review at the top from "Entertainment Weekly". "Tedious rehashing...maladroit musical commentary...". I wonderwhy the author neglected to mention those reviews? For you Sinatra fans outthere, Charles Granata will be releasing a book soon that will make youforget about having anything to do with this one. Also try "WhySinatra Matters" by Pete Hamill. It's a small and very short book butthere's better writing in one paragraph than Donald Clarke has in hisentire book. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Since storming onto the PGA Tour in 1996 and winning the Masters in1997, Tiger Woods has topped golf's leader boards in most of the importantcategories, including ink. No golfer--indeed, no athlete, except maybe MichaelJordan and Muhammad Ali--has been the subject of so many words in such a shorttime. In Raising the Bar, Tim Rosaforte adds to the flow, focusing on howWoods rebuilt himself and his game after the 1997 Masters and the slump of 1998.What's happened since, of course, is history.

And Rosaforte is there for every part of it. The conquests. The struggles. Theendorsements, the contracts, the commercials. Tigermania. The horribleperformance in the 1997 Ryder Cup matches. The doubts. The questions. Thereassessment and reformulation of his game under the guidance of Butch Harmon.The weightlifting and fitness routine. The streak. The majors. The Grand Slam.It's a riveting triumph of will and focus, hard work and raw talent.

If Woods's game raises the bar--and there's no doubt that it has--Rosaforte'schronicle can't quite match the standards set by his subject. Yes, the book iswell reported and certainly readable, but it seems rushed, a recapitulationchurned out to be timely, rather than an analysis of a phenomenon that might betimeless in itself. Perhaps it's just too soon to expect that in a book, but ifTiger can raise the bar on the course, there's no reason the scribes who havehim in their sights can't raise it some, as well. --Jeff Silverman ... Read more

Reviews (26)

Tiger Woods
Rising The Bar is a book about a famous golfer named Tiger Woods by Tom Rosaforte. This book follows Tiger as he makes his professional golf career. Tiger was 2 when he started picking up the game of golf. He would watch his father when he would go golfing. When Tiger was 12 he won his first state golf tournament and by the time he was 19 he was in the Junior PGA (professional golf association). By the time Tiger reached the age of 23 he won his first professional golf title.

This book is a very easy book to read, even though it's a big book. Tim uses very easy words to understand. This book follows Tiger through every championship starting from his first one.

I would recommend this book to people who like sports and seeing people do well even though they weren't expected too. I'm the kind of person that likes books that shows how good people do coming from a not so good background. I give this book *** because if follows every detail of Tiger starting when he was a kid.

Even Tiger Junkies Will Be Disappointed
I have seen Tim Rosaforte on the Golf Channel and read an excerpt in Golf Digest so I was looking forward to this book. There were so many errors and typos--misspellings, wrong words, one whole section out of place--that it was hard to concentrate on the text. Many of the quotes were simply taken from Golf Channel interviews and shows. There was little evidence of research. It was clear that this book was designed to make money by capitalizing on Tiger's celebrity and was rushed to print while we were still talking about the 2000 season. Do publishers have editors and proofreaders any more? Save your money.

SHALLOW STUFF HERE
I enjoyed the book simply because I enjoy reading just about anything about Tiger. That said, I must say I was rather disapointed in this particular read. Not much original thought or insight to be found here. I was rather amused at the author's efforts to use every arcane and obscure golf term he could think of. He was a bit like a "name dropper" but in this case, he used "golf jargon" rather than celebrities. I also found I extremely difficult to follow the sequence of events. The chronology did not always work out. (I do wonder why publishers do not use editors anymore???? If I had one I certainly would not be misspelling so many words). Often times I found one event or one bit of information referred to differently, even in the same paragraph. All in all, I have read better.

Raising The Bar
Boring. Boring. Boring.

I almost gave up on the book after about 30 pages, but it was given to me as a gift and I like to finish that which I start.

If this book had to be written (?) then it should have been written by someone who could at least hold your attention, if not excite.

Tim Rosaforte shows little writing talent and one wonders what he is doing to raise his own bar. His readers and Tiger deserve better.

Having read John Feinstein and having grown up with the writings of Jim Murray perhaps my bar is set too high.

To anyone who wants to take a chance on this book I recommend the public library.

