Book Description

Memories of the author when she was ten (1849-1850). Wonderful stories of people and places of old New York seen through the eyes of a child. ... Read more

Book Description

The year:1937.The setting:New York City's turbulent Upper West Side.It is the author's sixteenth year, remembered vividly, from his last months in high school to his first overwhelmingly monotonous full-time job, to his seventeenth birthday.One dazzling, sometimes frightening year.His friends, his loves, his coming of age are recreated here hilariously, intimately, shockingly.There were exciting adventures to be had in New York every day, among them the stunning revelation that more girls than the author believed possible were willing (sometimes eager) to take him to bed.Or vice versa.Life was rich and full and funny in 1937, and the author lived it with ravenous appetite. ... Read more

Book Description

There's the right way, the wrong way, and then there's "Farmer's Way." Follow Betty and Farmer's true life American success story, from the dreary coal mines of West Virginia to a life that's Nearly Perfect. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A Learning Experience
I have known farmer and ms meadows sense i was 9 years old. I am now 18, and reading this book has given me a look into their lives that was a real learing experience. It gives a glimpse and gives me a appreciation for them and the lives they have lived. It is an awsome account of their lives, and I highly reccomend it to anyone who not only know farmer and betty, but anyone who likes a romance story. I can honestly say i truly appreciate them in a new way now after reading Nearly Perfect

A must read!
Wonderful, inspiring, challenging! The writer captured my interest and I felt like for a short period I became a part of the Meadows Family. The love between the Farmer and Betty captured my heart. I was impressed with their wisdom as young married people in how they conducted business and treated one another with such sensitivity. I appreciated the thoughtfulness of the Meadows insofar as their employees were concerned. Truly, God has blessed their lives.

this is a great book about great people
i have read this book two times, it has its funny times and it has its emotional times you smile and cry at the same time. this book has alot of good life lessions, such as patience,investments,and living life to its fullest. not only is it a good book, but farmer and betty are all around good people.

It's all about attitude!
Farmer and Betty Meadows are actually "homegrown" entrepreneurs, having gotten their start here in the DC metro area, so it made for great reading, being familiar with some of their references.
But it was a lot more than rags to riches - very romantic, funny, and sad - more about relationships than money. Made for quick easy reading!

An inspirational life chronicle
Nearly Perfect: An American Success Story is the story (as told to Cindy Day) of "Farmer" Bill and Betty Meadow's life, their fifty-year marriage, the trials they faced together, and the happiness they've shared. From their poverty in the West Virginia coal mine camps of the 1930s and 40s, to the hard work and success that made them millionaires, Nearly Perfect is an inspirational life chronicle. Black-and-white photographs enhance this involving story of successful lives. ... Read more

Book Description

Newfield reminds us that in April 1999 Giuliani had only a 40 percent approval rating. A year later his divorce lawyer was savagely attacking his wife, Donna Hanover, while the mayor was flaunting his mistress in public. As a result, Giuliani’s popularity plummeted again in the spring of 2000. He was almost a laughingstock when he withdrew from his Senate campaign against Hillary Clinton. He looked like a control freak who had lost control of himself. Then came 9/11, and Giuliani re-emerged as an international celebrity. He took charge when the towers fell, and he displayed leadership when others were dumbstruck. He was named Time magazine’s "Person of the Year," the avatar of the stricken city. He did a victory lap around the country, raising money for Republican candidates and giving speeches for $100,000 a pop; he may rake in $10 million over the next year. Yet even as he became a part of pop iconography, celebrated as "America’s Mayor," Giuliani was still loathed in some black neighborhoods in the city. People in Brownsville, Texas, might have thought of him as their mayor, but blacks in Brownsville, Brooklyn, did not. In The Full Rudy Newfield gives the devil his due, conceding that New York City did become a better place to live during Giuliani’s two terms. He was skilled at solving problems that lent themselves to the application of a military-style strategy but he was a mayor of excess, a mayor of missed opportunities, political opportunism, and stunning harshness. Photographs and cartoons add to this Emmy award-winning journalist's myth-busting portrait. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The truth about Guliani
It's a relief that a book like this has been released. Newfield paints the truth about Guliani and is quite fair. Everything discussed in the book is based on fact and shows that Guliani, in reality, was nothing but a sub-par mayor who screwed New York City in numerous ways. Newfield admits that there is no denying that Guliani did a great job after the attacks on Sept. 11 - but that does not necessarily mean that all should be forgotten for his poor work as a mayor from the years before. Want to know the real Guliani? Read this book. You'll be amazed by the truth, whether Guliani wants you to hear it or not.

