Reviews

I'm no expert on Monroe, so this tied together most of the relevant details surrounding her ill-starred final days. It's clear that her suicide may not have been intentional. The resurrected footage of her final film appears very corny by today's standards. It's hard to believe the public bought this awful stuff not that long ago. Neither Monroe, nor her cos-star, Dean Martin, could ever get away with acting this lame today. But they must be judged by the standards of their day, I guess. You can imagine the parallels with today's starlets like Lindsey Lohan, perhaps.

This DVD is wonderful! It's great to see the last work of Marilyn Monroe, in the edited and remastered film from her uncompleted movie "Something's Got to Give". It is a must have for any MM fan.

This product is pieced together from raw/restored footage, out-takes and the ending partial film is sprite, interesting and Monroe's powerful luminous presence is riveting and almost ethereal. The commentary unfortunately tends to favor the negative side of the studio issues playing out. They fail to mention or down play that Monroe was the #1 female box office star of the past decade, that her films were keeping 20th Century Fox above water for the past several years and they were paying her approx. 200K due to a loop hole in her early contract. Yet Cleopatra was literally bankrupting Fox after almost 2 years in production and Taylor was receiving 1M for her film. This was the last film under Monroe's old contract, and it was a flimsy B film that she didn't want to do. Fox expected Monroe to complete & release the hit quickly, thus it would help finance the ballooning Cleopatra and the sinking Fox. Monroe resented these facts, the film and didn't want to make it. So she was sick & tardy, they fired her, she made history again at Madison Square Garden, her legal team countered, Dean Martin quit (he refused to work w/ anyone but Monroe as his contract stated), Fox quickly rehired her with a large raise..yes she was dumb like a "Fox". It's of note to watch her out-takes when she sees her children for the first time in 5 years, her eyes reveal a range as large as the Alps and take you on a journey in mere seconds, many shades of pathos, yearning and love. It's evident her craft had made another substantial jump in development. And Monroe's flesh impact owns the screen like none other - even when someone else is talking your still watching her. In film class at Yale they devoted a whole class to her, including showing a series of clips with a multitude of famous dignitaries with her: Presidents, Queens, Kings, actors, opera stars, famous scholars and scientist, etc. and at the end the professor asked us to name any of the 17 dignitaries with Monroe, we could name only 4. Such is the power of her flesh impact. In forty some years since her death it's safe to say they'll be no one at this level of screen presence, close but sans that flesh impact that only Monroe delivered soulfully.

I FOUND THIS DVD TO BE ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING AND A MUST FOR ALL THE MARILYN MONROE FANS AS IT GIVES YOU MORE OF AN INSIGHT TO THIS VERY TRAGIC ENDING OF A WOMAN WHO HAD THE POWER TO GAIN ANYTHING IN HER LIFE SHE WANTED ---EXCEPTING ONE THING THAT SHE NEEDED, AND THAT WAS PEACE OF MIND......I HAVE SEEN MANY DOCUMENTARIES ON MARILYN BUT THIS ONE WAS THE MOST COMPASSIONATE AND MOST UNDERSTANDING OF ALL......SOPHIE

Outstanding DVD. A HUGE Marilyn fan I own every movie in which she appeared from the walk on in "Love Happy" to her final film "The Misfits" and always felt cheated there was no partical release of "Something's Got To Give". I purchased every 8x10 glossy from the production set I could find to fill the void. The wait is now over. Here in this DVD is a look into the production, interviews with the cast, writer and director, fantastic stills and costume takes. The narration is insightful and not judgemental. Best of all it includes a pieced together look from what available footage they had at what "Something's Got To Give" would have looked like had it ever made it to the screen. A real treat. This is a must have for any Monroe fan. She was over weight in her last two films and lost weight for this film and looked better than she had in years. A true must see. Marilyn at her very best!

Reviews

Not only did I never receive the product, the MLB Vintage World Series Films of the Yankees, the seller has never yet responded to my email query about its non-arrival.

