McCumber (X-Rated: The Mitchell Brothers, 1992) hits the road with professional pool player Tony Annigoni, determined to make a killing in the sometimes twilight world of pool hustlers. McCumber found himself with a surplus of cash and time, and few responsibilities after completing his last book. A pool devotee, he decided to live out a lifelong dream to go on the road, from pool hall to pool hall. Needless to say, he was smart enough to know that if he played for himself, he would very quickly be broke, so he hooked up with Annigoni, a world-class player and ``Renaissance hustler,'' a man of wit and erudition who also plays a mean game of nine-ball. Starting at the Q Club, of which Annigoni was part owner, the two traveled back and forth across North America looking for action, sometimes joined by Tony's mentor, Richard Court, better known as Bucktooth. The result is a delightful and affectionate look at one of America's seedier subcultures, currently experiencing a new boom and a yuppified image. McCumber is a good explainer, and as a result, you needn't have grown up around a pool hall to follow the action. He is also amusingly self-effacing where his own skills are concerned and mordant in his assessment of a society that could produce the extensive urban detritus that he and Annigoni are confronted with in such garden spots as Akron, Ohio, and Bellflower, Calif. And readers will learn a wide variety of useful lessons, including why pool balls are a better weapon than a cue stick in a brawl. You have to love a book whose characters include Cornbread Red, Filipino Gene, and Nine-Ball Paul. It gets a little long toward the end, but on the whole, this is a refreshing and very funny look at the world of pool, billiards, and snooker. (Author tour)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-679-42374-5
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A daunting but worthwhile journey through the material and divine realms of our universe.
An intriguing if sometimes ponderous examination of man's place in the universe.
Bartow creates a systematic philosophic framework for integrating concepts from diverse disciplines, such as astrology, psychology, metaphysics, theology, eastern and western mysticism and quantum physics. The author uses complex–and often unintelligible–diagrams to create a visual representation of the corporeal and spiritual universe, building layers of complexity that illustrate the dynamic interaction of mind, matter, energy and spirituality. He divides man’s perception of the universe into objective and subjective categories with distinctive subcategories, using piano keys as the primary metaphor–the black keys represent the objective planes, embodied in the concrete laws of science, and the white keys represent the subjective interior planes. The author makes frequent use of the philosophies from such ancient traditions as the Kabbalah, Buddhism, the teachings of Don Juan and Tibetan thought. The massive scope of Bartow’s vision eventually becomes overwhelming, and the esoteric nature of the study will deter casual readers. Ultimately, however, the text will prove thought-provoking and rewarding for the diligent.
A daunting but worthwhile journey through the material and divine realms of our universe.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 0-9760863-0-1
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Problematic structure aside, a comprehensive history of Latin America's largest country.
A thoroughly documented scholarly treatise on Brazilian history.
In the first of two volumes spanning 500 years of Brazilian history, Hufferd focuses on the first 300 years of colonization in the northeast region. Portugal was seeking to build maritime trade to compete successfully with archrival Spain and to retain its national identity. The colony expanded westward from a number of large tracts of lands called captaincies, granted by Portuguese monarchs to wealthy royal favorites in return for profits gained through trade, breeding cattle and other ventures. These captaincies eventually gained the status of states, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grasso, Manaus and Amazonia. Over subsequent decades, enterprising adventurers and explorers from these captaincies ventured inland, establishing sugar mills, cultivating grazing land and extracting gold, silver and precious gems. All ventures were highly labor-intensive, requiring massive amounts of manpower driven by slaves from Africa and native tribes. In the second volume, Hufferd focuses on the final 200 years of Brazil's rapid industrialization. After the Portuguese monarchy was forced to relocate its base from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, it became the fulcrum of a delicate political system within the new country. The social and political structure favored privileged hereditary landowners, even after the last reigning Emperor Pedro II was deposed amidst strong republican sentiment. Continuing the narrative through 2000, Hufferd chronicles upheavals most often caused by the chronic underdevelopment of existing resources, as the landowners maintained authority over the land, to the detriment of the black, mulatto and tribal segments of Brazilian society, who remained disenfranchised until recent years. In each volume, the author illustrates his vast knowledge of the topic, and he weaves political, economic, social and biographical threads throughout the panoramic narrative. While the expansive footnotes demonstrate impeccable research, they eventually hinder the narrative flow, requiring endless paging back and forth–the dissertation-style format ultimately detracts from the book's impact.
Problematic structure aside, a comprehensive history of Latin America's largest country.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2006
ISBN: 1-4208-0278-X, Vol.
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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