On March 8, 1954, while battling post partum depression, a 24 year old Maine housewife drowned her three children in a bathtub before attempting suicide. After spending only 5 years at the Augusta State Hospital, Constance Fisher was released from the institution. Her release marked the beginnings of a new era in the treatment of the mentally ill in America, as the nation moved to phase out the large state run mental hospitals. On June 30, 1966, Constance Fisher again drowned her three children in a bathtub in what has been called the most bizarre murder story in the history of New England. The incident was foretelling of another American tragedy; the plight of the acutely mentally ill with no facility left to properly care for them.
As the cable TV industry exploded in the 1980s, offering viewers dozens of channels, an unprecedented number of series were produced. For every successful sitcom--The Golden Girls, Family Ties, Newhart--there were flops such as Take Five with George Segal, Annie McGuire with Mary Tyler Moore, One Big Family with Danny Thomas and Life with Lucy starring Lucille Ball, proving that a big name does not a hit show make. Other short-lived series were springboards for future stars, like Day by Day (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), The Duck Factory (Jim Carrey), Raising Miranda (Bryan Cranston) and Square Pegs (Sarah Jessica Parker). This book unearths many single-season sitcoms of the '80s, providing behind-the-scenes stories from cast members, guest stars, writers, producers and directors.
14th Annual Conference on Computational Learning Theory, COLT 2001 and 5th European Conference on Computational Learning Theory, EuroCOLT 2001, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 16-19, 2001, Proceedings
14th Annual Conference on Computational Learning Theory, COLT 2001 and 5th European Conference on Computational Learning Theory, EuroCOLT 2001, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 16-19, 2001, Proceedings
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 14th Annual and 5th European Conferences on Computational Learning Theory, COLT/EuroCOLT 2001, held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in July 2001. The 40 revised full papers presented together with one invited paper were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 69 submissions. All current aspects of computational learning and its applications in a variety of fields are addressed.
The Secretary of Interior is responsible for the management and conservation of federal land and natural resources. The department is part of the President's Cabinet.
When the story of banjo superstar Earl Scruggs is told, the rich musical environment that produced him is often ignored. During his lifetime Scruggs spun a creation myth around his playing, convincing many that he was the sole originator of a three-finger, up-picking, banjo style. For the first time, this book tells the full story of the music and musicians of the western Carolinas that influenced Earl Scruggs. Based on more than 15 years of in-depth research, this book includes the story of country music recording pioneers Parker and Woolbright, Fisher Hendley and Martin Melody Boys; rare images of area music makers; and the history and development of fiddlers' conventions and radio barn dances. Together, these stories are woven into the biographies of Earl's mentors to reveal the musical atmosphere in which they developed the "three-finger picking" style that so enchanted a young Earl Scruggs.
This reissue of Bob Woodword’s classic book about John Belushi—one of the most interesting performers and personalities in show business history—“is told with the same narrative style that Woodward employed so effectively in All the President’s Men and The Final Days” (Chicago Tribune). John Belushi was found dead of a drug overdose March 5, 1982, in a seedy hotel bungalow off Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Belushi’s death was the beginning of a trail that led Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward on an investigation that examines the dark side of American show business—TV, rock and roll, and the movie industry. From on-the-record interviews with 217 people, including Belushi's widow, his former partner Dan Aykroyd, Belushi’s movie directors including Jack Nicholson and Steven Spielberg, actors Chevy Chase, Robin Williams, and Carrie Fisher, the movie executives, the agents, Belushi’s drug dealers, and those who live in the show business underground, the author has written a close portrait of a great American comic talent, and of his struggle to succeed and to survive that ended in tragedy. Using diaries, accountants’ records, phone bills, travel records, medical records, and interviews with firsthand witnesses, Woodward has followed Belushi’s life from childhood in a small town outside Chicago to his meteoric rise to fame. Bob Woodward has written a spellbinding account of rise and fall, a cautionary tale for our times, and a poignant and gentle portrait of a young man who had so much, gave so much, and lost so much.
