It was with eager anticipation that i awaited receipt of what i thought would be a biography of a football legend. On its arrival i hurriedly opened the first page and started to read.
Landry starts with the great mans death and reads like a lengthy obituary column with eulogy after eulogy after eulogy.
There is NO balanced perspective, it is the sort of book that only a doting daughter/son or parent could write.
For all that, i suppose it is well written, just don't buy it if you are looking for an informative biography!

It has always been easy to hate the Dallas Cowboys. One can point to their arrogance spawned by an extraordinary success spanning four decades. Perhaps the gruff, bull-like intensity of Tex Schramm was never endearing. The egotistical hillbilly antics of Jerry Jones is certainly a factor. And then there's Michael Irvin, Nate Newton, Duane Thomas, Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson, Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer, Don Meredith, Dan Reeves and...my God.....the list never ends.

But it has never been easy to hate Tom Landry. A constant monument for 29 years as head football coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Landry in many ways became the leader of professional football and, more importantly, the community of Dallas. "Landry: The Legend and the Legacy" author Bob St. John embraces this theme with his loving tribute to a man he covered for many years as sportswriter for The Dallas Morning News. Anyone who ever stood in the presence of Mr. Landry could sense his strong character and kind nobility. Bob St. John, undoubtedly, stood in his presence many times and he was certainly blinded by that aura.

I know Tom Landry had his faults, but you will be hard-pressed to find them in "Landry: The Legend and the Legacy." And that's why Bob St. John was the wrong man to author this biography. What a story this would be if a writer from outside of Texas could pen this multi-layered tome. In many ways, a great American is still waiting to be discovered.

But let's not get too negative here. "Landry: The Legend and the Legacy" is a terrific account of the life and times of the one and only Tom Landry - high school football star in Mission, Texas; University of Texas football player and assistant coach; New York Giants defensive back and punter; New York Giants defensive coach; friend and rival (and personal opposite) of Vince Lombardi; head coach of the Dallas Cowboys; loving family man; community volunteer; strong Christian; heartbreaking victim of modern-day business/sports.

Mr. Landry's story is never boring, though one of the most defining moments of his public life - his disturbingly insensitive firing at the hands of Jerry Jones - takes up a large portion of the first quarter of the biography. This is the highlight of the book. Bob St. John (and his editors) would have been better served to tell Landry's story in chronological order.

Certainly the most memorable and harrowing passages of the book are the retelling of those traumatic days leading up to his dismissal - termed the "Saturday Night Massacre" by Dallas sportswriters. These pages (and the long, overly-detailed chapter describing his funeral) should have closed this biography.

The greatness of Tom Landry was, if anything, strengthened by his own handling of his abrupt firing. This is properly detailed by Bob St. John, but once again, far too early in the book. What for many was a professional tragedy of mythic-like proportions, which to this day echoes in the minds of many long-time Dallas residents, should have been left for the closing and final chapters.

"Landry: The Legend and the Legacy" is a loving tribute to Coach Landry. If it was rushed to publication following his death in 2000 (it was), then perhaps after a few years of retrospection, a definitive account of this man's life can be written.

If you are a Dallas Cowboy fan, then you will truly enjoy what Mr. St. John did in this wonderful biography. Having received this book as a birthday present, I completed this touching tome in three days.

During this journey inside of Landry's fedora, anger raced through me as I pictured myself in the bowels of Texas Stadium at the time of Landry's dismissal. That someone who touched so many in spite of his stoicism would be uncerimoniously canned the way he was is one of the greatest travesties this sports world has ever known.

I went with Tom and Alicia Landry back in time, from his days as a a defensive with the New York Giants (can you actually Imagine Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi as assistant coaches? WOW!!! BTW- I'm currently reading my other birthday present - When Pride Still Mattered.) and marveled as his innovative genius. From the 4-3 system he implemented to the "Flex" defense he employed in Dallas, he was ahead of his time.

