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Christmas Memories
by A. C. GreeneOne of Texas's most recognized folk lore writers presents this little book with two of his fondest Christmas reminiscences from a childhood during the Depression. "In the town where I was born and raised, everyone drove a few miles south to cut a tree.... In that dry, windy country few of the cedars grew straight and full, so the major problem was to find the one least lopsided and wind-whipped." Thus A. C. Greene, in "The Too-Big Christmas Tree," tells of a Christmas in the 1920s when his father cut a too-big tree and almost broke up the family. Long out-of-print and a collector's item, this story is now coupled with "Christmas Shopping," in which a small boy sets out with his grandmother on his first shopping trip to buy Christmas presents for the family. "My grandmother and I boarded the little four-wheel trolley on the Fair Park loop--the men who were waiting all tipping their hats and letting the women and children on first. Pretty soon we were bumping and swaying up Sayles Hill on our way to downtown." A.C. Greene, born in Abilene, Texas, wrote a column for the Dallas Morning News and more than twenty books, many on Texas history and lore. He was a memoirist, fiction writer, historian, poet, and book critic.
Risk Game: Self Portrait of an Entrepreneur
by Francis J. GreenburgerPrior to the real-estate boom of the 1980s, Francis J. Greenburger risked it all to buy three older loft buildings at 50 West Street near the current 9/11 Memorial. He ultimately dreamed of one day erecting a magnificent skyscraper in their place. But disaster struck in 2008, just as his plans were coming together, and development came to a screeching halt. The global financial crisis had made the land practically worthless and it would be years before he could get back on track, but he refused to give up on his dream.Today, 50 West is a striking 780-foot skyscraper with curved glass windows that has become an iconic feature on the city skyline-but it took much more than a financial investment to get there. It required Greenburger to do what he does best-take huge risks at every turn.During his parallel careers, Francis J. Greenburger has made publishing and real-estate history. Whether risking the reputation of his agency for the super -star authors of tomorrow, such as James Patterson to Dan Brown, or pioneering the New York co-op market by taking "hopeless" properties and turning them into prized homes, he has successfully navigated the worlds of business, politics, and social change to become the quintessential American entrepreneur.A math and business prodigy who started working for his father at the age of 12. After a stop-and-start academic career, he voluntarily left one of the most elite and academically distinguished New York City high schools and started his adult life at 15. Greenburger has made it his life's work to find value where others never thought to look, and his keen instincts and innovative strategies have taken him from a high-school "dropout" to a well-educated self-made billionaire.Francis has mastered the "risk game." Now, with Rebecca Paley's gripping prose, he takes us behind the scenes in Risk Game and reveals firsthand how he has become a self-made force in the competitive world of New York real estate-and a champion for nonprofit organizations in the fields of art, education, and, most recently, social and criminal justice.
3 Kings: Diddy, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, and Hip-Hop's Multibillion-Dollar Rise
by Zack O'Malley Greenburg<P> Tracing the careers of hip-hop's three most dynamic stars, this deeply reported history brilliantly examines the entrepreneurial genius of the first musician tycoons: Diddy, Dr. Dre, and Jay-ZBeing successful musicians was simply never enough for the three kings of hip-hop. Diddy, Dr. Dre, and Jay-Z lifted themselves from childhood adversity into tycoon territory, amassing levels of fame and wealth that not only outshone all other contemporary hip-hop artists, but with a combined net worth of well over $2 billion made them the three richest American musicians, period. <P>Yet their fortunes have little to do with selling their own albums: between Diddy's Ciroc vodka, Dre's $3 billion sale of his Beats headphones to Apple, and Jay-Z's Tidal streaming service and other assets, these artists have transcended pop music fame to become lifestyle icons and moguls.Hip-hop is no longer just a musical genre; it's become a way of life that encompasses fashion, film, food, drink, sports, electronics and more - one that has opened new paths to profit and to critical and commercial acclaim. Thanks in large part to the Three Kings-who all started their own record labels and released classic albums before moving on to become multifaceted businessmen-hip-hop has been transformed from a genre spawned in poverty into a truly global multibillion-dollar industry. <P>These men are the modern embodiment of the American Dream, but their stories as great thinkers and entrepreneurs have yet to be told in full. Based on a decade of reporting, and interviews with more than 100 sources including hip-hop pioneers Russell Simmons and Fab 5 Freddy; new-breed executives like former Def Jam chief Kevin Liles and venture capitalist Troy Carter; and stars from Swizz Beatz to Shaquille O'Neal, 3 Kings tells the fascinating story of the rise and rise of the three most influential musicians in America.