Twenty-five years after Richard Nixon's resignation, investigative journalist Bob Woodward examines the legacy of Watergate. Based on hundreds of interviews - both on and off the record - and three years of research of government archives, Woodward's latest book explains in detail how the premier scandal of US history has indelibly altered the shape of American politics and culture - and has limited the power to act of the presidency itself. Bob Woodward's mix of historical perspective and journalistic sleuthing provides a unique perspective on the repercussions of Watergate and proves that it was far more than a passing, embarrassing crisis in American politics: it heralded the beginning of a new period of troubled presidencies. From Ford through to Clinton, presidents have battled public scepticism, a challenging Congress, adversarial press and even special prosecutors in their term in office. Now, a quarter of a century after the scandal emerged, the man who helped expose Watergate shows us the stunning impact of its heritage.
One of the bestsellers in the Dummies business line gets refreshed and updated for today's workplace. New topics include managing virtual employees, achieving work/life balance, and retaining and motivating employees.
Ten Thousand Birds provides a thoroughly engaging and authoritative history of modern ornithology, tracing how the study of birds has been shaped by a succession of visionary and often-controversial personalities, and by the unique social and scientific contexts in which these extraordinary individuals worked. This beautifully illustrated book opens in the middle of the nineteenth century when ornithology was a museum-based discipline focused almost exclusively on the anatomy, taxonomy, and classification of dead birds. It describes how in the early 1900s pioneering individuals such as Erwin Stresemann, Ernst Mayr, and Julian Huxley recognized the importance of studying live birds in the field, and how this shift thrust ornithology into the mainstream of the biological sciences. The book tells the stories of eccentrics like Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen, a pathological liar who stole specimens from museums and quite likely murdered his wife, and describes the breathtaking insights and discoveries of ambitious and influential figures such as David Lack, Niko Tinbergen, Robert MacArthur, and others who through their studies of birds transformed entire fields of biology. Ten Thousand Birds brings this history vividly to life through the work and achievements of those who advanced the field. Drawing on a wealth of archival material and in-depth interviews, this fascinating book reveals how research on birds has contributed more to our understanding of animal biology than the study of just about any other group of organisms.
On September 19, 1973, Gram Parsons became yet another rock-and-roll casualty in an era of excess, a time when young men wore their dangerous habits like badges of honor. Unfortunately, his many musical accomplishments have been overshadowed by a morbid fascination with his drug overdose in the Joshua Tree desert at the age of twenty-six. Known as the father of country rock, Parsons played with the International Submarine Band, The Byrds, and the Flying Burrito Brothers. In the late 1960s and early 70s, he was a key confidante of Keith Richards. In 1972, he gave Emmylou Harris her first big break. When Tom Petty re-formed his Florida garage band Mudcrutch, he invoked the name of Gram Parsons as an inspiration. Musicians as diverse as Elvis Costello, Dwight Yoakam, Ryan Adams, Patty Griffin, and Steve Earle have also paid homage to alt-country's patron saint. In Calling Me Home, Kealing traces the entire arc of Parsons's career, emphasizing his Southern roots. Drawing on dozens of new interviews as well as rare letters and photographs provided by Parsons's family and legendary photojournalist Ted Polumbaum, Kealing has uncovered facts that even the most stalwart Parsons fans will find revealing. Travelling from Parsons' boyhood home in Waycross, Georgia, to the southern folk mecca of Coconut Grove, Florida, from the birthplace of outlaw country in Austin, Texas, to the Ryman auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee Kealing celebrates Parsons's timeless and transformative musical legacy.
Beginning with their founding as the Dallas Texans of the American Football League in 1960, the Kansas City Chiefs have been one of professional football’s most storied franchises. In Tales from the Kansas City Chiefs Sideline, veteran sportswriter Bob Gretz brings the team’s rich history to life. Gretz begins with the Chiefs’ visionary, 27-year-old owner Lamar Hunt, who founded not only a team but an entire league. After the Texans won the AFL championship in 1962, Hunt moved the team out of his hometown to Kansas City. Two Super Bowl appearances as the representative of the AFL culminated in a Chiefs’ championship in 1970, despite being a double-digit underdog to the Minnesota Vikings. It would be the final game featuring an AFL team, as the Chiefs and nine other teams merged with the NFL. Gretz covers the battles leading up to the merger along with the high and low points in team history—the lean years (1972–88); the “Carl and Marty” era, when the team made the play-offs in six consecutive seasons; the “Joe and Marcus” show of 1993; the dismal 2008 season; and the team’s 2013 renewal under Andy Reid and John Dorsey. Tales from the Kansas City Chiefs Sideline is a must-have for any Chiefs fan! Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
A handsome coffee-table book, Glory of Old IU is the most comprehensive book ever written about Indiana University athletics. Never-before-published details about the 100 years of IU's membership in the Big Ten Conference are captured in this one-of-a-kind book. Glory of Old IU includes vignettes about all of IU's greatest moments, including its five NCAA basketball championships. There are stories about Bob Knight, Mark Spitz, Isiah Thomas, Harry Gonso, and many others. Thousands of other names are included in the all-time letter-winners list. Glory of Old IU is must reading for anyone who is loyal to the Hoosiers.