Reading about the Cowboys through his eyes brought back so many memories. Remember how the offensive line used to do their "Set" in unison after breaking the huddle? How about the Shotgun formation in the 70's? I was almost ten years old when watching the "Hail Mary" break the hearts of many Viking fans in Metropolitan Stadium, even younger on that Thanksgiving Day in 74 when Longley hit Drew Pearson for the winning touchdown. I won a bet with my brother over Super Bowl XII. Having watched all those Green Bay/Cleveland heartbreaks on NFL FILMS on numerous occasions, I found myself rooting for his eventual breakthrough as if I were transported back to the late 60's early seventies. That ICE BOWL loss was something. But as champions do, Landry steered his team through the mental anguish, further adding to his legacy. That he also stayed the course with his father-like image to so many of his players definitely impressed me, for he was cognizant that Professional Football is only a small portion of a man's like. (He later proved this is his last decade on earth after football.)

However the things that touched me the most about this tome is his Christianity and the love he shared with his wife Alicia. I felt his goodness burning through the pages, as his EVERYDAY Virtues inspire me to aspire for greatness when doing life's simple things.

Perhaps the best tribute of this man came in his passing. So many of his players came back; from Eddie Lebaron to Danny White, Don (MEREDITH), Craig (MORTON) and Roger (STAUBACH) mixed in between. When my day comes to shuffle off, I can only hope that I made a difference in lives as this man did. What a great man!!!! What a great Book!!!

If you want to read some poorly organized stories about Bob's
good old racing days, this might be the book for you. If you
want to learn to drive quickly, this book will disappoint you.

I bought this book because I wanted to learn more about high performance driving without the cost of going to a school, but roughly half of this book is just advertisement of Bob's driving school in Southern California. For example, on controlling skids, he talks very little about how to get out of a skid and then he begins on how you can learn more if you come to his driving school because the school has such and such equipments. There's even an entire chapter dedicated to how to graduate from his driving school. He also seems to be obssessed with his past glory, which he doesn't mind spending time to talk about. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS PIECE OF GARBAGE.

This book is full of photos of Bob sliding old cars around on the track, and posing with other great old drivers. Some of the anecdotes are real hooters. But it's skinny on the "how to" parts. There's a lot of discussion about setting up your seat and pedals for a comfortable and efficient driving position, but not much about the specifics of choosing a line for this corner, in this car, in this weather, today. Not much about footwork or other aspects of driving technique, not much about car set-up, and nearly nothing about the physics underlying it all. A few glancing blows at topics like contact patches, but disappointingly little.

Skip Barber's "Going Faster" is a better textbook, especially for someone like me, an engineer with an analytical mindset.

If you want a driving textbook, get Barber's. If you want driving stories, get Bondurant's.

Your on steroids and gifted with genetics. People who buy this book with expectations of getting like 25 inch arms are in for a huge disappointment( try like 25 inches worth). The man is a steroid that gone berzerk. Your better off throwing your money away.

This book has great pictures, and the pages of it are seen all over the web. However, the performance of the exercises needed to complete his "10 days to massive arms" claim lack clarity. Mr. Hoeberl should get the help of a more professional writer to complete this book. His methods do work, but you're not quite sure what the method is. His biographical pieces are interesting and informative, though.Brian McDuffie,Personal Trainer,National Health Club Association

I bought this book 5 years ago...
Since then (really after a few weeks) my arms grew
like crazy!! And they still do ! I never used steroids
and I'm on my way to develop 50cm (cold)
Please try it. And you'll notice directly..
(Do everything wat is is said)

My 4 year old is using Siegfried Engelmann's Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons, which she loves. I've started giving her Bob books to read as she is ready for each one, and she loves those too; it's a big thrill for her to be able to read a whole book, and the Bob books manage to put fun and humor into very basic stories. I thought this activity book would be fun too. Unfortunately, it doesn't measure up. It doesn't speak to a consistent reading level like the books do. (It starts with MAT - fine, but by page 3, we're on APPLESAUCE?!?) Therefore, it has none of that "I read it myself!" appeal. The "activities" consist mainly of instructions to circle or underline all occurrences of a given letter on a page, color in an object, or place a sticker in the appropriate box. I expect we'll be able to get our $3 value out of the cute illustrations & captions, but mainly by making up our own activities rather than by doing the suggested busywork.

