bookpagedev

by Sandy MacDonald

Quick! Pick the object from your childhood that embodied warmth, safety and untrammeled flights of imagination. For Louise Erdrich, whose many books have drawn on her Ojibwa background, that certain something was a bulky, blue-enamel woodstove labeled The Range Eternal. No mere inanimate appliance, the cast-iron box was the source of unending bounty: improvised soups to warm winter days, hot potatoes to pocket for the long walk to school, wool-wrapped stones to toast frigid toes and heat enough to fend off the wind claws and ice teeth of Windigo, the ice monster. Perhaps most important, the stove’s mica window, glowing in the dark, provided vistas of the lives preceding and surrounding her own: I saw the range of the buffalo, which once covered the plains of North Dakota so thickly that they grazed from horizon to horizon. I ran the deer range. I ran the bear range. I galloped the range of horses. I loped the wolf range and fox range, the range of the badger. I flew the sky, the range of herons, of cranes, hawks, and eagles. I saw the Range Eternal. The litany bespeaks Erdrich’s gift for incantatory rhythms. The subtly textured illustrations from the award-winning duo Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher are perfectly attuned to her vision: Young readers will especially enjoy discerning the cloud figures that accompany the narrator’s fantasy romp across endless prairies.

But like childhood itself, the range is bound for obsolescence. How the narrator solves her sense of something missing in her own home ( a center of true warmth ) once she becomes an adult and parent herself makes for an oddly consumerist denouement and may leave fellow adults wondering how on earth she manages to fuel a woodstove in a modern city. But to children, the ending will seem happy and cozy a cycle and a promise renewed. Sandy MacDonald writes from Massachusetts.

Children's & YA

Children's & YA

The story of a not-so-perfect pet

Review by bookpagedev

by Deborah Hopkinson

If you were marooned on a deserted island with a toddler, what one book would you want? It’s a good bet many parents would choose Margaret Wise Brown’s classic bedtime story, Goodnight Moon, illustrated by Clement Hurd. Goodnight Moon has sold more than five million copies since its publication in 1947.

In the last several years, a number of new books by Margaret Wise Brown have appeared like forgotten presents discovered under the Christmas tree. These are all the more welcome because Brown died unexpectedly in 1952, at the age of 42. Now, some out-of-print books are being reissued while new ones are being released for the first time, after the discovery of some unpublished Brown manuscripts in 1991.

The cover of The Good Little Bad Little Pig has the look of a book that’s been lovingly passed down from generation to generation. That’s because Dan Yaccarino, creator of the animated television series Oswald, has chosen a decidedly retro, ’50s style for his illustrations. One day Peter, the boy in the story, asks his mother if he can have a pig. You want a dirty little bad little pig? she replies.

No, said Peter. I want a clean little pig. And I don’t want a bad little pig. I want a good little bad little pig. So they send a letter to a farmer with their request. The farmer goes out and sees three little pigs asleep, plus a fourth one who is jumping up and down. Guess which one he sends to Peter? When Peter’s new pig arrives, the cuddly critter embarks on a series of adventures in which he does some good things (like eating everything on his plate) and some bad things (like making a mess while eating everything on his plate).

By the end of the story, Peter knows he has gotten just what he wanted a good little bad little pig. And it’s a sure bet that members of the toddler and pre-school set, who often have days where no matter what they do everything seems to be wrong, will find comfort in the picture of Peter and his pig embracing at the end. For, as Margaret Wise Brown wrote, Sometimes the little pig was good and sometimes he was bad, but he was the very best pig any boy ever had.

If you were marooned on a deserted island with a toddler, what one book would you want? It's a good bet many parents would choose Margaret Wise Brown's classic bedtime story, Goodnight Moon, illustrated by Clement Hurd. Goodnight Moon has sold more than five million…

Children's & YA

Children's & YA

Let the games begin

Review by bookpagedev

by James Webb

Chris Van Allsburg is a kid’s writer for grownups: He tells stories that light the fire of wonder in children, while at the same time kindling memories in their parents. Winner of two Caldecott Medals, Van Allsburg is the author of the Christmas classic The Polar Express. His tales of a mysterious board game gone awry, Jumanji, and now Zathura, evoke the remoteness of parents to their children, the rivalry between siblings, and the heroes and horrors of childhood. Amazingly, Van Allsburg tells his tales on levels that both grownups and young readers will understand.

Jumanji was the story of a game found in a park by a brother and sister, and the fantastic events that occurred when they played that game. The book ended as they hurriedly returned the game to the park where they found it, only to see the children of some friends of their parents who never read instructions making off with it. Zathura picks up where Van Allsburg left off 20 years ago. Two brothers, Walter and Danny Budwing, find the game and take it home. Unlike the previous players, the pair think the game looks boring, but before putting it away, they find another game board in the bottom of the box, a game called Zathura that’s all about space. Readers of Jumanji are already saying uh-oh, so we won’t go into any more detail, but suffice it to say that the two boys are in for more than they anticipated.