The ultimate guide to paddling whitewater in the Carolinas, Carolina Whitewater has guided paddlers to the best creeks and rivers in the Tar Heel and Palmetto states for over 30 years. Detailed creek and river profiles include; Topographic-based maps Shuttle directions Gauge locations Kayakers and canoeists will find expanded and updated information for the classic rivers, like the Nolichucky, Nantahala, and French Broad, as well as for several new steep runs, such as Rock house Creek, Hurricane Creek, the Gragg Prong, and Big Hungry River. You'll also get vital information on clubs and organizations, state water trails, and national and scenic rivers. Waterway data for each run includes; Class of difficulty Length of the run Time to paddle Water level needed to paddle Permits required (if any) Gradient of each run Ratings for scenery.
String band music is most commonly associated with the mountains of North Carolina and other rural areas of the Blue Ridge and Appalachian mountains, but it was just as abundant in Piedmont region of North Carolina, albeit with different influences and stylistic conventions. This work focuses exclusively on the history and culture of the area, the music's development and the changes within traditional communities of the Piedmont. It begins with a discussion of the settlement of the Piedmont in the mid-1700s and early references to secular folk music, including the attitudes the various ethnic and religious groups had on music and dance, the introduction of the fiddle and the banjo, and outside influences such as minstrel shows, Hawaiian music and classical banjo. It then goes on to cover African-Americans and string band music; the societal functions of square dances held at private homes and community centers; the ways in which musicians learned to play the music and bought their instruments; fiddler's conventions and their history as community fundraisers; the recording industry and Piedmont musicians who cut recordings, including Ernest Thompson and the North Carolina Cooper Boys; Bascom Lamar Lunsford and the Carolina Folk Festival; the influence of live radio stations, including WPTF in Raleigh, WGWR in Asheboro, WSJS in Winston-Salem, WBIG in Greensboro and WBT in Charlotte; the first generation of locally-bred country entertainers, including Charlie Monroe's Kentucky Partners, Gurney Thomas and Glenn Thompson; and bluegrass and musical change following World War II.
A Buffalo's Revenge, a Vietnam negative, explores the limits of a nation engaged in a struggle for freedom when the mirror reveals a fractured image. Racism is bundled in an interlocking grid of white and black and oriental hatred. The backdrop of the home front, the plague of assassinations, a spiraling anti-war movement, a sandwiched Media, and politicians and a military caught in the glare of appeasing conflicting demands underscores the plight of individuals fighting for their lives and their loves. Doc Lusane must overcome his need to die; James Jaggers his need to kill; Pee Wee Anson to hate. The home front explodes in a frenzy of hate and violence. The boys discover love beyond the peculiar cadence of language and dialect. They discover life beyond race or color. They discover themselves. America was at war thirty-five years ago and we are at war today. A Buffalo's Revenge is a snapshot of America, then and now.
Fun, Outrageous Space Stories, Debunked! In this Internet age where science fiction masquerades as fact, even the most rational person might find themselves wondering: Could NASA have faked the moon landings? Are we sure the government isn’t using chemtrails to experiment on people? And did NASA really spend millions on “space pens”? Urban Legends from Space cuts through the fog of myth to bring the truth behind these questions, and 48 other celestial legends, out into the open. In examining the shaky claims behind these many misconceptions and taking us step-by-step through the concrete evidence that contradicts them, expert Bob King debunks each myth and exposes the scientific truth at its core. Along the way, King offers us the tools we need to become more discerning observers of the world around us and more responsible sharers of information overall.