I just love the Bob Books. My four-year old daughter is already reading because of them! The cute artwork is very appealing to her. I was excited when I found the activity book to go with the Bob Books. Although she can't do it all by herself, she does enjoy doing it with me. Makes her feel like she's doing "school" when her brothers are. So far, she has enjoyed all of the activities, especially the stickers (although I have to lick them!). I think it is good for reinforcing the letter recognition and sounding out the words. I hope they make more workbooks to follow.

I biggest complaint was the quality. Looks like a 1980 printer printed sideways and folded it to make a book. The pages fall out VERY easily. However, as far as information goes, it is good if you were doing a report. If you are trying to learn about getting into the business, wrong book. It seems out of date, and for the most part not very helpful. If it told a little more about being better at powder coating, or teaching you anything to even done with a gun, I would have found it more helpful. It's great for a report, nothing else.

Powder Coating made easy is an excellent primer that covers the basics of powder coating. An excellent reference for any one that is beginning in the powder coating business.

These were a series of stories that not only saw the return of Jean Grey but also the birth of the Goverment backed-mutant team X-FACTOR. The manner which Jea is brought back is about as far fetched as anything the X-Men comics have ever attempted and the formation of X-Factor was just a marketig attempt to get a new mutant title going, as if we need anymore.

You know, Jean Grey was never MEANT to die. The X-Men's editor at the time insisted Phoenix die for her actions as Dark Phoenix. This story, in a way, sets things right by bringing her back in a way much less contrived than many superhero resurrections. Far-fetched, yes, for the real world; but let's face it, these are comic book superheroes we're dealing with.

This collection features the (almost too) dramatic reunion of the original X-Men from X-Factor #1, as well as guest appearances by the Fantastic Four and Avengers. It sets up many more great moments later down the road (in X-Men: Inferno for instance), not to mention all the year of stories featuring Jean Grey since then. That alone makes me excited about it. A great follow-up to the Dark Phoenix Saga and From the Ashes.

In 30 pages there are 24 pictures to be colored and that is a bit disappointing I'm sure to any child that picks it up. ... The text is interesting but Blaisdell and Green never say where they get their information. Please note that this is not the TV Hercules with Kevin Sorbo -- it is much rougher and nastier even if the text is toned down a bit.

"BOB DYLAN Made Easy for Guitar" is more title than description. Featuring 22 songs ranging from the well known (Tangled Up in Blue), to the obsure (Man Gave Names to All the Animals), Dylan Made Easy doesn't give any hints or suggestions to accomplish that promise. This is simply a songbok featuring Dylan's material in their orginal keys; however, the songs are notatated with chords and rythm slashes. The songs themselves are not necessarily easy. Most songs quite often contain barre chords or would be easy to play with barre chords or capo's. I was hoping that this book would explain simpler, easier, methods to obtain the melodies and rythms that pervade Bob Dylan songs. This book is good is a fairly good songbook if your looking for a variety of Dylan material.

Appallingly amateurish effort that looks like it was assembled by a comittee of pre-schoolers. Atrocious spelling and grammar (whatever happened to proofreading?), text that rambles and, towards the end becomes more or less incoherent, text and photographs repeated - sometimes laughably so - one photo is provided with a caption indicating the subjects are vanquished Germans, then a few pages later, the same photo is described as depicting victorious Russians. The text waffles on interminably about "the horror" and "the inhumanity" etc etc, and detail is sacrificed for hyperbole. Few if any good points - some of the photos at least are new and worth seeing - but on the whole, this theatre of the war has been well-described in many other, much more worthy books, Alan Clark's "Barbarossa", for one. My advice is to try one of those and don't waste your precious time on this shabby effort.