Yes...THE BEST OF THE BEST ...what more needs to be said about the greatest sports franchise in sports history. All the great players , all the great plays from 1943-2000. Non believers and Yankee haters take note...buy, watch and enjoy these DVD'S...they are baseball history..they are baseball at it's finest...Joe D, The Mick, Yogi, Reggie, Jeter and a cast of other greats have made and will continue to make great baseball history for as long as baseball is played...It's to bad films from the other 10 New York Yankee World Series Wins do not exist...would love to have had those included....A GREAT BUY !!!!!!!

Whether you are a Yankee fan or not these videos contain rare footage of the Yankees 17 World Series wins from 1947 to 2000. You will see rare footage of Shibe Park, Ebbets Field, The Polo Grounds, Crosley Field, Original Milwaukee County Stadium, and of course, old Yankee Stadium before the renovations. These are complete highlights of each of the 17 Series wins. If you were to purchase these individually you would pay several hundred dollars. The quality is very good considering the age of the original broadcasts. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching these classic games from the past. They are a must for avid historical baseball fans who would like to add to their collection. The 1958 World Series on are broadcast in color.

Amazon had the best price and availability for this item. Shipping was fast and on time too! We are excited to watch it!

I am a huge fan of the New York Yankees. I remember watching every single inning of the World Series in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000 but wasn't born for any of the prior ones. That's what makes this collection so great, I can relive the favorite moments I was around for and see for the first time the highlights that I wasn't around for. The four most recent championships are absolutely fantastic and I could watch them over and over. The earlier ones are great because you get to watch the Yankees win the world series but the presentation isn't as good. The narration is a little boring and the footage is a little grainy so it makes the older World Series a little less cinematic. Diehard Yankee fans like myself don't need that sort of thing because the footage and the games speak for themselves but a casual fan might find them boring. This is definitely a great gift idea, I probably would have asked for it had I not already purchased it for myself!

Reviews

I was looking for a video of the yankees with Di Maggio in actual play. This has a few clips of the games, but nothing spectacular. NBC and CBS both filmed the all-star games in the late 30's and 40's, but they aren't making moves to release them. All we have of the old days are stories. Someone should find the game films and put them out. I'll buy one or two a month.

Following Joe DiMaggio's death and the publication of Richard Ben Cramer's expose "Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life" a lot more came out about the Yankee Clipper than was ever known during his lifetime. "Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?" is an HBO production that ends up taking the middle ground between the legend of DiMaggio and the grim reality of what we know take to be the truth. We hear about DiMaggio's fierce demand for privacy, his tendency to cut off friends who crossed him, the money he made selling his signature, and the care with which he maintained his reputation as "the greatest living baseball player." However, this comes in the latter part of this 63-minute documentary. The first part deals with how this son of immigrant San Francisco fisherman became a legendary figure. The portrait is certainly balanced. Witnesses tell of how DiMaggio snubbed the young Mickey Mantle, who was clearly being groomed to replace him in center field at Yankee Stadium, but then Reggie Jackson talks about how nice DiMaggio was to him when the Hall of Famer was a coach for the Oakland A's. The talking heads are a nice mixture of biographers, reporters and baseball players. This latter includes both former teammates like Tommy Henrich, Phil Rizzuto and Yogi Berra and opponents such as Bob Feller (who allows that DiMaggio was the best right-handed batter he ever faced). In the end, two things stand out: when DiMaggio took himself out of a crucial game against the Red Sox because he was hurting the team and the way he stepped in when his ex-wife Marilyn Monroe died. At the root of everything he did was a sense of pride on truly epic proportions.Certainly it took long enough for someone to appropriate this title from Paul Simon's "Mrs. Robinson." Maury Allen, of course, was first with his biography. At one point in this documentary we learned that DiMaggio was puzzled by the Simon & Garfunkel song and considered suing over the apparent "insult." Of course, the exact opposite was the case. Even if we now know more than we ever wanted to know about the real Joe DiMaggio, "Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?" more than adequately covers the legend he worked so hard to create and to maintain. Final Note: Be sure to watch the credits on this one, which roll over an appearance of DiMaggio on "I've Got a Secret." The irony is palatable.