A terrific brief journey through recent history
Jack Newfield, who wrote for the Village Voice for many many years, is one of the last of the great muckraking journaLists. They have been replaces by tabloid tv journalism,which is another story.This book takes on one of the recent myths of the new century,that of "americas mayor" Rudolph Guliani. Newfield straight away calls him a"c+ mayor",which is actually rather objective.Chapter by chapter,he brings up the screwy foibles of the Guliani years{his refusal to meet with any minority politicains,to gather votes for a compromise, outside of herman Badillo cost him control of the Board of Ed and led to cuts in education and no contract for the teachers for over 2 years}His bullying of anyone who didnt agree with him is well documented.Newfield acknowledges the great job that Guliani did for theose terribel two weeks in september of 2001,but states, convincingly that the work of his adminstartion must be judged from "september 10 and before" also. Mr Guliani has presedential aspirations, but his hubris and temper will be his undoing. this book shows how.And why. First rate!

The Truth about Rudy
For everyone who thinks Rudolph Giuliani is a hero and the savior of New York City, they should read Newfield's book.It objectively tells the ugly truth about this deeply flawed man. ... Read more

Book Description

While her friends are making mad cash and getting massages at their dot-com jobs, Amy Gray quits her low-status publishing position to realize her girlhood dream of being a private investigator. Joining a small Manhattan agency, she finds herself plunged into an intriguing world of “con men, lunatics, narcissists, polygamists, sociopaths, felons, petty thieves, and pathological liars”—a description almost as apt for the men in her social life as for her on-the-job subjects. Working with a gang of misfit colleagues (a former zookeeper, a one-time child star, an avant-garde philosopher, and other eccentrics), Amy discovers even more about herself as she detects uncanny parallels between her investigations and her tumultuous love life. ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Love, sweet love
Spygirl chronicles the exodus of this bright and [i think] painfully honest author out of her 'corporate hell' publishing job into a new life as a private investigator. She lived out every little girl's 'Harriet the Spy meets Bond-girl' dreams.

As Amy Gray conquers the run-down Chelsea warehouse loft-office and solves cases, the book is richly textured by the spirit of the City in a far more honest way than 'Sex and the City' ever has. You can truly feel how it is to be a single twenty-something in the often anonymous streets of New York. The story is as much about being a p.i. as it is about love [or, at least, the search for it].

I often found myself laughing out loud while reading this book, though in the end it is far more profound than the title might imply.

truely growing up new york
This is not a mystery, thriller or any other kind of genre. It's a coming-of-age story that happens to be about a PI, and my friends and I related to it completely. Even my boyfriend-who normally only reads historical non-fiction--stole it from me to read in bed and was constantly chuckling to himself and reading it aloud to me. Very surprising. The book encompasses a year in the life of a private investigator, and weaves material from her cases with her life-friends, loves, etc. It is funny, honest, hard when it needs to be, and delicate when appropriate. I would have liked more color on the cases, though. Otherwise, I was smitten. Please, please do a novel next! I'm on the waiting list...

Bad Bad Bad
I guess you have to be from New York to understand but I have never found barf (she's sick all the time from drinking all night) all that entertaining. Gray refers to throwing up at least three times in the first 4 chapters. This book left a bad taste in my mouth. I had a hard time reading it all the way through. All the big words in the world can't cover up lack of writing skills. I think this book perpetuates the myth that all PI's are sleezy. If all PI's were like Gray's, no one would ever hire a private investigator. Yuck!

WHY BOTHER
What a pile of poorly written, tree wasting self-indulgent trash. Why bother.

