this book was given to me to read by a co-worker,it is one of the best books i've read in a long time, it has a little bit of everything that life might throw your way. I really enjoyed it from cover to cover. Overall a great read........

As a baseball fan, Bill James speaks his mind entertainingly, and as a student of statistics, he puts evidence where his mouth is, convincingly. This collection brings together excerpts from a number of his earlier books, with the focus on the entertaining and opinionated writing, rather than the statistical analysis. The intelligent baseball fan will find this, like his other books, to be unputdownable reading.

Many may think "Oh, c'mon, some cheesy cat book" but this is by far one of the most incredible stories I have ever read. It is the story of Norton the cat who changed the lives of all he met. Gethers has written other books about Norton, but this is the last we'll ever find, as Norton is now in Heaven. While reading this book, I almost felt I was right there with Norton on his adventures to fancy restaurants and long car trips and spending a whole vacation hanging out with the people at the front desk of the hotel who couldn't bare to let him leave. Norton is incredible, and so is this book.

What a great book! I didn't start reading the Norton books until last summer & I loved the first two. When I read this one, I was crying by the end of it. I can't even imagine how sad Peter Gethers was when Norton died. You have to admit, Norton had a life unlike any other cat! Truly a one-of-a-kind cat. My sincere condolences to Peter Gethers.

I bought a Scottish Fold after reading Gether's first two books. And was pleased to find that Norton's qualities are are a part of the breed. Loving, calm, etc. And total people magnets. The last book is cheerful, more stories of Norton's exploits and travels. Not until the last third of the book do we see Norton start to "fade." When Gethers sees that Norton is nearing the close of his life he takes him on a final road trip.
I read, I cried, I read some more and cried a lot more.

The odd thing is that this is not a depressing story. It's a story that ends and it ends just as Norton lived--with love for his human.

I bought this book in a bit of a rush and hoped it wasn't going to be cutesy--but! What a good book--about a cat, love, death, writing, New York, etc... Thank you, Peter Gethers, for a truly enjoyable book. This book really made my next to my last day of vacation before I go back to teaching. I'm going to buy all the other books of Gethers. It is always fun to find an author that you like, but hadn't known about!

I love the way Gethers wrote this book and the way his descriptions are so vivid that I can see Norton doing all his things. I would recommend this book to any cat lover.

Ever heard of Peter Gethers? Many haven't, even though he has written one of few books that have earned a place in my memory. This book is a story about a single guy in NYC (Gethers)who ends up with a fantastic cat. The scottish-fold named Norton doesn't ask for much, but becomes a big part of Gethers' life and makes him adjust his "on the go" life to having a pet. He includes great details and personal thoughts on his and Norton's experiences and adventures together. The whole book is written wonderfully in detail and in a personal manner that makes seem as if he is telling to you while sitting across the table. All in all? This book is a fantastic read, and an excellent poolside summer book. It's no wonder why so many people love this book!

Read the book in 2 sittings, even though I've never picked up a racquet in my life! Feinstein brings characters to life and provides great insight into the Pro Tennis circuit. Good read for any sports fan.

John Feinstein is such a fascinating writer and sports critic that someone should recognize his work in some way, shape or form. "Hard Courts" is a microscopic scrutiny of the men's and women's tennis tour throughout the entire 1990 calendar year. Though a bit outdated, it is a book for all ages and all sports fans. Feinstein's writing message is as effective as his many inteview appearances on National Public Radio. He is blunt, obsessed and even subjective, but also well-informed, uncontradictory and fair, and most definitely, never arrogant. Enjoyable reading!

I have copies of two books by John Feinstein...Hard Courts and A Season Inside. Both are fantastic. A fascinating look at a year (1990) on the professional tennis circuit. A must read for any follower of the game.

Wlliam Diehl redeems himself with Eureka. Every book he's written has been great, until his last one Reign In Hell. And lets just say it was terrible. With Eureka, he's back in top form. It's a mystery set in the early part of the twentieth century. A woman dies accidently in her bathtub. The hero, LA homicide cop, Zeke Bannon finds evidence that points to the woman being murdered. Bannon follows a trail of evidence back to a small town called Eureka. The town is run by Sheriff Brodie Culhane, a war hero, who is beginning a campaign for govenor.
The characters are very real and likeable. Even the bad guys
Nothing is as it appears in this great story, and you'll be racing to finish it and then sorry that you did.
If you've never read Diehl before this is an excellant book to start with. And if you were put off by his last book, don't worry about it he is back at the top of his game.

This is one of the top three books I read this year.

Whoops. It's January 5th. OK. If I had finished this book 6 days ago, I would have put it alongside of John LeCarre's "The Constant Gardner" and Lehane's "Mystic River." Forget any naysayers. "Eureka" is a eureka, a great mystery with wonderful conversations that smack of times gone by. An excellent novel.