This video gives a realistic rendering of Joe DiMaggio's personality. It is not as whitewashed as the A&E Biography video, but this is probably to the video's credit. The most poignant part of the movie is the end where DiMaggio becomes "the keeper of his own flame." It is a depressing, lonely part of DiMaggio's life, but you walk away from it feeling you know the real DiMaggio, an American hero who was nonetheless prone to isolationism and paranoia. I recommend this video as well as A&E's video on DiMaggio.

Reviews

These shirts are made very well. I got one for my husband, and he loves it. He is a great fan of the Yankees.

Reviews

He started baseball's famous streak That's got us all aglow He's just a man and not a freak, Joltin' Joe DiMaggio. Joe, Joe DiMaggio We want you on our side The song "Joltin'" Joe DiMaggio was penned in 1941 by Ben Homer and Alan Courtney for the Les Brown Orchestra, where it was sung by Betty Bonney. Of course the reference is to the 56-game hitting streak that began on May 15 when DiMaggio went 1-for-4 with a run batted in against the Chicago White Sox. It would end 56 gmes later on July 16, the day before third basemen Ken Keltner of the Cleveland Indians made two terrific backhanded stops to rob DiMaggio of hits. During the streak DiMaggio had 91 hits in 223 at bats to hit .409, to go along with 56 runs, 16 doubles, 4 triples, 15 home runs, and 55 runs batted in. DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak is one of the greatest individual achievements in baseball history. It might not be as impossible as record to break as Cy Young's marks for career wins (511), career losses (316), and complete games (749), and no one is going to come close to Jack Chesbro's 41 wins. But in terms of single season achievements in the realm of hitting the only other marks that seem equally unassailable are Earl Webb's 67 doubles, Babe Ruth's 177 runs scored (or Billy Hamilton's 192 runs if you want to go pre-1900), and Hack Wilson's 191 RBIs. But none of those have the cache of DiMaggio's hitting streak. What is nice about this Cooperstown Series 4 action figure of Joe DiMaggion in the pinstripped uniform of the New York Yankees is that it is clearly based on one of the best known photographs of the Yankee Clipper, sold on Amazon as The Swing, Washington, D.C., 1941, Joe DiMaggio Photographic Poster Print, 11x14. Was the photo taken during the streak? When the Yankees went to Washington in late May (27-29) those were only games 12-14 in DiMaggio's streak. He went 4-5, 1-4 and 1-3 during the series, with the Yankees winning the first two games and tying the third. So if the photograph was indeed taken during that period it was not because photographers were focuing on the streak. I rounded up on this figure because they did a great job of capturing DiMaggio's distinctive hitting approach, even if they did add a lot of dirt on his pants legs and were rather inconsistent on drawing the pinstrips. But I also like the details that you can just tell DiMaggio is wearing a blue t-shirt underneath his uniform, and that the pine tar goes a third of the way up the bat where the signature is for "Joseph DiMaggio." The sculpt of the face is pretty good, but more from the profiles than from the front. There is no articulation for the figure and you have to add the right foot to the figure to complete it. The most significant change is the knob of the bat comes already attached to the figure's left hand. In the beginning we had to cut open the hands of a batter (e.g., Jason Giambi) to put the bat in position, and then they did it so the knob came off and you could slide the bat into position (e.g., Hideki Matsui), and hope the knob did not fly off and disappear. So this is a great improvement (although I did spend a couple of minutes looking for the knob on my desk or on the ground when I opened the package and found it was not on the end of the bat. The Yankee Clipper played in 139 games in 1941, getting 193 hits in 541 time at bat for a .357 batting average (of course, that was the same year that Ted Williams batted .406). DiMaggio scored 122 runs and drove in 125 while hitting 43 doubles, 11 triples, and 30 home runs while only striking out 13 times, and winning the second of his three American League Most Valuable Player awards. It is quite appropriate that joining DiMaggio in the Cooperstown Series 4 are Ted Williams completing his swing at Fenway Park for the Red Sox (with road variation), along with Roger Maris of the New York Yankees (clearly based on the photograph of him hitting his home run #61 in 1961, which makes the Cardinal variant somehwat odd), Johnny Bench of the Cincinnati Reds diving over the short fence in front of the dugout at Riverfront Stadium to catch a ball, Steve Carlton about to deliver the ball on the road for the Philadelphia Philies (or at home), and an upside down Ozzie Smith doing his pattented opening day back flip in St. Louis for the Cardinals. With DiMaggio (#5, first worn by Bob Meusel) and Maris (#9) getting McFarlane figures this season, along with Derek Jeter (#2), Babe Ruth (#3), Mickey Mantle (#7, first worn by Leo Durocher), and Yogi Berra (#8), we have two thirds of the Yankee single digit uniform numbers, all of which have been retired except for Jeter (for now). Sooner or later there has to be one of Lou Gehrig (#4), and then the question is whether they will ever do a figure of Billy Martin (#1, first worn by Earle Combs) and Bill Dickey (also #8, although he started wearing #10). Phil Rizzuto wore #10 in case you were wondering (#6 was first worn by Tony Lazzeri, and there are also McFarlane figures of Don Mattingly(#23), and Reggie Jackson (#44) when it comes to retired Yankee numbers, which can include #42, retired now for Jackie Robinson but also in the future for Mariano Rivera. I assume the day will come for Thurman Munson (#15), Whitey Ford (#16), Elston Howard (#32), Casey Stengel (#37), and Ron Guidry (#40), because it seems like McFarlane comes out with a couple of Yankees, past and present, every single year. As soon as I get my updated Bobby Abreu, the new Robinson Cano and the second Johnny Damon figures later this summer, I will have all nine of this year's Yankee starters in Yankees uniforms (Yes, I know, I have to put Giambi at first base instead of DH to do this because there is not a Doug Mientkiewicz action figure, at least, not yet...).