the cover's not so bad...
But it might not do this book justice. This book is an unusual combination of twenty-something coming-of-age and sophisticated variations of the theme of spying. The author ruminates elegantly about the nature of memory, the construction of self, the difference between what is false and what is true, and she draws on sources from literature and popular culture to illustrate her points-from Woody Allen to the X-Files, Nabokov and Dostoyevsky. It's a difficult balance to strike, not doubt, but I have to applaud her ambition. I think this book is way more complex than the descriptions may imply, but for the most part, it succeeds. It may put off people just looking for mind candy, which it's not, although it's still a good yarn. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Fred Thompson (1873-1919) was a pioneering entrepreneur who encouraged Americans, especially American men, to have fun and stop feeling guilty about it. He designed and built Luna Park, which in 1903 transformed Coney Island from an area so tawdry it was known as "Sodom by the Sea" into a respectable venue for middle-class recreation. He created the Hippodrome, the world's largest theater when it opened in 1905, and filled it with lavish spectacles at affordable ticket prices. He moved on to become "the boy-wonder of Broadway producers," responsible for such popular hits as Brewster's Millions and Little Nemo. His financial acumen never equaled his showmanship (he lost control of both Luna Park and the Hippodrome to better businessmen), but he seems to have thoroughly enjoyed spending vast sums of money to make fantasy and luxury accessible to the masses. Woody Register, professor of American Studies at Sewanee, explores Thompson's life and career as a paradigm for the sea change in commercial culture that took place in the early years of the 20th century, when the Victorian emphasis on educational, elevating entertainment was challenged by a more hedonistic attitude that valued pleasure for its own sake. Gender theory and other currently trendy academic disciplines inform the author's point of view without detracting unduly from his well-written and well-paced narrative. Register could have eased up on the Peter Pan metaphors, but he convincingly links Thompson to present-day innovators who've made a bundle by refusing to grow up, such as director Steven Spielberg and the whiz kids who created the personal computer and Internet revolutions. This is a nice example of a scholarly work that reaches beyond its core audience to appeal to the general public. --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Fred Thompson habitue of Coney Island Restaurants
As a lifelong resident of Coney Island,and the author of a recently published memoir entitled Remembrance of a Restaurant,or a Decameron of Dining,I share the deserved enthusiasm of all reviews for this life of remarkable showman,Fred Thompson. Unlike other reviews, mine is more intimate. Fred Thompson was an habitue of the finest restaurants of the period like Ravenhall's,Villepique's,Beau Rivage,and my parents notable landmark restaurant called Villa Joe's.A Little Bit of Naples in Coney Island.It was razed by urban renewal(1915-1975)As a boy, I recall his frequent patronage ,especially when he gave me season passes to Luna Park ,and a pat on the head.He was as modest as his imagination was flamboyant. He often had dinner talking to my father about my father's Boston Terrier championsI remember him as being always abstracted,away in thought. Mr. Register has reminded us in this biography of the great originals of that period of singular will and imagination. If I still had the restaurant I would invite Mr. Register to a drink on the house to celebrate this triumphant book suitable for a great showman.

The Rise of the New Leisure Class
Fred Thompson was the "kid" (he was in his early twenties when he built Luna Park in Coney Island) who first recognized that the American middle class in the early 20th century was ripe for amusement and fun, ready to embrace consumption, fun and leisure as a moral system. Here he is given his due as a great innovator (inventor of the theme park), and a great showman (Broadway producer of mega-extravaganzas). Woody Register's highly readable and extremely insightful book is not just about Fred Thompson (of which there is very little historical information other than press releases, scattered interviews and new stories about Thompson's endeavors and stunts), but is all about the break between the early industrial age (all about saving and putting aside wages for a rainy day, Victorian respectability, the patriarchal society and responsibility) and the dawning of the modern age of consumption (spending for the fun of it, disrepectable activities, the newly feminized office-based white collar man and irresponsiblity). Thompson was the first entreprenuer to sell the idea of childhood as a lifelong event sustained through the agency of the carnival, the theme park, the toy. His genius lay in combining the new conception of childhood as a time of "innocent joy" with the new era of comsumption for consumption's sake. A wild spender, he died penniless, still enthusiastic, still working on his next big project, a perfect exemplar of the new boy/man Peter Pan personality he was instrumental in creating. According to Mr. Register's Introduction, this work took him much longer to write than he expected it would. We are the beneficiaries of his extended and meticulous labors -- this book is sure to beome a classic cultural studies text.

From Side Show to Broadway
The mysterious Fredrick Thompson left little biographical information in his wake, but Woody Register has taken the scant evidence and woven it into a revealing narritive of the man who made Coney Island famous. This book cchronicles an even more important story as well, the concepts of leisure and amusements in the 20th century. The theme park, theatrical spectacular, Vegas showroom and Broadway all own a debt to Fred Thompson's inner child. This book is a must for anyone serious about the business of fun. ... Read more

Book Description

Between 1876 and 1960, nearly 100 northeastern Pennsylvanians played, managed, coached or umpired in the major leagues. Many were the sons of immigrant coal miners and living and working conditions in America were quite different from what they had been used to. Baseball became an important part of the assimilation process and it thrived as a church-sponsored form of recreation and entertainment for the coal miners and their families.

