#389 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Tuesday June 28)
Good morning,
The news has been tough. So let’s have a lighter day today and a potpourri Tuesday…
BOOKS TIME
A number of people had additions to the list of great books. Here are a few (with my comments):
Patty Lambert says, “I usually find biographies and autobiographies a snore, but Patti Hearst’s autobiography, Every Secret Thing is one of my favorite books of the period.” If one wants to delve more deeply into this bizarre history, Jeffrey Toobin’s American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst is a must.
Scott Stone suggests Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California. For trivia fans, Hellman was the Jewish banker who, along with the Catholic ex-governor John Downey and Protestant nurseryman Ozro Childs, donated the land upon which USC was established.
Mark DiMaria says “My one gentle suggestion for an addition to your list would be the Hunter S. Thompson book about the 1972 presidential election, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail. I also found The Making of the President 1972, by Theodore White, instructive in a slightly different tone.
Mark Eshman adds, “I agree that O’Brien’s The Things They Carried was one of the best Vietnam-era books. It was deeply moving and impactful in a way that the nightly news clips’ black and white videos couldn’t convey; namely, understanding the interior machinations of soldiers’ minds. Caro’s LBJ epic series is usually (rightly) on everyone’s ‘definitive’ list, but Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream is brilliant and written by an insider, revealing details about one of our most effective and singular presidential personalities.”
Mark is right. These are all “musts.” That said, we tend to see Vietnam through American eyes. The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen, offers a different perspective through fiction.
Finally, Tor Kenward, now a published author himself, writes, “I love that you are exploring our past though the books we read. They shaped us as much as we shaped them. It also helps explain to some degree the American consciousness of today, and some of the reasons we seem to be fractured and limping into the less than Roaring 20s. Someone could write (or maybe has) a wonderful book with the “we are what we read” theme you’ve teed up in your musings. Without any measurements – it does appear most reading is now done on phones. If so, the book is getting smaller, meaner, and less about others, more about self. If so, there is great reason for concern about the direction and course we are taking while we are reading.”
Tor’s Reflections of a Vintner is a wonderful story of a winemaker, the challenges of winemaking, the history of Napa Valley and the personalities Tor has met along the way. Robert Parker and Thomas Keller are two of these personalities, who contribute great essays to this book.
MORE SPORTS MOVIES
I’m more than a little embarrassed that my list of best sports movies failed to include some obvious ones that friends have brought to my attention. Here they are:
Supernatural sports movies
Mark Greenfield notes that Damn Yankees is a must on any list of great sports movies. He’s so right. The musical of an aging fan who, with the help of the devil becomes a star player for the Washington Senators. Ray Walston was a great devil and Gwen Verdon did a star turn as his assistant, Lola (“Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets…” and the great dance routine she performs with seminal choreographer Bob Fosse early in his career, that bewilderingly odd number that has nothing to do with the plot, “Who’s Got the Pain”).
Chris Maling asks whether Heaven Can Wait, starring Warren Beatty, can be included because it’s “not really” a sports movie. I think the best sports movies only use sports as a metaphor or a palette to tell a story. So, yes!
Global Sports
Peter Bain says, “To the extent the global reach of the Musings on the sports movie front, I will add Invictus. South Africa hosts the Rugby World Cup on the heels of the end of apartheid and Mandela’s election. Great study of the role sports can play in social reconciliation. Plus a star turn (no surprise) by Morgan Freeman as Mandela. Matt Damon not bad as captain of Springboks.”
Adam Torson notes that “Cool Runnings is a silly movie, but it has one of my favorite movie lines: ‘A gold medal is a wonderful thing, but if you’re not enough without it, you’ll never be enough with it.’ I sometimes use that for kids with unhealthy levels of anxiety about college admissions.”
Golf movies
Harvey Englander suggests Dead Solid Perfect…about the life of a professional golfer on the PGA Tour. Based on the 1974 Dan Jenkins novel. Valerie Kiley adds Phantom of the Open, the true story of the worst round ever in qualifying for the US Open. David Perkins suggests the Robert Redford directed Bagger Vance.
The “big four” sports
Bobby Katz recommends The Sandlot, a cute coming of age movie of 12 year-old kids who play baseball with an old, battered ball.
Adam Torson adds two hockey movies, Miracle and The Mighty Ducks, as well as White Men Can’t Jump. Dave Swartz loved Blades of Glory (the comedy about ice skating), but for a rink-based movie recommends Slapshot.
Mark Slotkin goes with One on One for basketball. David Perkins remembers Remember the Titans (a true and moving story of two coaches—Black and white—coaching a mixed-race team to a state championship in an otherwise segregated district).
Joan Estrada reminds me of two baseball movies I like but neglected to include: For the Love of the Game, and Trouble With the Curve. Bill Nuss adds Bad News Bears.
Have a great day,
Glenn
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