Reviews

This is an excellent biography overall. I got the feeling it was extremely well researched and well written, and I learned a lot about Joe DiMaggio, "the greatest ballplayer who ever lived," as he liked to be called. But the picture painted by Richard Ben Cramer is not pretty to look at. Joltin' Joe was, it appears, a money-grubbing skinflint who expected people to give him everything for free and immediately became suspicious and cut people off as soon as they asked for the smallest thing in return. He cut off his son, who later died of a crank overdose, for not living up to his standards. He lost two wives, including Marilyn Monroe, essentially because he was so controlling and domineering. Although he managed to patch things up with one of his brothers, Dom, he basically died alone under the effective control of a lawyer who was out to get everything he could from the DiMaggio estate. I didn't doubt this picture as presented by the author, but I felt there must be something missing. Late in his life, he was a very popular social fixture on the New York scene, hanging out with a lot of luminaries such as Woody Allen, Paul Simon and Henry Kissinger, to name a few. I found it hard to reconcile Cramer's picture of DiMaggio as, well, a jerk, with the apparent fact that he was a popular social butterfly late in life. It seemed to me that he must have had a charming side too, or he wouldn't have been so popular. But there was little suggestion in the book that Joe could be charming. That's why I gave this book four stars instead of five -- that feeling that something must be missing. Still, it's a great book and a great read. Highly recommended for baseball fans.

A simply incredibly well written account of the bittersweet life of one of America's icons. Cannot be put down, both out of pity and contempt for DiMaggio. Joltin Joe led a fabulous life; it would have been nice if he enjoyed even a day of it. Not to be missed!