Wait till they lower the price or hire a proofreader.....
I was genuinely distracted from the content as I found myself reading every page "looking for more typos, inaccurate facts, etc". Many are noted in previous reviews....Butch Harmon is referred to as Bruce....David Duval is later called Davis....etc. I do not know the publishing process but I would think an author should have a vested interested in proofing his product....as well as many others. It is obviously an effort to cash in (the book itself had interesting facts, if you can trust themmmmm)......but also seemed disjointed and like it was slapped together without connection between chapters....bottom line - an inferior quality product given it is a 24 dollar hardcopy new book......wait for the next revision...... ... Read more

Download Description

After the conquest of the South Pole by Amundsen, who, by a narrow margin of days only, was in advance of the British Expedition under Scott, there remained but one great main object of Antarctic journeyings - -the crossing of the South Polar continent from sea to sea. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

GOLF'S PRODIGY
Everyone is in a feeding frenzy to learn more about Golf's new sensation, Tiger Woods. Jack Clary satisfies this hunger by producing this wonderful picture book outlining Tiger's career from his earliest days to his winning of the 1997 Masters Championship. If you are a follower of Eldrick Woods' career, you won't find anything new in terms of his accomplishments. What then, distinguishes this book from the plethora of texts written about this golf prodigy after his Master's Win?

Clary provides us with outstanding photographs of Tiger along with exciting prose giving us an interpretation of hisgolfing skills. Of greatest interest is the author's detailed description of Tiger at the Masters. We are taken through round by round of the play. Clary gives a brief summary of what Woods did at each hole. You almost feel as if you are there as our author tells you the story through words augmented with the color photographs. When you walk on the course with Woods, you feel that you are in the presence of a person who will totally change how golf is played.

The Master's description alone is a reason to have this book in your personal library. Clary did an excellent job in bringing you into the game and in enabling you to develop a great appreciation for one of Golf's greatest players. ... Read more

Book Description

The first objective biogrphy of Frank Sinatra since Kitty Kelley's opus - an entirely new assessment of the most important figure in 20th century entertainment. This book discusses Sinatra the performer, the singer and the actor and the life which has made him the most enduring and successful of the Hollywood artists. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Pretty Awful
Though this book highlights some enlightening details about Frank Sinatra's life, much of it is shoddy hackwork.The reader learns the true story of how Sinatra freed himself from the talons of Tommy Dorsey.The reader learns of the strong influence of Sinatra's mother, Dolly, on his life.Dolly's own life as a Hoboken ward leader and her barely mentioned extraciricular activity as town abortionist fascinates.The friendship of Dolly and Ava Gardner, both foul-mouthed and proud of it, also fascinates.Ditto, the true story of how Sinatra resurrected his failing career by landing his role in "From Here to Eternity".Yet much is left out in this biography.The author seems to have gathered as much material as he could be bothered with and just slapped it together at breakneck speed in a book.It seems to be a specialty of Mr. Freedland's.More time is spent on Sinatra and Joe DiMaggio's "raid" on an apartment Marilyn Monroe was allegedly staying than Sinatra's relationships with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr..The Rat Pack is glossed over; more time is spent on detailing Lauren Bacall's role in the original Bogart Rat Pack than in Martin and Davis's roles in the Rat Pack that most Americans are familiar with today.Much time is wasted on Sinatra's philosophical views on life, some of which seem to probably have been press releases written by his publicist.The author often doesn't put two and two together.Though Sinatra had great talent as an actor and played some fine roles, his career fizzled by the mid-sixties.Mr. Freedland mentions that Sinatra refused to do second takes but fails to understand that few directors would go out of their way to hire actors who refused to do second takes.Sinatra undercut his own film career.The bio is also very flighty.For instance, the author mentions a benefit concert Sinatra gave in New York which was attended by Jackie Kennedy Onassis at which she wore some sort of head band.Mr. Freedland informs us that the sort of head band used by Mrs. Onassis at the concertwas sold out of New York stores within 24 hours as if that was pertinant information.The Jackie Onassis tidbit is indicative of Mr. Freedland's writing style.All in all, All the Way is useful in its way yet disappointing and borderline awful.

What a Bore.
I've read many Sinatra biographies and this is by far the least interesting and most pretentious. Michael Freedland's self-imporatnce oozes from within the lines; his claim that some of the stories are told here for the first time have no interesting payoff whatsoever for Sinatra fans. This is more like reading a book by Robin Leach and the "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous." I think we need to ask the Brits to stick to their side of the Atlantic if they can't do any better than this.

Somewhat negative slant ofSinatra's extraordinary life.
Michael Freedland's British background is too apparent for American readers. His English spellings are bothersome and frequent grammatic uses of "were" instead of "was" get in the way of what otherwise would be a facinating story of one of American music's top performers. The editors failed to catch misspellings of Tiajuana, Mexico. Freedland bashes Sinatra's parents unnecessarily and takes too much credit for "publishing for the first time" anncedotes that may be moderately interesting. This book comes across as an episode of "Lives of the Rich and Famous" with an English accent. Freedland collected notes over a period of years and the book often reads like a collection of them.