A dark and suspenseful debut Detective T.J. Peterson has a problem, and it's not just how much he's drinking or the daily, silent, tormenting video calls from his estranged daughter. A Catholic priest has been bludgeoned to death in church, apparently by a symbol of his faith, and an unidentified woman's body had been found. He's barely holding it together. When a deranged teenager, a possible witness, crosses his path, he is propelled into a sleazy, violent world of underage prostitution, sexual abuse, and human trafficking as he pursues a merciless killer. A stylish and riveting exploration of both the consequences of depravity and the sometimes-extraordinary resilience of the human spirit.
Life in the Mohawk Valley today is vastly different from generations ago. Long gone are the factory whistles calling workers to their shifts in old mill towns. Fort Plain still benefits from little-known inventor William Yerdon, and Utica baseball player George Burns was so skilled that fans called left field "Burnsville." Few realize that a local artist shared a special bond with John Philip Sousa, one of the nation's greatest musicians. The Tamarack Playhouse was once the venue of spectacular theatricals, and as time goes on, there are fewer alumni to remember Amsterdam's Bishop Scully High School. Local author Bob Cudmore shows that while lost, these and other compelling stories no longer need be forgotten.
Most Golden State Warriors fans have attended a game at Oracle Arena, marveled at Stephen Curry's effortless shots, and remember where they were when the team won the 2015 NBA championship. But only real fans watched all 73 wins in the 2015-16 season, know where the Warriors played when they first moved to California, or can name whom the Warriors swept in the 1975 Finals. 100 Things Warriors Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die is the ultimate resource guide for true fans of Warriors basketball. Whether you're a die-hard fan from the Run TMC days or a new supporter of Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevin Durant, this book contains everything Warriors fans should know, see, and do in their lifetime.
From Africa through the spirituals, from minstrel music through jubilee, and from traditional to contemporary gospel, "People Get Ready!" provides, for the first time, an accessible overview of this musical genre.
This book finally casts a spotlight on some short-lived and almost forgotten sitcoms--those which aired for only one single season. Many books have already been written about situation comedies that enjoyed long and storied runs on television but this volume focuses upon the others. Overflowing with fresh facts, interviews, photographs, and stories, nearly 300 short-lived sitcoms over a 32 year span are presented A-to-Z, whether network or syndicated, prime time or Saturday morning.
Uncover hidden patterns of data and respond with countermeasures Security professionals need all the tools at their disposal to increase their visibility in order to prevent security breaches and attacks. This careful guide explores two of the most powerful data analysis and visualization. You'll soon understand how to harness and wield data, from collection and storage to management and analysis as well as visualization and presentation. Using a hands-on approach with real-world examples, this book shows you how to gather feedback, measure the effectiveness of your security methods, and make better decisions. Everything in this book will have practical application for information security professionals. Helps IT and security professionals understand and use data, so they can thwart attacks and understand and visualize vulnerabilities in their networks Includes more than a dozen real-world examples and hands-on exercises that demonstrate how to analyze security data and intelligence and translate that information into visualizations that make plain how to prevent attacks Covers topics such as how to acquire and prepare security data, use simple statistical methods to detect malware, predict rogue behavior, correlate security events, and more Written by a team of well-known experts in the field of security and data analysis Lock down your networks, prevent hacks, and thwart malware by improving visibility into the environment, all through the power of data and Security Using Data Analysis, Visualization, and Dashboards.
Despite a rapid increase in the availability of many forms of gambling, there has been little serious study in the literature of the likely effects. This book seeks to fill that gap by reviewing what is known about gambling in Britain and studying work on the nature, prevalence and possible causes of problem gambling. Drawing on the history and recent British studies on the subject, Gambling and Problem Gambling in Britain gives an in-depth theoretical and practical viewpoint of this subject. Areas covered include: * gambling in Britain since Victorian times * expansion of gambling in the late twentieth century * what we now know about problem gambling and its treatment * a consideration of the future of gambling in Britain. This book will be invaluable for professionals, trainees and academics in the areas of counselling, primary care, probation and social work.