This work explores the childhood, and minor and major league experiences of Christy Mathewson, Stan Coveleski, Stanley "Bucky" Harris, Hughie Jennings, Ed Walsh, Nestor Chylak, Joe Bolinsky, Jake Daubert, John "Buck" Freeman, Mike Gazella, Pete Wyshner, John Edward Murphy, Steve O'Neill, John Picus, Joe "Lefty" Shaute, Steve Bilko, Harry Dorish, Bob Duliba, Joe "Professor" Ostrowski, and Stan Pawloski-21 players, managers, and umpires who exemplify the great talent, dedication, humility, and hardship that many northeastern Pennsylvanians experienced ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Diamonds in the Coalfields
"Diamonds in the Coalfields" is a documentary of life in the 1920's, 30's, and 40's. William Kashatus has done an excellent job of organizing the history of the mining communities, from a perspective of how baseball affected everyone's lives in those happy, glorious years. You can get an estimate of his effort by looking at his detailed reference notes and bibliography at the back of the book. He has devoted a huge amount of time in research and interviews in the writing of this book.
The accuracy of his descriptions is uncanny, for a person who did not "live it", except vicariously, through the eyes of others. My father pitched for the Glen Lyon Condors, in the 1920's. I lived through the era of Zig Najaka, Stan Pawloski, and Bob Duliba, at Newport Twp. High School. This is a personalized view of early baseball history, a meaningful picture for all baseball fans. My complments to William Kashatus for giving us such an accurate picture of those happy times in our lives. He has done a great job of documentation with an entertaining accent to this portrayal of life in the coal towns. I am purchasing additional books for my uncle, brother-in-law, and three sons, who also share an interest in the nostalgia for sports in the Wyoming Valley. (Pennsylvnia) ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Better than you might think
This homemade recounting of a taxi driver's life is fun, easy to read, and better than it ought to be. That is, it completely amateur in feel and presentation. But it is amateur in the best sense of the word--it is written out of love for telling a story and expressing the joy the author feels has been a part of his life as a New York taxi driver. Amateur comes from the Latin amare, to love, as the author surely knows. Jerry Tierstein's love of a life not filled with fame and fortune, but with long hours of routine and demanding work, is uplifting in itself. His joy in his own good fortune in meeting Rudi Guiliani is balanced by a near-death experience he had picking up some hookers in the wee-small hours of the morning--as two men they had robbed came after them--and their taxi driver as well. Jerry sold me his book on a short cross-town trip from West 72nd Street to East 93rd. It won't take you much longer to get into the book--and the ride will be a delight.

My Honest Review on The Meter's Running
I enjoyed reading The Meter's Running by Jerry Tierstein.
It was a very well written as it showed the humorous side of life as well as everyday ocurrances of a poor working man trying to make a living as a Taxi driver.
The Author, Jerry Tierstein brings out the public in a view only a person that works on a daily basis with the public can truly understand.
It is a well written as the author pulls you into his life and he introduces his shinning personality with every adventure that he endures.
This is a page turner and a must read.

must read
terrific account of new york through the eyes of a cabbie!

Excellent read.........
Found the book to be both entertaining and quite enjoyable. Thought the stories were interesting and provided a nice perspective of one man's wild adventures within a fascinating city. ... Read more

Book Description

A Family Place is an evocative, first-person account ofLeila Philip's search to uncover and then to come to terms with her family'srich and complicated past. This is a past populated by manor lords and tenantfarmers, romantic-era gentlemen farmers and Civil War heroes, wealthy ne'er-do- wells, renegade aunts, and secret children, all of them inextricably linked to awhite-columned mansion named Talavera, located two hours from New York City inthe Hudson Valley.

Today, Talavera is managed as a commercial fruit farm called Philip Orchards.Since inheriting the estate after their father's death in 1992, Leila Philip andher four siblings have struggled to find the means to keep the house intact andthe land from being consumed by development. This uphill battle has forcedPhilip to ask: What compels a family to risk everything—financial well-being,its place in the modern world, even each other —to hold on to a piece of land?