A-List Angels: How a Band of Actors, Artists, and Athletes Hacked Silicon Valley
by Zack O'Malley GreenburgHow Hollywood cashed in on the latest tech boom-and changed the face of Silicon Valley.When Ashton Kutcher first heard about 50 Cent's nine-figure Vitaminwater windfall in 2007, the actor realized he'd been missing out. He soon followed the rapper's formula-seeking equity instead of cash for endorsement deals-but with a twist: as the first person to top 1 million Twitter followers, Kutcher leveraged his social reach to accumulate stakes in a vast range of user-hungry tech startups.A decade later, Kutcher is perhaps the brightest in a firmament of star investors from Beyoncé and Jay-Z to Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez. Bartering credibility and connections in exchange for early (and often discounted) access to the world's most coveted investment opportunities, this diverse group changed the face of venture capital while amassing portfolios packed with companies like Airbnb, Spotify, and Uber. But how did two once-dissonant universes-Silicon Valley and Hollywood-become intertwined?Forbes senior editor Zack O'Malley Greenburg told the first chapter of Kutcher's transformation for the magazine's cover story in 2016. Now he offers a lively, page-turning account of how this motley crew of talent managers, venture capitalists, and celebrities helped the creative class forge a brand-new blueprint for generational wealth. Through extensive reporting and exclusive interviews with more than 100 key players-including Shaq, Nas, Joe Montana, Sophia Bush, Steve Aoki, Tony Gonzalez, and dozens of behind-the-scenes power brokers-Greenburg sheds light on the unlikely group that fundamentally transformed the value of fame.
Empire State of Mind
by Greenburg Zack O'Malley"I'm not a businessman-I'm a business, man. " --Jay-Z Some people think Jay-Z is just another rapper. Others see him as just another celebrity/mega-star. The reality is, no matter what you think Jay-Z is, he first and foremost a business. And as much as Martha Stewart or Oprah, he has turned himself into a lifestyle. You can wake up to the local radio station playing Jay-Z's latest hit, spritz yourself with his 9IX cologne, slip on a pair of his Rocawear jeans, lace up your Reebok S. Carter sneakers, catch a Nets basketball game in the afternoon, and grab dinner at The Spotted Pig before heading to an evening performance of the Jay-Z-backed Broadway musical Fela! and a nightcap at his 40/40 Club. He'll profit at every turn of your day. But despite Jay-Z's success, there are still many Americans whose impressions of him are foggy, outdated, or downright incorrect. Surprisingly to many, he honed his business philosophy not at a fancy B school, but on the streets of Brooklyn, New York and beyond as a drug dealer in the 1980s. Empire State of Mind tells the story behind Jay-Z's rise to the top as told by the people who lived it with him- from classmates at Brooklyn's George Westinghouse High School; to the childhood friend who got him into the drug trade; to the DJ who convinced him to stop dealing and focus on music. This audio book explains just how Jay-Z propelled himself from the bleak streets of Brooklyn to the heights of the business world. Zack O'Malley Greenburg draws on his one-on-one interviews with hip-hop luminaries such as DJ Clark Kent, Questlove of The Roots, Damon Dash, Fred "Fab 5 Freddy" Brathwaite, MC Serch; NBA stars Jamal Crawford and Sebastian Telfair; and recording industry executives including Craig Kallman, CEO of Atlantic Records. He also includes new information on Jay-Z's various business dealings, such as: * The feature movie about Jay-Z and his first basketball team that was filmed by Fab 5 Freddy in 2003 but never released. * The Jay-Z branded Jeep that was scrapped just before going into production. * The real story behind his association with Armand de Brignac champagne. * The financial ramifications of his marriage to Beyonce. Jay-Z's tale is compelling not just because of his celebrity, but because it embodies the rags-to-riches American dream and is a model for any entrepreneur looking to build a commercial empire.
