Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Some books make me nostalgic for an era before my birth. This is one of those books.
Doris Kearns grew up in the ’50s, and she makes it sound pretty darn good. (Though—gotta say—my ’70s childhood is pretty sparkly from this vantage point, too…)
Now, this book often is described as a book about how the author became a lifelong baseball fan when she was a young girl (at age 6, to be exact).
But, not-a-sports-fan that I am, I can attest that there’s tons and tons and tons more to this book than baseball. However, if baseball is a requirement for happiness for you as a reader, you’ll find that Doris Kearns Goodwin’s delight in the sport proves that she’s on your team.
I know the current trend is for memoirs to be all about horrible childhoods. Lots of people really like reading that stuff. Me, I detest those books. They make me go into a protective crouch. (I’m not naming names—those people have already suffered enough, don’t you think?—but you know what books I’m talking about.)
I like the “I had a good—but still interesting—childhood” books, and this definitely qualifies.
The thing that makes this book worth reading is that Doris Kearns Goodwin can really tell a story. This isn’t just any old someone rambling about their shiny, happy childhood; this is Doris Kearns Goodwin telling us her story, and she and her family are charming and funny and decent. And the fact that the little girl in this story grew up to be Doris Kearns Goodwin, the charming and smiley political biographer… Really, how can a person resist her story?
I don’t care about sports.
Boys on Bikes
Inside the Postal Bus: My Ride with Lance Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Cycling Team by Michael Barry
Speaking of rough—this is a sport where athletes get hit by motorcycles, open their eyes to see the motorcycle on their chest, and then get back on the bike to finish the day’s stage. It’s crazy like that. (This exact thing happened to Barry in the 2002 Vuelta a España. Those skinny dudes are tough.)
Reading about the Cold during the Dog Days of Summer
Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a Long-Distance Swimmer by Lynne Cox
I completely expected this to be one of those books where I wonder throughout: How can this person choose this crazy pursuit? Fortunately, Lynne Cox is nearly as good at weaving a tale as she is at swimming at high speed in ice-cold-freezing water – so she tells us how she developed her overwhelming love of swimming in open water, even (especially?) under tough conditions. Her description of being 11 years old and choosing to swim for 3 hours in the midst of a hail storm rather than do 2 hours of calisthenics is just plain beautiful. And the part where she’s crossing a New Zealand strait accompanied by dolphins… I confess I felt a twinge of envy that made me realize all that training could result in some mighty lovely moments. You still won’t find me swimming in water where there be sharks, but Lynne Cox’s writing helps me understand why she would.
Bike Cult
Lance Armstrong’s War: One Man’s Battle Against Fate, Fame, Love, Death, Scandal, and a Few Other Rivals on the Road to the Tour de France by Daniel Coyle
Who knew professional cyclists were as touchy-feely as senators? But while the politicos tend to keep the grasping and back-slapping above the waist, the cyclists aim right for the mid-section… and below. It turns out they like to check out the competition by pinching and prodding to determine their rivals’ gluteal muscle tone. But really, this book is about Lance Armstrong… and his enormous ego, remarkable natural athletic ability, unparalleled work ethic, determination to live life to the fullest after cancer, and the temperament that both makes him a winner and makes him exceedingly difficult to deal with. Plus, the small, fascinating world of professional cycling; and doping; and team dynamics; and, yes, Sheryl Crow; and Tyler Hamilton, Jan Ullrich, Iban Mayo, Floyd Landis (before he won the Tour and popped positive for le dopage), Alexandre Vinokourov, and the other racers of the 2004 season. Coyle was an editor for Outside magazine, which is one of those magazines whose writers (Jon Krakauer, Sebastian Junger, Hampton Sides, Randy Wayne White – to name a few) are just plain amazing. So this book, like Into Thin Air, The Perfect Storm, and others written by the Outside crew – has appeal beyond the core audience who would seek it out because of the subject matter. In other words, this is the type of nonfiction that’s simply good writing that sucks you in like a vortex.