In her quest for answers, Philip began researching her family's unbreakable bondwith this remarkable place. From 1730, the first year of the family tenure onthe land, to the present, A Family Place chronicles a fascinating history thatis full of surprises. Like Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life and KathleenNorris's Dakota, A Family Place is both deeply personal and broadlyresonant as her search becomes entangled in the tensions between memory andrecorded fact. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

This had fantastic potential...
I was disappointed in this book. The Hudson Valley is a magnificent well for story tellers and I was excited to read about the generations who had lived in a single home and worked on its orchard.

This is much more a creative writing guide than a history of a house/family. Philip spends chapters describing the writing process, but not enough about the actual home/family. The writing parts would have made an excellent preface, but the book needed more substantative history.

Too often Philips interupts herself to backtrack to modern times.

This had great potential, but left me looking for another book.

Delightful read
Evocative, elegant account of family history, deftly blending geneology with present day realities. Highly enjoyable read~

A Great Read
After all the books about houses in France and Italy, it's nice to see a truly American story about a house and the family that has owned and loved it for nearly 200 years. Philip deftly interweaves the personal and the historical into a memorable narrative. Although nonfiction, the book's flow and vivid descriptions make it read like almost like a novel. Talvera may be the most interesting American country house since Tara. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Nearly everywhere Charles G. Finney (1792-1875) preached, revival broke out.A brilliant lawyer who turned to preaching after an emotional conversion in his late twenties, Finney was used mightily by God in America's "Second Great Awakening."Thousands of people accepted Christ during Finney's eight-year revival tour of New York, New England, and the mid-Atlantic states.It has been said that Finney's preaching altered the course of American history; whether or not that claim is exaggerated, it is certain that he had a tremendous impact on his age. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A man possessed by God
I would recommend any Charles Finney book to anybody who is hungry for more of God. Charles Finney was a man possessed by God and the Holy Spirit. He emphasized the grace of God and our need for a Savior to make it into heaven. I think the big problem that American Christians have with Finney is that he actually places responsibility on the person to work out his salvation.We are so afraid that if we make any kind of effort we are taking the work of salvation out of God's hands and placing it into our own.Finney actually says that there must be a change when a person accepts Christ as their Savior; that they must live a holy life, and that if they turn their back on God and live a life of sin, they may actually lose their salvation.When you look at the statistics of the American church, a divorce rate that would make most any other country blush, sexual sin running rampant throughout so called believers, the lack of fire and zeal for the glory of Christ and the advancement of God's kingdom, it is no wonder that American Christians would have a problem with Finney's theology and his call to live a consecrated, holy and Spirit-filled life throughout their time here on this earth.

Finney does not belong in this book series
The Heroes of the Faith series has proven to be a good introduction to the lives of historical saints.The inclusion of Charles Finney in this series is nothing short of embarrassing."No single man is more responsible for the distortion of Christian truth in our age than Charles Grandison Finney." -Dr. Michael Horton

He's a heretic plain and simple, and I do not understand why many modern Christians continue to place him on a pedestal.This biography does not even touch upon the controversial nature of his unorthodox teachings. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Good source of information for Annapolis for its time period
I was referred to this book for meteorological information, and it turned out to be a good reference for that purpose. People of the 18th and 19th centuries, especially if they farmed or gardened, kept a close eye on nature.

As the years roll on, they do catch up to the author...his entries start getting shorter and more scattered in the final few years. The entry from March 20, 1792 was particularly striking and very funny...nearly worth the purchase price by itself. It's amazing how little reactions to improper behavior have changed over the last couple centuries!

A Fascinating Account of Life in late 18th century Maryland
This profusely and elegantly illustrated edition of the diary of an Annapolis silversmith is a treasure. The text of the diary is fascinating in and of itself, but Letzer's and Russo's commentary and comprehensive notes make the diary infinitely more comprehensible to the modern reader. I loved having a context for the diary, and being able to see pictures of the people, objects, and places mentioned by Faris made it much easier for me to understand what he was writing about. Letzer and Russo should be commended for their extensive research and for the grace of their prose. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Jersey Gem
Mike Kelly is the Jimmy Breslin of New Jersey, a writer with a deft touch who can portray the human side of issues, politics, and other areas where people become statistics or political rallying points. This is a wonderful collection of pieces displaying Kelly's empathetic touch. New Jersey receives a ton of bad press, but Kelly manages to portray the diversity, humor and underlying heart and toughness of the state in a way which blows the stereotypes out of the water. Highly recommended.