Joe DiMaggio. Everyone knows his name; he's a legend, an icon, revered for what he did as a baseball superstar, and also for what he was. Joltin' Joe; the Yankee Clipper. Joe was the son of Italian immigrants, born and raised in California. His career highlights are generally well known; he entered minor league pro ball in 1932 and debuted with the Yankees in 1936. He batted after the legendary Lou Gehrig and led the club to 9 World Series wins. In 1941 his incredible 56-game hitting streak held the country spellbound. In 1949 he was the first player to sign a six-figure contract. He retired from baseball after the 1951 season and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. At the end of his career the Yankee torch was passed to Mickey Mantle. Those are the baseball facts, but what about the man? Author Richard Ben Cramer turns a bright and unflattering light on his private life. Joe DiMaggio : The Hero's Life describes Joe as obsessed with his image, involved with mob figures, faithless to his wives and his friends, a neglectful father, always looking to make a buck on his name, and sometimes violent in his relationships. His brief marriage to Marilyn Monroe and their ongoing relationship come in for close scrutiny, mostly unflattering to both. The tawdry family and business details of his later years and especially the cold reality of his final illness and his death in 1999 are the stuff of tabloids. I listened to the audio version and as usual missed out on any charts, pictures, and particularly notes and bibliography. It's not apparent to me that Cramer's sources are adequately documented, and for such an unflattering biography, sterling attributions are a must. My main objection to the book is the odd, almost jeering style of writing, seemingly meant to mimic the point of view of the character being written about. "Joe had to look around to find anybody he knew, a real Yankee, one of his guys. The only player from before the war was the shortstop, Phil Rizzuto, everyone else was new ... and then there was Joe." The book establishes its negative tone early and often. If this is the man, so be it; his sports achievements are not challenged nor can they ever be. We hold our sports heroes to a high standard and they are only human. I don't ask for a whitewashed biography but this book feels like a poorly-substantiated attack. Exhaustive, perhaps definitive, vivid in its play-by-play and full of star-spottings, but an attack nonetheless. There may be a place for books like this but it's not going to find a home on my shelf. Linda Bulger, 2009

I can not in any way, shape or form recommend this book to anyone to buy because of the author's intense use of the word 'D*go'. The Amazon review guidelines limits obscene or distasteful content so I will censor this review, but in my personal opinion, the use of these terms in this book is very distasteful. (NOTE: I rate this book no stars because of this, but the system won't recognize that, hence the one star in the rating.) Lawrence Baldassaro writes in his book on Italian-American atheletes in the 1930's and 1940's that "Such language is inconceivable today, yet...in 1938 such terms as "w*p" and "d**o"...routinely appeared in coverage of Italian American ballplayers." Baldassaro notes that in the 1930's and 1940's "Stories that claimed to celebrate the sudden surge of Italian players were...written in a style that was at once patronizing and slightly derogatory...praise mingled easily with a barely masked smirk that was betrayed frequently by stereotypical depictions..." While Mr. Baldassaro is commenting on the racism and prejudice presented by sports writers towards Italian-Americans over 60 and 70 years ago, the author of 'The Hero's Life" seems to forget that he is writing now, in the new millenium, in a much more enlightened and politically correct time, when racism and ethnic pejoratives are frowned upon and not used lightly. Cramer's writing seems lost in time, seeming to revel in the use of the words "D*go" and "D**g". These epithets show up every few pages, with some pages, like p-266, using it 3 times. This writing goes beyond the device of "quoting" dialogue and attributing sayings to specific people, repeatedly and unnecessarily using the terms "da**" and "w**". While a few sports websites note that some of DiMaggio's teammates referred to him in this way for a time, the book seems to infer that everyone, everywhere, easily used and still use these terms without any attempt to balance or explain this biased presentation. Readers know that racism existed at the start of Dimaggio's career, not just towards Italians and Italian-Americans, but as suffered and fought by the multitude of talented Black and Latino players throughout the sport's history. But this author does not see fit to use pejorative terms for other ethnic groups when he writes about Latino, Black and Jewish players: he never refers to sp**s, ni**ers, or k**es, but he feels free to use slurs for Italian-Americans over a 48 times before page 377 in a 515 page book. Even thinking of these terms in a censored manner is disturbing to me and I can't bring myself to fully print pejoratives for other ethnic groups even to make a point. I am quite shocked that Cramer's editors didn't feel the need to reign in his excessive and unwarranted use of these terms, and their use in this book completely overshadows any other facets of it.