The Mad Bomber of New York: The Extraordinary True Story of the Manhunt That Paralyzed a City
by Michael M. Greenburg“Gripping and bizarre . . . A compelling account of a dangerously angry man and the investigation that helped to revolutionize modern police work.” —Kirkus ReviewsBetween 1940 and 1957, thirty-three bombs—strategically placed in Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station, Radio City Music Hall, Macy’s, and other crowded areas of New York—paralyzed the city, sending shockwaves of fear through the public.George Metesky, the “Mad Bomber,” unleashed a reign of terror that reverberated through America’s social, legal, and political landscape, ultimately spurring the birth of modern criminal profiling when a psychiatrist was called in to assist in the manhunt. A compelling work of historical true crime, The Mad Bomber of New York is the gripping tale of two individuals engaged in a deadly game of hide-and-seek, with the city of New York caught in the crosshairs.“A full-fledged biography that evokes the chaos and media circus that the terrorist, George P. Metesky, engendered.” —The New York Times“Masterfully told . . . a first-rate true-crime story.” —Scott Christianson, author of Bodies of Evidence
Peaches and Daddy: A Story of the Roaring Twenties, the Birth of Tabloid Media, and the Courtship That Captured the Heart and Imagination of the American Public
by Michael M. Greenburg"Peaches & Daddy" vividly recounts the amazing and improbable 1926 marriage and legal battle between a 51-year-old Manhattan millionaire and a 15-year-old girl. Their story captured the imagination of the American public and gave birth to tabloid journalism.
Peaches & Daddy: A Story of the Roaring 20s, the Birth of Tabloid Media, & the Courtship that Captured the Heart and Imagination of the American Public
by Michael M. GreenburgA “lively, intelligently rendered account” of a tabloid romance, scandalous divorce and the rise of yellow journalism in Gilded Age New York (Kirkus Reviews). Edward “Daddy” Browning was a famously eccentric millionaire when he crossed paths with fifteen-year-old shop clerk and aspiring flapper Frances Heenan at the Hotel McAlpin. Frances reminded Daddy of peaches and cream—and a scandalous romance began. Thirty-seven days later, amid headlines announcing the event and with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in close pursuit, Peaches and Daddy were married. Within ten months they would begin a courtroom drama that would blow their impassioned saga into a national scandal. Peaches & Daddy vividly recounts the amazing and improbable romance, marriage, and ultimate legal battle for separation of this publicity-craving Manhattan couple in America’s “Era of Wonderful Nonsense.” Their story is one of dysfunction and remarkable excess; yet at the time, the lurid details of their brief courtship and marriage captured the imagination of the American public like no other story of its day.
This Noble Woman: Myrtilla Miner and Her Fight to Establish a School for African American Girls in the Slaveholding South (Women of Action)
by Michael M. GreenburgThe singular biography of a forgotten abolitionist and educator for young adults Frederick Douglass dismissed Myrtilla's plan to open a school for African American girls in the slaveholding South as "reckless, almost to the point of madness." But Myrtilla Miner, the daughter of poor white farmers in Madison County, New York, was relentless. Fueled by an unyielding feminist conviction, and against a tide of hostility, on December 3, 1851, the fiery educator and abolitionist opened the School for Colored Girls—the only school in Washington, DC, dedicated to training African American students to be teachers. Although often in poor health, Myrtilla was a fierce advocate for her school, fending off numerous attacks including stonings, arson, and physical threats, and discouraging local "rowdies" by brandishing her revolver with open displays of target practice. The school would gradually gain national fame and stimulate a nationwide debate on the education of black people. Myrtilla's School for Colored Girls would slowly flourish through the years and exists even today as part of the University of the District of Columbia. The first modern biography of Myrtilla Miner for young adults, This Noble Woman, includes historic photos, source notes, a bibliography, and a list of resources for further exploration, making it an invaluable resource for any student's or history buff's bookshelf.