Took me Home
I left Jersey twenty-five years ago, but the characters and places in Fresh Jersey brought it all warmly to life for me. There's a world view from the ground in NJ that becomes more clear after living on the other coast, and it springs to life in these pages. My personal favorite column was about the shad fisherman in the Hudson River. This is great stuff to give someone in the other 49 states who hails from NJ. Mine's going to another Jersey ex-pat. ... Read more

Book Description

With essays by Elizabeth Johns, Cheryl Leibold, Katharine Martinez, Elizabeth Milroy, Sue Himelick Nutty, Patricia Likos Ricci, Ethan Robey, Kirsten Swinth, Page Talbott, Tara Leigh Tappert, Mark Thistlethwaite, Andrew L. Thomas, Nina di Angeli Walls, Helena E. Wright, Sylvia Yount

In their day, from 1830 to 1930, members of the Sartain family of Philadelphia were widely known as printmakers, painters, art administrators, and educators. Since then, the accomplishments of three generations of Sartains—John, children Samuel, Henry, Emily, and William, and grand-daughter Harriet—have become obscure. This wide-ranging collection of essays aims to rectify that situation.

The patriarch of the family—John Sartain—came to Philadelphia from England in 1830 to make a name for himself as a mezzotint engraver. Mezzotint was a sophisticated means of popularizing the work of well-known painters, and as an engraver trained in London, John was in great demand. He became influential, not just as a pictorial engraver, but as a painter, publisher, and administrator. He even designed monuments and furniture. And he passed on his skills and learning to his children.

One of John's daughters and three of his sons went on to become equally celebrated. Emily, with her friend Mary Cassatt, became a well-known painter and principal of the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, precursor of Moore College of Art and Design. As an art educator, she became a leader in the women's art movement and traveled widely as a speaker and delegate. John's sons Samuel and Henry worked closely with their father as engravers and printmakers and were early photography enthusiasts. Son William moved to New York, where he became an associate of the National Academy of Design, a founder of the Society of American Artists, and president of the Art Club of New York. Henry's daughter Harriet followed her aunt Emily as head of the School of Design, where she advocated broad popular access to art appreciation and training.

The Sartains were important not just for who they were but for whom they knew and influenced. They were in the vanguard of the movement to democratize art and art education. Among their acquaintances were painter Thomas Eakins, Emily's one-time beau; poet and short-story writer Edgar Allen Poe; industrialist and art collector Joseph Harrison, Jr.; and Harriet Judd Sartain, a successful homeopathic physician who financed her niece Emily's professional training. Lavishly illustrated with 113 duotones and 8 color plates, Philadelphia's Cultural Landscape is a fascinating look at a century in which the production and promulgation of art was seen as everybody's business, and at a family that epitomized that spirit. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Family History tells a story of Philadelphia
Page Talbott with Katharine Martinez have done their homework to reveal more than a family history. They have revealed a city, namely Philadelphia, during an enlightened time in America. The Sartain family not only supports and encourages creativity and independence among the citizens of Philly, it reaches out to the world for inspiration and knowledge. The authors of this collection of reports have researched and visited their subjects with passion and vision. It is apparent in each essay. ... Read more

Book Description

On the afternoon of Wednesday, 24 July 2002, two shifts of miners eighteen men in all entered the Black Wolf Coal Company’s Quecreek No. 1 Mine, a few miles north-west of the town of Somerset, Pennsylvania. Some seven hours later, nine men were trapped by rapidly rising water in a cavern more than 200 feet below ground, and the nine others, drenched and exhausted, had managed to struggle out to safety. This is the story of a disaster that so nearly claimed those nine lives, and of the brilliant and heroic efforts of the rescuers who, three days later, finally managed to bring the trapped miners safely back to the surface. It is, too, the account of an unfolding drama, as first Pennsylvania, then all America, and finally the world, watched and hoped as the rescue was played out in the full glare of the media. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Close Call
The mining incident at Quecreek was something that shook the nation, but it shook Somerset, PA more than anything. I know someone that knows each miner, and to hear the story of their faith, courage and disbelief first hand is an eye-opening experience. Therefore, these books let you (someone that doesn't know any of the miners) get to know them better.

<9-for-9> ... Read more