Luke warm review of Frank's life by a Brittish writer.
Michael Freedland's editor did not change the spelling or grammar for the American audience and I found it laborious to "read" around the frequent s for z swap. Our Americanized version of English probably puts the Britts off when we say "the band was" instead of "the band were." But frequent plurals where it would be more familiar in singular form were also a distraction. Mr. Freedland says in his forward that he collected notes over a period of years and then wrote the book. Sometimes it reads that way. Freedland bashes the early Sinatra years and makes Frank's mother seem very overbearing. Maybe she was but this autobiography is not very kind to either of his parents. Frank Sinatra's life was threaded with attacks from the press, some deserved, no doubt. Mr. Freedland seems to enjoy twisting Frank in the breeze and comes across as one of those media hacks who saw a chance to make a name by bad mouthing an enormous star. I was often bored!by the author's dry storytelling. As interesting a person Frank Sinatra was, it's incredible that an autobiography could be such a bowser. ... Read more

Book Description

From his first playful golf swing (taken at the age of 6 months) to his

latest picture-perfect game, this fascinating biography follows the phenomenal

Tiger from child prodigy to sports superstar. His talent, perseverance, and

dedication to his sport will surely inspire young golfers to head for the links.




... Read more

Reviews (1)

A great way for children to read, is fun and enjoyable.
Tiger Woods: Golf's Young Master is a very effective book for children to learn to read with. It is something that they like to read about so therefore are more willing to sit down and read it. It is also a great book to read with your kids, you as well as your child can enjoy learning about Tiger Woods. All in all it is a great book and I recommend it. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Quickly put together
I believe this to be one of the countless books haphazardly thrown together following Frank Sinatra's death. There are numerous factual errors that show the author did not take the time to thoroughly research her subject. However, the text is not the main focus of this book. It relies heavily on pictures and for that reason I gave it 2 stars. There are some very nice pictures if you're looking for that, but if you want a more substantial biography then I suggest looking elsewhere. ... Read more

Book Description

Frank Sinatra's influence on American popular culture has been wide-reaching and long-lasting. In this one volume, essays written by major scholars, historians, music critics, and popular culture personalities offer a myriad of perspectives and commentary on this multifaceted musical legend. The essays attest to the interest in Sinatra that has spanned across 60 years. Sinatra affected American popular culture on and off of the musical stage as evidenced by a reprint of Frank Sinatra's essay on civil rights and the evils of racial and religious prejudice that introduces this collection of scholarly writings. From singer to actor, from mass media personality to humanitarian and cultural trendsetter, the many contributions of Frank Sinatra are here examined and brought to life. ... Read more

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TIGER KICKS
Tiger is the best golfer.This book tells the exciting story of his prodigal uprearing.Tiger is truly DA MAN! ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document, covering the life and work of Ernest Henry Shackleton, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thomson Gale. The length of the entry is 1689 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Book Description

Blending historical, scientific, and literary scholarship with an impressive range of poetic forms, Melinda Mueller masterfully brings us the legendary tale of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctic Expedition. What the Ice Gets is an adventure story, a requiem, and a love poem written to 28 heroes and the mythic landscape they set out to explore but that instead explored them. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Overwhelming story, finely crafted
The Shackleton story is amazing, but this accounting of it is stunningly thought through and executed. Read it over and over.

A stanza may be worth ten thousand words of prose.
This is a case where the economy of a well-crafted poetic line accomplishes what might take a page of prose. The imagery and emotion evoked by this slim volume more than capture the beauty and desperation experienced by Shackleton and his company. No space is wasted on mundane logistical cataloging and diary-keeping. Instead the reader is in the grip of perilous nature from beginning to end. The final section sketching the fate of the men after their great adventure on the ice shows that miraculously overcoming one peril does not innoculate you against life's other afflictions.

Shackleton Brought to Life
This epic poem brings Shackleton's attempt to reach the South Pole to life! Some of the chapters tell the story from the point of view of individual members of the expedition; some describe particular events. Each fact is documented. Its one thing to know that Shackleton and a part of the crew left the rest of the crew behind, and travelled 800 miles in a dory on a rescue mission. Mueller brings the situation to life, describing the plight of both the rescuers and the rescuees. And then, in a moving and haunting conclusion, she tells of some of the individual's lives after the voyage. In sum, its an adventurist's story, a naturalist's story, a poet's story. A book you will want to reread, read out loud, and give to your friends. ... Read more