More than twenty years in the making, Country Music Records documents all country music recording sessions from 1921 through 1942. With primary research based on files and session logs from record companies, interviews with surviving musicians, as well as the 200,000 recordings archived at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's Frist Library and Archives, this notable work is the first compendium to accurately report the key details behind all the recording sessions of country music during the pre-World War II era. This discography documents--in alphabetical order by artist--every commercial country music recording, including unreleased sides, and indicates, as completely as possible, the musicians playing at every session, as well as instrumentation. This massive undertaking encompasses 2,500 artists, 5,000 session musicians, and 10,000 songs. Summary histories of each key record company are also provided, along with a bibliography. The discography includes indexes to all song titles and musicians listed.
The Big 50: Green Bay Packers is an amazing look at the fifty men and moments that have made the Packers the Packers. Longtime sportswriters and radio host Drew Olson and Jason Wilde recount the living history of the team, counting down from number fifty to number one. The Big 50: Green Bay Packers brilliantly brings to life the historic franchise's remarkable story, from Vince Lombardi and Bart Starr to Brett Favre, Reggie White, Aaron Rodgers, and beyond.
Trout Hunting is for those who take fly-fishing's traditions seriously, and for whom it is more than just a pastime. Bob Wyatt gets to the heart of the matter in a book packed with insight and challenges to conventional thinking.
According to a 1999 Surgeon General's report, "Anxiety disorders are the most common, or frequently occurring, mental disorders." Too often overworked doctors prescribe drugs to manage the condition for a short-term cure and send the patient on his way quickly. Psychologists Bob Montgomery and Laurel Morris strongly disagree with treating anxiety disorders with drugs. Their timely book provides a step-by-step plan to help anxious people learn to cope without resorting to medication, even for severe manifestations of anxiety such as obsessive-compulsive disorders and panic attacks. In easy-to-understand terms, Montgomery and Morris define anxiety, describe the different forms it takes, and show how to manage anxiety in everyday life. They discuss general anxiety, agoraphobia, phobias in general, social phobias, and social anxiety, among other types. Living with Anxiety discusses how and why to stop taking anxiety drugs and when drugs can help; it also recommends when to seek out a psychologist. It offers readers practical exercises and specific strategies for dealing with feelings, thoughts, and physical symptoms associated with anxiety attacks, and methods for strengthening social, sexual, and interpersonal skills that can be the source of anxiety.
In the myths, legends, and folklore of many peoples, the returning, physical dead play a significant role, whether they are the zombies of Haiti or the draugr of Scandinavia. But what are the origins of an actual bodily return from the grave? Does it come from something deep within our psyche, or is there some truth to it? In Zombies, Bob Curran explores how some of these beliefs may have arisen and the truths that lay behind them, examining myths from all around the world and from ancient times including Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, and Celtic. Curran traces the evolution of belief in the walking cadaver from its early inception in religious ideology to the "Resurrections" and cataleptics of 18th century Europe, from prehistoric tale to Arthurian romance. Zombies even examines the notion of the "living dead" in the world today—entities such as the "living mummies" of Japan. Zombies is a unique book, the only one to systematically trace the development of a cultural idea of physical resurrection and explore the myths that have grown around it, including the miracles of Old Testament prophets. It will interest those enticed by the return of the corporeal dead and also those curious as to how such an idea sits within the historical context.
Who is responsible? From the President to the Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan to Wall Street to the role of the emerging technologies, Woodward uses his exhaustive investigative technique to reveal the ideas and politics that have changed the lives of millions of people and established the United States as the world's preeminent power. He shows why America has found itself in this exalted position. How it might have been different and when and why it might end.