Calvin Coolidge (The American Presidents Series)
by David GreenburgThe austere president who presided over the Roaring Twenties and whose conservatism masked an innovative approach to national leadership. He was known as "Silent Cal." Buttoned up and tight-lipped, Calvin Coolidge seemed out of place as the leader of a nation plunging headlong into the modern era. His six years in office were a time of flappers, speakeasies, and a stock market boom, but his focus was on cutting taxes, balancing the federal budget, and promoting corporate productivity. "The chief business of the American people is business," he famously said. But there is more to Coolidge than the stern capitalist scold. He was the progenitor of a conservatism that would flourish later in the century and a true innovator in the use of public relations and media. Coolidge worked with the top PR men of his day and seized on the rising technologies of newsreels and radio to bring the presidency into the lives of ordinary Americans--a path that led directly to FDR's "fireside chats" and the expert use of television by Kennedy and Reagan. At a time of great upheaval, Coolidge embodied the ambivalence that many of his countrymen felt. America kept "cool with Coolidge," and he returned the favor.
Confessions of a Pregnant Father
by Dan GreenburgAn engaging, heartfelt account from humorist Dan Greenburg of what it is like to go for parenthood, from Lamaze to labor, to colic and beyond.
El espejo de un hombre: Vida, obra y época de William Shakespeare
by Stephen GreenblattLa biografía definitiva del dramaturgo más importante de todos los tiempos. Son muchos los que consideran a William Shakespeare el mejor escritor de todos los tiempos por su ingenio, la universalidad de sus conflictos, la profundidad de los personajes, la revolución sin precedentes que supuso su obra... Pocos autores han marcado un antes y un después de forma tan incuestionable. Sin embargo, casi nada se sabe con certeza de su vida. Durante siglos se han sucedido especulaciones de todo tipo, sin que ninguna arrojara luz convincente sobre el gran misterio. Stephen Greenblatt, uno de los mayores expertos en Shakespeare, propone aquí una original hipótesis arropándose en la obra misma del dramaturgo y en la de sus coetáneos. De un modo similar a la manera en que Hamlet observaba la efigie de su padre («Una combinación y una forma sin duda / en las que cada dios parece / haber puesto su sello / para mostrar al mundo el espejo de un hombre»), así mismo es este libro mucho más que una biografía. También es un riguroso estudio de los escritos de Shakespeare y, sobre todo, un magnífico retrato de la Inglaterra isabelina. Reseñas:«Asombrosamente bueno. Es el libro más inteligente y sofisticado, y también el estudio más colosalmente apasionado que he leído jamás sobre la vida y obra de Shakespeare.»Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker «Un libro de lectura compulsiva, original como pocos. Greenblatt ha conducido la investigación más empática posible sobre el modo en que las experiencias vitales de Shakespeare penetraron en sus obras.»Stanley Wells «Tan absorbente, lúcido y coherente que su llegada no es solo bienvenida sino motivo de celebración.»Dan Cryer, Newsday «Elocuentemente escrito, ricamente detallado y revelador desde el primero hasta el último capítulo [...]. Es inevitable que logre un lugar entre los estudios esenciales de losmejoresescritores.»William E. Cain, Boston Sunday Globe «Una magnífica hazaña.»Denis Donoghue «Una deslumbrante e ingeniosa biografía.»Richard Lacayo, Time «Greenblatt evoca con concisión y vívidamente el mundo isabelino.»Mitchiko Kakutami, The New York Times
The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve
by Stephen GreenblattStephen Greenblatt, the National Book Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, investigates the life of one of humankind's greatest stories. The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve explores the enduring story of humanity's first parents, and through them, of Western civilization. Greenblatt explores the tremendous theological, artistic, and cultural creativity over the centuries that made Adam and Eve so profoundly resonant, and continues to make them, finally, so very "real" to millions of people even in the present. Be sure to read the photo captions which are placed after the Index as these are especially interesting in this book. Greenblatt gives equally full coverage to both believers and skeptics.
Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare
by Stephen GreenblattHow does a young man from a small provincial town move to London in the late 1580s and in a remarkably short time, become the greatest playwright of all time?
Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare
by Stephen Greenblatt"Greenblatt knows more about [Shakespeare] than Ben Jonson or the Dark Lady did."--John Leonard, ?Harper's A young man from a small provincial town moves to London in the late 1580s and, in a remarkably short time, becomes the greatest playwright not of his age alone but of all time. How is an achievement of this magnitude to be explained? How did Shakespeare become Shakespeare? Stephen Greenblatt brings us down to earth to see, hear, and feel how an acutely sensitive and talented boy, surrounded by the rich tapestry of Elizabethan life, could have become the world's greatest playwright. ?A Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award Finalist.
Franklin D. Roosevelt: Thirty-second President Of The United States
by Miriam GreenblattFollows the life of the thirty-second president from birth to death, examining his childhood, education, employment, and political career.
John Quincy Adams: Sixth President Of The United States
by Miriam GreenblattPresents the life of John Quincy Adams, including his childhood, education, employment, and political career.
Donna Bell's Bake Shop
by Darren Greenblatt Pauley Perrette Matthew SanduskyThe heartwarming story of how NCIS star Pauley Perrette and her two best friends created a Southern-style bake shop in Manhattan--a celebration of love and friendship with gorgeous photographs and delicious recipes.Nestled in the heart of midtown New York is a little shop with a big story. An all-natural bake shop that specializes in Southern baked goods, Donna Bell's is owned by Pauley Perrette, the actress who plays Abby Sciuto on CBS's NCIS, and her two best friends, Darren Greenblatt and Matthew Sandusky. It was named in honor of Pauley's late mother, who is the beloved inspiration for everything they bake. It all started in 1993, when Pauley met Darren in New York City's Hell's Kitchen, just blocks away from where the shop is currently located. The two became inseparable friends and Pauley's Southern mom would welcome Darren to their home with mouthwatering treats. Darren loved this food and soon left his successful career in fashion to open a food truck that sold Southern desserts at the Jersey Shore. Eventually he wanted to expand and turned to Pauley and their friend Matthew--who worked in the Los Angeles food industry--for help. Soon Matthew was on his way to New York to open Donna Bell's Bake Shop with Pauley and Darren. With recipes for favorites like buttermilk biscuits, chocolate chip-almond scones, and peach streusel muffins; personal photographs from Pauley, Darren, Matthew, and Donna Bell herself; this is the story how one fantastic bake shop brings warmth and happiness--one treat at a time--to the urban jungle that is New York City.
The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A. Arthur
by Scott S. GreenbergerNobody expected the vice president, a New York political hack, to be president. And after President James A. Garfield was shot in 1881, nobody expected Chester A. Arthur to become a strong and effective president, a courageous anti-corruption reformer, and an early civil rights advocate. And yet...Despite his promising start as a young man, by his early fifties Chester A. Arthur was known as the crooked crony of New York machine boss Roscoe Conkling. For years Arthur had been perceived as unfit to govern, not only by critics and the vast majority of his fellow citizens but by his own conscience. As President James A. Garfield struggled for his life, Arthur knew better than his detractors that he failed to meet the high standard a president must uphold.And yet, from the moment President Arthur took office, he proved to be not just honest but brave, going up against the very forces that had controlled him for decades. He surprised everyone--and gained many enemies--when he swept house and took on corruption, civil rights for blacks, and issues of land for Native Americans.A mysterious young woman deserves much of the credit for Arthur's remarkable transformation. Julia Sand, a bedridden New Yorker, wrote Arthur nearly two dozen letters urging him to put country over party, to find "the spark of true nobility" that lay within him. At a time when women were barred from political life, Sand's letters inspired Arthur to transcend his checkered past--and changed the course of American history.This beautifully written biography tells the dramatic, untold story of a virtually forgotten American president. It is the tale of a machine politician and man-about-town in Gilded Age New York who stumbled into the highest office in the land, only to rediscover his better self when his nation needed him.