Already seen photos and no new ideas...pls save yourself the money.

Interesting, but muddled effort covering the major campaigns of "Operation Barbarossa".

Lavishly Illustrated, one might even call it a coffee table book. This volume mixes a straight history of the major campaigns such as Stalingrad, Kursk and the Battle of Berlin with graphically pleasing side bars and "articles" on various aspects of the conflict such as the Panzer Tank, Artillery pieces, etc.

Told from an unabashedly, one might even say approvingly German point-of-view, there are serious errors and omissions. Embarassingly, one picture appears in two different places (pg 164 and 175) with two different captions. The side bar comments by Professor Erickson (The Road to Stalingrad, The Road to Berlin), obviously taken from the video series, on which this book is based, are strange and, at times woefully inaccurate. Witness comments on the Soviet Partisan Movement: "It was unrestricted barbaric warfare because partisans made war in a particularly merciless fashion, killing Germans and carrying out atrocities (sic!). The Germans, in return made war in an even more merciless fashion upon the partisans." Actually, it was the Nazis that initiated the atrocities against the local population and the partisans!

However, the main body narrative is informative and moves in a brisk, journalistic pace. An Interesting "article" on the Leuthen Project, which I have never heard of appears on page 163. It was a last-ditch effort at troop deployment in the waning days of the War. Strategic narratives by several German Generals were particularly informative. Overall a good first book for newcomers to the War in the East.

My rating is harsh because the only things that interested me about this trade are the art and the fact that Wonder Woman was featured. I mean featured in that this really wasn't her story at all. This trade contains seven comics; if a comic's struggle wasn't resolved, then Wonder Woman has some sort of aid from a guest character. And this trade has plenty of them (Sinestro, Barry Allen, Doomsday), but these were all just clones. Superman appeared, but he never met with Diana; I guess he was just there so that Superman fans might pick up the book. The Phantom Stranger and Etrigan the Demon also appear; even though both are very interesting characters, John Byrne doesn't make them that way.

Yes, the art is flashy and large, but there is no story and very little dialogue. There are more one- and two-page panels than you can count with both hands -- fifteen panels. Large art and no dialogue steal from story space. When there is dialogue, Byrne resorts to a small portrait of the speaker's head, and the art becomes boring. It's as if Byrne thinks story development through words is boring. Not all comic book readers think this way. There is simply not a healthy balance between art and story as I believe there should be in a comic book.

Development of supporting characters is lackluster, as well. Helena Sandsmark (mother of Cassie, the new Wonder Girl) never truly behaves like a mother. When Cassie spontaneously rushes off to help Wonder Woman in battle, the only thing Helena can do is shout for her to return. She doesn't attempt to follow. She seems more concerned with the wounded man by her side. Cassie, herself, is quite annoying. Mike Schorr? Have no clue who he is, although the book states that he is a character of some import.

This is not the way that Wonder Woman was meant to be written. John Byrne's interpretation of her is at worst THE worst interpretation of Diana. The interpretation is at best confused (I don't think he knows how to write about a heroine, or any female for that matter).

So, in my opinion, buy this book only if you are a die-hard Wonder Woman fan. If the comics are missing from your collection, don't worry. You're not missing much.

John Byrne's first collection of Wonder-Woman stories is both boring and pretentious. Long on artwork but it takes Byrne forever to get to the point of what he's trying to tell with these stories.

like i said: "a must have for WW fans". these events in the tpb relate to many of the WW themes and such now-a-days. although i find that Byrne wrote the character oddly(not following previous events in the past) he still writes well. the art is not great, but its decent. i recommend reading WW: the contest,the challenge of artemis, second genesis, gods and goddeses, and the life of wonder woman. these books deal with wonder woman differently, but show good aspects of her many great qualities.