Pop culture is the heart and soul of America, a unifying bridge across time bringing together generations of diverse backgrounds. Whether looking at the bright lights of the Jazz Age in the 1920s, the sexual and the rock-n-roll revolution of the 1960s, or the thriving social networking websites of today, each period in America's cultural history develops its own unique take on the qualities define our lives.American Pop: Popular Culture Decade by Decade is the most comprehensive reference on American popular culture by decade ever assembled, beginning with the 1900s up through today. The four-volume set examines the fascinating trends across decades and eras by shedding light on the experiences of Americans young and old, rich and poor, along with the influences of arts, entertainment, sports, and other cultural forces. Whether a pop culture aficionado or a student new to the topic, American Pop provides readers with an engaging look at American culture broken down into discrete segments, as well as analysis that gives insight into societal movements, trends, fads, and events that propelled the era and the nation. In-depth chapters trace the evolution of pop culture in 11 key categories: Key Events in American Life, Advertising, Architecture, Books, Newspapers, Magazines, and Comics, Entertainment, Fashion, Food, Music, Sports and Leisure Activities, Travel, and Visual Arts. Coverage includes: How Others See Us, Controversies and scandals, Social and cultural movements, Trends and fads, Key icons, and Classroom resources. Designed to meet the high demand for resources that help students study American history and culture by the decade, this one-stop reference provides readers with a broad and interdisciplinary overview of the numerous aspects of popular culture in our country. Thoughtful examination of our rich and often tumultuous popular history, illustrated with hundreds of historical and contemporary photos, makes this the ideal source to turn to for ready reference or research.
INCIDENT AT HOWARD BEACH A CASE FOR MURDER BY CHARLES J. HYNES and Bob Drury THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION The murder that shocked a city and nation and how our justice system works at its best. Late on the night of December 19, 1986, four black men were driving through the all-white community of Howard Beach, in the New York City borough of Queens, when their car broke down. By the early hours of the next morning, one of them lay dead on the Belt Parkway and one had been beaten nearly to death with a tree limb and a baseball bat by a dozen local teenagers. In the months to come, Howard Beach became a code all over the world for the worst in racial tensions. The story behind the Howard Beach incident, its investigation and the subsequent trial is a story of hatred, brutality and deceit; of media outcry, political shuffling and public manipulation; of a cast of characters ranging from petrified politicians to outraged black activists to the quiet citizens of an insular neighborhood. But it was up to one man to bring the case to trial and steer it to its fair conclusion: Special Prosecutor Charles J. Joe Hynes. Incident at Howard Beach is his storya riveting and candid expos of his fight to discern what really happened that night, his struggle to make a coherent case out of those events, and the battles and tactics he used during the trial a year later in state supreme court. From the on-site investigation through jury selection, behind-the-scenes deal-making, and trial deliberation, here is everything that led to the convictions of the ringleaders and helped to quiet a city in turmoil. Charles J. Hynes Charles J. Hynes, the District Attorney of Brooklyn, New York, has been in public service for more than forty years. He has been chief of the Brooklyn DA's Rackets Bureau, a Special State Prosecutor investigating Medicaid Fraud, a Special State Prosecutor for Criminal Justice who prosecuted the Howard Beach case and a New York City Fire Commissioner. He has been the Brooklyn District Attorney since 1990. Bob Drury Contributing Editor and Chief Military Correspondent of Men's Health, Bob Drury has been nominated for three National Magazine Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. He is also the author, co-author, or editor of nine nonfiction books. Re-reading Hyness excellent account of this awful racial crime with 25 years of perspective once again brings the blood to rapid boil. I covered that crime. I watched Hynes fight for justice as a special prosecutor in the courtroom. I interviewed him during the trial. I believe that had it not been for his tenacious prosecution in this vile murder New York City would today be a much uglier city. Reading his new Forward and Epilogue reminds me of just how far we have come in race relations in New York since Howard Beach. History will not forget that Hynes had a helluva lot to do with that desperately needed change. For that reason alone this compelling, page-turning book deserves this second look. Denis Hamill Columnist New York Daily News
Andy's a bartender in North Austin in the late 1970s. For years, he's been slinging beers to corrupt cops and fat Zenith employees, but given the neighborhood's ongoing decline (and his own serious health issues), he's starting to wonder how long it can go on. He's serving workers from a dying factory in a dying neighborhood; he sees crime on the rise—and he decides to become a criminal himself. North and Central perfectly evokes Chicago in the epic winter of '78-'79—the bleak season of blizzards and disco and John Wayne Gacy—capturing the city in microcosm through the denizens of one blue-collar watering hole. If Springsteen and Bukowski had teamed up to write a story about a Chicago bar, they'd have been hard pressed to do better than this; it's an anti-Cheers, a bittersweet story about a place where everybody knows your nickname, and they're tired of you coming around because you're a degenerate. But it's more than just a static portrait; it's a gripping and moving story destined to earn its own place among the classics of Chicago literature.
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