To Mr. Ben Cramer I give 5 Stars. No Problem!! His research into the career and the mindset of Joe DiMaggio is outstanding. While it is true that Joe DiMaggio had great talent and grace on the baseball field there can be no doubt. His personal life and treatment of people give the Old Yankee Clipper a rating of 2 Stars. Hence my rating of 3 Stars. We learn of Joe's meager childhood and later his talent to play the game of baseball. His brothers Dom & Joe also were talented and played at the Major League level. It is true that Joe's exploits as a right handed hitter are great. He was always surrounded with the best players of his age. He played on 9 World Championship teams. One would say Joe was the catalyst for this. I really don't think so. If Joe played for the St. Louis Browns this would not have happened. DiMaggio was a loner. He really sought his worldly pleasures through well connected people who catered to him. Toots Shorr, Walter Winchell et al. He never would sustain a marital relationship. His marriage to Marilyn Monroe was really just a sexual escapade. Joe DiMaggio was a great player. He was not the best ever. He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. But his life is one of a taker. Sorry Joe, my take is not of Simon & Garfunkle!!!

Reviews

I loved this book because I didn't really know about Joe DiMaggio and I really love baseball. This book was fun to read because it had interesting fact about his life. It started out when he was ten and went through his life until he died. My favorite part was when he got a triple when he was a rookie. I was really surprised that there were nine children in his family. I read this book because I had read the Lou Gehrig book in this series and I had really enjoyed that one as well.

This book was great! It tells the story of the immortal Joe Dimaggio,the Yankee Clipper. It begins with Joe's childhood, growing up in San Francisco, California. Joe's family was very poor so he did not have a lot of the things other kids had. he became interested in baseball because it didn't cost anything to play. Joe and the other kids in the the neighborhood would have pick up games and Joe soon found he was a very good baseball player. he decided that if he was going to be great he needed to practice more. In school all Joe could think about was baseball. Then in October,1929 the stock market crashed and Joe quit school to help support his family. It was during this time that Joe joined a neighborhhod baseball team called Rossi Olive Oil Company. Soon he was being noticed by major league scouts who were impressed with the 15 year old. By the time Joe was 18 years old he was playing with the minor league Seals and had a hitting streak of 48 games to tie the minor league record. The New York Yankees took notice of the talented young player and decided to sign him to major league contract in 1936.Joe played for the Yankees for 15 years and had the memorable and historical 56 game hitting streak that still stands today. Joe was a 3 time MVP and was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. In 1969 Joe was voted the greatest living ball player. Joe was also honored in 1976 with the Medal of Freedom by President Ford. Joe died in 1999 at age 84 in Hollywood, Florida.

This book was great!Joe went threw alot of hard times when he was a kid.Joe always wanted to be a great ball player when he grew up.He would always play pick up games with the neighbor hood.He was very poor,all he could afford was fish for dinner.Joe was very good at baseball.When he grew up he was one of the greatest Yankees.I found this book helpful because it has all the information you probally could get on Joe Dimaggio.Also at the end there was a timeline you could use it for a report.Also there was a stat chart of all of the stats that Joe Dimaggio had like how many home runs and hits and all stuff like that.Thats how i found it helpful and why you should read this book! By Griffin

