The cover for this delightful collection of interconnected essays is the famous photo taken in 1932 of 11 ironworkers enjoying a relaxed lunch break as they sit side by side perched on an I-beam a thousand feet up in open space overlooking mid-Manhattan their legs nonchalantly dangling from the sk

Michael Lewis is a splendid and exceptional writer What creates the splendor is his gift for narrative pace for sly wit for the telling detail for the clarity and verve of his sentences What makes him exceptional is his ability to compose gripping tales about highly technical or dull subjects

John Updike has written a contemporary thriller a first for him after publishing 50 fiction and non-fiction books and a pleasant surprise for the rest of us because it is a fine one John Grisham et al stand aside A pro has entered your ranks The terrorist of the title and the story rsquo s c

Mel Brooks once said that the toughest and most interesting thing about making a movie was ldquo cutting out each of those tiny sprocket holes on the film strip so that the scenes don rsquo t jerk all over the place rdquo Pace Mr Brooks it is enlightening as well as comforting when a reader lear

Over 70 years ago in 1934 the prize-winning biographer and historian Matthew Josephson published an eye-opening best seller entitled The Robber Barons Through prodigious research reports of congressional committees and ldquo inquiries rdquo done by state legislatures as key sources and gifted

New York City in the year 1930 was simultaneously ascending and descending Its most ambitious project was the building of the world rsquo s tallest skyscraper unashamedly called the Empire State Building right in the heart of busy Manhattan Meanwhile its descent was less evident the stock ma

The authorial tone of this delightful memoir is captured nicely in its subtitle ldquo A Baseball Valentine rdquo for its spirit as in a billet-doux reflects affection gratitude and recollection of the sweeter memories The main title The Last Commissioner coined by George Vecsey a sports rep

Autumn is the most ambiguous of seasons. Throughout the centuries poets have used it as a symbol for either maturity or decay, much like a good news-bad news joke. But rather than wear oneself out trying to resolve this ambiguity, it seems wiser to submit to perplexity and agree with the 11th-centur

The only man in the 20th century quoted as often as Winston Churchill.