Rules for Others to Live By: Comments and Self-Contradictions
by Richard GreenbergBetween stressing about his theater friends and reconciling his complicated feelings about an inconsistently wonderful New York City, Tony Award-winning playwright and Pulitzer finalist Richard Greenberg also maintains a reputation for being something of a hermit. He takes the time to privately process the absurdity of the world outside, and the result is this hysterically funny and daringly thoughtful collection of original essays. In Rules for Others to Live By, he shares lessons from his highly successful writing career, observations from two long decades of residence on a three-block stretch of Manhattan, and musings from a complicated and occasionally taxing social life. Firmly sympathetic to the struggles of the more bizarre and unstable among us, Greenberg tackles a range of topics--from the difficulties of friendship to the art of writing, the pain of heartbreak to the curiously unpredictable weather of his neighborhood, and the moderate hypochondria that comes with age, as well as the more serious health crises that unfortunately also come with age. In essays that are at turns quietly subversive and thoroughly hopeful and life-affirming, Greenberg's distinct and hilarious voice articulates our own mild obsessions and the idiosyncrasies that we can only hope will go unnoticed in a crowd.From the Hardcover edition.
Medal Winners: How the Vietnam War Launched Nobel Careers
by Raymond S. GreenbergAs the ground war in Vietnam escalated in the late 1960s, the US government leveraged the so-called doctor draft to secure adequate numbers of medical personnel in the armed forces. Among newly minted physicians’ few alternatives to military service was the Clinical Associate Training Program at the National Institutes of Health. Though only a small percentage of applicants were accepted, the elite program launched an unprecedented number of remarkable scientific careers that would revolutionize medicine at the end of the twentieth century. Medal Winners recounts this overlooked chapter and unforeseen byproduct of the Vietnam War through the lives of four former NIH clinical associates who would go on to become Nobel laureates. Raymond S. Greenberg traces their stories from their pre-NIH years and apprenticeships through their subsequent Nobel Prize–winning work, which transformed treatment of heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. Greenberg shows how the Vietnam draft unintentionally ushered in a golden era of research by bringing talented young physicians under the tutelage of leading scientists and offers a lesson in what it may take to replicate such a towering center of scientific innovation as the NIH in the 1960s and 1970s.
Medal Winners: How the Vietnam War Launched Nobel Careers
by Raymond S. GreenbergAs the ground war in Vietnam escalated in the late 1960s, the US government leveraged the so-called doctor draft to secure adequate numbers of medical personnel in the armed forces. Among newly minted physicians’ few alternatives to military service was the Clinical Associate Training Program at the National Institutes of Health. Though only a small percentage of applicants were accepted, the elite program launched an unprecedented number of remarkable scientific careers that would revolutionize medicine at the end of the twentieth century. Medal Winners recounts this overlooked chapter and unforeseen byproduct of the Vietnam War through the lives of four former NIH clinical associates who would go on to become Nobel laureates. Raymond S. Greenberg traces their stories from their pre-NIH years and apprenticeships through their subsequent Nobel Prize–winning work, which transformed treatment of heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. Greenberg shows how the Vietnam draft unintentionally ushered in a golden era of research by bringing talented young physicians under the tutelage of leading scientists and offers a lesson in what it may take to replicate such a towering center of scientific innovation as the NIH in the 1960s and 1970s.