This book was great!Joe went threw alot of hard times when he was a kid.Joe always wanted to be a great ball player when he grew up.He would always play pick up games with the neighbor hood.He was very poor,all he could afford was fish for dinner.Joe was very good at baseball.When he grew up he was one of the greatest Yankees.I found this book helpful because it has all the information you probally could get on Joe Dimaggio.Also at the end there was a timeline you could use it for a report.Also there was a stat chart of all of the stats that Joe Dimaggio had like how many home runs and hits and all stuff like that.Thats how i found it helpful and why you should read this book! By Griffin

This was just one of the facts my son spontaneously shared. This was the first book in the series that my almost 8-year old read. He was enthused about sharing what he learned about young JD and his family. He is asking for more titles from this series for his upcoming birthday.

Reviews

I've read a bunch of Gischler's books and I enjoyed this one the best. This isn't your normal, hard-boiled crime caper novel. It's a tongue-in-cheek version with a rogue's gallery of good guys with bad luck and bad guys with low self esteem. The main dude, Conner Samson, is a hilarious half-drunk repo man with a gambling problem who finds himself caught in the crosshairs of some Yakuza boss' search for a rare baseball card. It may sound silly, but it actually works. There's plenty of blood and guts, gratuitous sex and sarcastic dialogue, and somehow he threw in a little life lesson that wasn't all that corny. In all, this book was really fun and actually made me laugh out loud. I read through it pretty quickly. Definitely recommended - especially since it's like five bucks. Enjoy!

The good thing about Victor Gischler books is that they're full of fun, clean narrative and lots of action. The bad thing, as I'm starting to realize, is that if you've read one of them, you've read most of them (note, I didn't say "all"). Don't misunderstand me--Suicide Squeeze is a fun book with a fairly inventive story. Conner Samson, your typical down-on-his-luck-bum type, gets mixed up with local mobsters, the Yakuza and a trigger happy former-NSA agent over...a baseball card. See? Inventive, right? And a lot of fun as well. Gischler's strength evenly lies in his ability to make a story both complex and accessible at the same time. His books read like Hollywood blockbusters, which in my opinion, tastes almost like a delicacy in a world of stuffy, hyper-literate, dust-collecting "instant classics" that the New York Times insists should be on your reading schedule. As mentioned, Gischler's near-trademark storytelling and the smirk you can tell he's cracking while crafting these fun tales work against him as readers become more acquainted with his work. On their own, Gischler's books are the epitome of a fun read, however, when compared to his other works, more than a few common threads begin to connect (and almost tire) his stories' themes and their characters. If this is your first time hearing the name "Gischler," by all means, read Suicide Squeeze! But if you're familiar with some of his other works (also worth checking out for their own merits), be warned that you may have seen this story before. Michael Ferrari Author, Assault on the Senses

It all starts with a one-of-a-kind baseball card and ascends from there into a wild ride piloted by one Connor Samson. Along for the ride are a nympho, an ex-NSA ninja woman (NSA?), a giant black bodyguard, a bunch of Yakuza heavies and many more colorful characters. The plot is simple -- everybody wants to get ahold of the baseball card -- and proceeds at breakneck speed. The book is like a James Bond novel, outrageous, but not so outrageous that it is silly. Gischler does a yeoman's job keeping everything under control. Wild as it is, Gischler has penned a disciplined, enjoyable book. Definitely four-stars and I'll throw in a fifth for sheer creativity.

I really wanted to like this book. His cast of characters sounds interesting, a marginal repo man, Yakuza, a NSA super-SWAT women (yes NSA, the author doesn't know any better) and various others. But to my mind the characters just didn't come together to build an engrossing tale. I was able to put the book down for days at a time come back to it and read a few of the very short chapters, then put it down again. It took me over a month to read and that's unusual. I can't point to any one thing and it's not a horrible read it just never drew me in. I will say it was a lot better than the author's Gun Monkeys which I really disliked. I didn't dislike this one, I just didn't care.

but don't worry, you'll have fun as the author metes out justice with a dark humor.