Growing up on the East Coast, I remember old guys who had fought in WWI. One fellow lived into his late 80's with one lung gone, having given the first one up to mustard gas at Belleau Wood. So there's a 'reaching' aspect of Eureka that transcends a number of years. And we really don't feel it. Diehl is able to interrupt conversations in the past, flash forward, come back chapters later to finish them. Very tricky; very well done.

Diehl captures the chronology swiftly and smoothly. Sometimes he's writing of events a 100 years ago, sometimes 60, sometimes in between. "The bohunk got ironed out in a hit and run." The dialogue is crisp and seemingly accurate. Very timely. Great conversations.

Everyone who reads the reviews knows the plot by now. Honest cop, diamond in the rough, investigating the accidental electrocution of a widow in a 1940 bath tub, with only two things out of order: no will and "100 large in the bank."

A tough WWI veteran about to run for Governor, unanswered questions about the past igniting the future with a 40 year fuse. The quote from Gatsby, 'boats against the current,' is as prescient now as it was then.

Some romance that might be too much but everybody finds someone sometime.

The best dialogue is found in Elmore Leonard. Diehl gives him a run for his money in Eureka. Strongly recommended.

William Diehl weaves a beautifully conceived and convoluted tale surrounding homicide Detective Sergeant Zeke Bannon of the Los Angeles Police Department in 1941. Bannon and his partner, Ski" Agassi stumble into an apparent accidental bathtub drowning of a middle aged woman in a middle class L.A. neighborhood. Upon investigation they discover the woman, Verna Wilensky died without a will and with $98,000 in a savings account. This amount accrued as a result of a monthly check for $500, a princely sum in the depression, for about 17 years. Eventually forensics determines that the accident was actually a murder.

Bannon discovers that most of the checks have originated from a town about 100 miles north of L.A., called San Pietro. San Pietro formerly known as Eureka, at the turn of the century had been an open, lawless town replete with gambling, prostitution, and alcohol (despite Prohibition). Eureka was controlled by a group of rich robber baron types lead by railroad tycoon, Eli Gorman, who lived above the town in what was called "The Hill".
The town was kept under control by sheriff Buck Tallman who was adorned in a ten gallon Stetson, fringed suede jacket and a holstered .44 caliber Peacemaker. Tallman used to ride with Pat Garrett and Bat Masterson and knew how to keep chief mobster Arnie Riker in check. Tallman shepherded both Eli Gorman's son Ben and his best friend "Brodie" Culhane.

As time passed Brodie Culhane left Eureka to become hugely decorated Marine war hero in World War One. He came back to eventually take over Buck Tallman's law enforcement duties in San Pietro. Tallman is ultimately killed in a wild shoot out with four gangsters in a high class bordello. Aided by a multitude of battle experienced war buddies, Culhane becomes the big wheel of the county and is now primed to run for governor of California. Culhane is unfortunately the central suspect in the murder being investigated by Bannon.

Diehl diligently takes us through the plethora of layers of Bannon's investigation, revealing 20 year old secrets until the true nature of the crime is revealed. The book is marvelously authored and a classic 1940's period piece.

I dearly loved _The Cat Who Went to Paris_, so I was delighted to learn that Gethers had co-authored _Historical Cats_ with his feline companion, Norton. (If you haven't heard of Norton, order that book *now* - you don't know what you've been missing.)

Norman Stiles, the human co-author, appears in _The Cat Who Went to Paris_ as "the Mayor of Fire Island" - an old friend of Gethers who at that time was chief writer for _Sesame Street_.

I had expected a book of essays or short stories about great cats of history, told from Norton's viewpoint. If you're looking for that book, too, this isn't it.

Norton has kindly provided an entertaining prologue. The rest of the book is comprised of 1-page cartoons, one for each historical cat. The cartoon of Julius Caesar's cat that graces the cover of this edition is a typical sample.

Gethers did a great job with the book. It is very witty, but I've been a true Gethers/Norton since I read,"The Cat that Went to Paris". The jokes were very delightful and anyone can enjoy them. If you are Gethers fan this is a must have book.

Geoffrey Barnett, an ex-photojournalist, has the inability to photograph faces due to a traumatic event in his life. He now makes a living by selling photographic prints and at night he likes to prowl the streets of New York to find great shots. One evening he meets a young beautiful woman named Kim who helps him overcome his photographer's "block" and who also ultimately becomes his lover. His mundane life suddenly takes an adventurous turn when he becomes involved with her. Several of her friends are murdered; she skips town; and after tracking her to Key West he learns of her blackmailing scheme. The cops are suspicious of him and the blackmailee harasses him. Overall, the book was an easy read but I found Geoffrey to be a bit naive considering his worldliness.