Passing Game: Benny Friedman and the Transformation of Football
by Murray GreenbergBenny Friedman, the son of working class immigrants in Cleveland's Jewish ghetto, arrived at the University of Michigan and transformed the game of football forever. At the time, in the 1920s, football was a dull, grinding running game, and the forward pass was a desperation measure. Benny would change all of that.In Ann Arbor, the rookie quarterback's passing abilities so eclipsed those of other players that legendary coach Fielding Yost came back from retirement to coach him. The other college teams had no answer for Friedman's passing attack. He then went pro-an unpopular decision at a time when the NFL was the poor stepchild to college football-and was equally sensational, eventually signing with the New York Giants for an unprecedented $10,000, bringing fans and attention to the fledgling NFL.Passing Game rediscovers this little-known sports hero and tells the story of Friedman's evolution from upstart to American celebrity, in a vivid narrative that will delight and enlighten football fans of all ages.
Got Your Number: The Greatest Sports Legends and the Numbers They Own
by Mike GreenbergESPN personality (Get Up and #Greeny) and New York Times bestselling author Mike Greenberg partners with mega-producer Hembo to settle once and for all which legends flat-out own which numbers. In short essays certain to provoke debate between and amongst all generations, Greeny uses his lifetime of sports knowledge to spin yarns of the legends among the legends and tell you why some have claimed their spot in the top 100 of all time. <p><p>Sports and numbers go hand in hand. Sports and loud, assertive debate? Even better. Cheering on, agonizing over, and being in plain awe of your favorite players has left you with a deep and intricate memory of their greatness, not to mention well-honed arguments as to why your favorites are really the best. In arenas, in front of your TV, and in bars, you’ve debated friends and strangers alike. You’ve joyfully mocked your friends’ (sometimes laughable) favorites. You’ve spouted accomplishments, statistics: Yours won six titles, batted .350 in the clutch, or generated 82% of their team’s scoring. <p><p>But not all numbers are created equal. Some are accomplishments. Others are identity. Looming large over any image you have of an athlete: the number on their jersey. Numbers often provide the most visceral parts of any sports legend’s identity. They are what people remember—worldwide. Jordan, Jeter, Brady—to fans, they are as much their number as they are anything else. Sure, 1 through 100 might seem like a large range, but fierce competition across the ages has blessed only a lucky few to claim one of these as their own. For some, the victors may not be so obvious. That’s why Greeny’s here to help. <p><p>Ascend into discussion, fans of all stripes. Come away enlightened. Or maybe a little enraged. Either way, you are sure to be occasionally surprised—and endlessly entertained. Whatever your sport, welcome to the place where all the arguments are finally decided, once and for all.
Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot: The Life and Times of a Sportscaster Dad
by Mike GreenbergMeet Mike Greenberg, the popular host of ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning, the highest-rated drive-time sports talk show on the dial. To his three-million-plus listeners, Greeny is the guy who's equally as comfortable dissecting zone defenses as he is discussing cashmere sweaters. He's been to Super Bowls and World Series, All-Star Games and Final Fours. He's interviewed Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, and Wayne Gretzky. He gets paid to enthuse about sports, which means he's the envy of most men in America. This is the hilarious, sometimes touching, and endlessly entertaining debut of one of America's fastest-rising sportscasters, a wry and revealing look at one man's good-hearted but mistake-prone attempt to grow up before his children do. Marriage, fatherhood, manhood, fame, athletes, crazed aunts with gambling problems, the true significance of sports, the worst possible thing to say in a room full of pregnant women-no topic is beyond his reach. But don't take our word on it, read what Greeny has to say about: * Dating: "People who reminisce fondly about dating are blocking out all the disasters and focusing only on the few great nights. If that is all you choose to remember, fine. But be aware that no experience is without good moments. I'm sure during the sacking of Rome there were a few decent nights; maybe they put on a play." * Life on the road: "Wife + television = no sleep." "No wife + no television = no sleep." "Wife + no television = sleep." "No wife + television = porn." * Keeping things in perspective: "Never assume you know more than the guy in the camouflage tux." * And, of course, marriage: "All of us are married to women who think we're idiots." Whether he's talking trash on the radio or talking dirty diapers over a fancy dinner, Greeny's determined to reconcile two halves of a whole. So if your enthusiasm has ever been curbed, or you're feeling remote without the remote, or you're just wondering what exactly goes on in a guy's brain, Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot will be a source of comfort and unadulterated laughter.