I found this to be the least interesting of the three Norton books. Norton is not quite as prominent, and it's more about Peter and Janis and their travels through Europe, the things they did, and the people they met. Gethers' humor is a little overdone here too. After THE CAT WHO WENT TO PARIS, the same type of gags can get a little tiring, though it may be my fault for reading all three books at once. The fact that I did go through all three books shows however that Gethers captured my interest, and while comparing this to the other two can only disappoint, Norton fans will probably enjoy it anyway.

Before you read another of word of this glowing review, know this: I am an unabashed, unambiguous, gushing and adoring Norton-phile - and I always will be. If you're looking for objectivity, you won't find it from this reviewer..."A Cat Abroad" was author Peter Gethers's second installment in his trilogy of Norton-ology. Originally published in 1993, the book chronicled the adventures of a precious Scottish Fold named Norton, whose enchanting and coquettish personality, singular intelligence and other-worldly savvy endeared him to all who knew him - or read about him. Norton was such a brilliant little creature - and such a treasured companion to Gethers - that his stunning physical beauty could have been a mere sideline to his power and magnetism. But it wasn't. Norton was so staggeringly cute and handsome (those ears! those eyes - which look like irridescent half-moons when he looks down! The fur like spun silk!) that he commanded the attention - and deference - of Oscar-winning actors, filmmaking geniuses, hotel managers, restaurant proprietors, best-selling authors (i.e., Gethers), and anyone else who had the pleasure of meeting him. Of course, there was much, much more to Norton than a handsome face and physique, as Gethers lovingly depicts here. Norton guided his owner's professional sphere, love life, and varied friendships with skill and ease - and taught him many lessons in the process. In return, Gethers provided his beloved little companion with the most wonderful life any animal has ever enjoyed. (Get a load of the answer Gethers provides when one Norton fan asks him, "Why won't my cat act like Norton?" Trust me, Gethers was the owner Norton was born to have....) How it warms the heart to read of Norton's intriguing adventures throughout Europe and how he charmed everyone within purring distance with his charisma and stellar comportment! In the first Norton installment (The Cat Who Went to Paris), Gethers describes his first meeting with his new friend - and how he lost his heart in approximately one-tenth of a second. "I don't think he's a normal cat," Gethers was told, in what was probably the understatement of the year. Sadly, however, Norton had one trait in common with the remainder of the feline race - length of life...If you think you know all there is to know about pet loss and grief read this book - as well as "The Cat Who Went to Paris" and "The Cat Who'll Live Forever." Norton has captured a part of my heart as no other animal ever has - and it's a love that endures beyond death.

When I was in Third to Fourth grade I read A Cat Who Went to Paris. I fell in love with a cat named Norton, and a human, who put up with this regal feline's cat-titude. When I went to the bookstore and saw that he had a second book about the small cat, I spent all my christmas money (I was 11 and only had 15$ in my hands) on that book.

I started reading it in the car with the interior light and began again, the adventures of Norton the Cat. From starting at the Superbowl all the way to going home after spending time abroad in Paris. I was yet again hooked. There were touching parts, and some parts which made you want to laugh. In fact the part where Norm and Peter and everyone was piled into the car and stuck in Italian traffic had me rolling for an hour. Even now I get a good chuckle out of it when I read it over again.

I'll never forget the first time I heard that Norton had died. I was at the beauty shop reading People Magazine when I came across that article. I remember tears starting to burn in my eyes and people asking me what was wrong. When I showed them, they blamed it on me being a kid (I was 14). I'll never forget Norton nor Peter for the rest of my life.

Never have I read a work by such a self-aggrandizing braggart. Like many ex-jocks, Wilt tries to hide his bitterness that he can no longer play pro sports in self-glorification. He portrays himself as larger than life in all aspects, which really gets boring fast in reading this book. It's a good thing Wilt wasn't around in Biblical times, imagine what tall tales we'd find in the Bible if he was!

WILT HAS MANY OPINIONS AND THOUGHTS. IN THIS BOOK HE EXPRESSES THEM FROM START TO FINISH. I AGREE WITH MANY OF HIS INSIGHTS. HE WAS A VERY INTELLIGENT GUY WHO ENJOYED THE FINE THINGS IN LIFE, CARS, WOMEN, FINE WINES, LARGE HOUSE ETC. WILT LIVED LARGE. THIS IS A NICE READ FOR FANS OF THE GREAT WILT. NICELY PUT TOGETHER.

WILT CHAMBERLAIN was THE GREATEST NBA PLAYER PERIOD.He Has TOO Mention Himself Because He has Never Gotten His Fair Shake.WHen He talks About Issues He Really Hits HOme.as For All THe Women He Slept With was He Any Worse than JFK OR BILL CLINTON? way overblown.Acknowledge His Impact as a Great Athlete&Great Minded Person.Very Intelligent Human Being.