As an artist, Chris Van Allsburg has a breathtaking command of perspective and light. His black and white drawings have exquisite detail, yet they are somehow generic. In his generics, though, he’s hearkening back to the childhood of the adults reading this story to their own children: there’s Walter’s hat, a picture on the wall of a baseball not a basketball player; and who names their kid Walter these days, anyway? There is a difference in artistic styles between the two game books. Jumanji had a charcoal-like texture to its illustrations, while Van Allsburg’s latest effort has a finely wrought stippling effect that’s almost linear in its feel.

Zathura has all the right elements a great story, wonderful illustrations and a sense of whimsy. Will Van Allburg rack up a third Caldecott? Only time and space will tell.

Chris Van Allsburg is a kid's writer for grownups: He tells stories that light the fire of wonder in children, while at the same time kindling memories in their parents. Winner of two Caldecott Medals, Van Allsburg is the author of the Christmas classic The…

Making a living and a life

Review by bookpagedev

by Stephanie Swilley

The subtitle of Mark Henricks’ new book is irresistible: The Complete Guide to Creating a Business that Gives You a Life. Isn’t that what we all want? Sure, fabulous wealth would be nice, but experts agree that 90 percent of small business owners aren’t hoping to become the next Bill Gates. Instead, Henricks says in Not Just a Living (Perseus, $25, 256 pages, ISBN 0738206652), most are lifestyle entrepreneurs. BookPage turned to the author for a definition of this term and advice on making your start-up dream a reality.

BookPage: What is a lifestyle entrepreneur? Mark Henricks: Lifestyle entrepreneurs are people who have gone into business primarily for lifestyle reasons, as opposed to a desire to get filthy rich. They become business owners so they can live where they want, work when they want, spend time with the people they want and do the kind of work they want. They work hours that let them tend to children or aging parents, indulge in hobbies or social causes or simply relax.

How is Not Just a Living different from a typical business start-up manual? How-to books for entrepreneurs generally assume that the primary goal of the entrepreneur is to grow fast and grow big. Lifestyle motivations for business ownership are presented as scarcely legitimate, if that it’s often suggested that owning a business means you don’t have a life outside work. Not Just a Living dismantles those myths and reveals what the overwhelming majority of business owners are really after, and how to get it.

What’s the biggest fear holding people back? The ultimate nightmare is that the business will go bust and leave them unemployed, broke and humiliated. That’s not a pleasant scenario, to be sure, but it’s not as likely as it seems either. Most businesses, contrary to popular perception, survive for several years and leave their owners richer than when they started.

With the current economic upheaval, is now a good time or a bad time to become a lifestyle entrepreneur? Business start-ups generally increase during slow economies. The main reason is that people start businesses because it’s harder to find a job in those times. But there are advantages to starting during down times. Rent is cheaper and good employees are easier to find, for instance. A business employing just a few people can prosper in good times and bad. The real issue is personal: You get one life; when are you going to start looking for a way to live it the way you want to? As far as I’m concerned, the best time for that is right now.

Books to inspire budding entrepreneurs The editors of Victoria magazine know how to make owning A Shop of One’s Own look appealing (Hearst, $24.95, 223 pages, ISBN 1588161048). They cover all the basics getting started, planning for success, dealing with people then inspire you with the stories of savvy businesswomen like Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) and Mary Carol Garrity (Nell Hill’s) who created warm, inviting retail spaces. Much like their previous release The Business of Bliss, this book is filled with Quick Tips (customers should pass your store going home rather than going to work) and gorgeous photographs of the 48 shops included.

Double Lives: Crafting Your Life of Work ∧ Passion for Untold Success by David Heenan (Davies-Black, $24.95, 288 pages, ISBN 0891061673) shares the stories of modern-day renaissance men and women who weren’t satisfied with just one outlet for their passions. Throwing out the conventional wisdom that you must specialize in only one area, Heenan introduces 10 people who led double lives and pursued a second (or a third) interest to greater personal fulfillment. Chapters on Winston Churchill (statesman, author, painter), Norio Ohga (Sony chairman, opera singer, symphony conductor) and Tess Gerritsen (doctor, best-selling author) illustrate Heenan’s 20 keys to creating your own double life.

If you still think you don’t have what it takes to start your own business, then Kitchen Table Entrepreneurs by Martha Shirk and Anna Wadia is required reading. Meet 11 determined women who escaped poverty by starting a hot dog stand, an auto parts store and an Indian crafts business, among other enterprising ideas. You’ll be inspired by their stories even as you learn from their mistakes. Don’t miss the small business resources listed in the appendix.

The subtitle of Mark Henricks' new book is irresistible: The Complete Guide to Creating a Business that Gives You a Life. Isn't that what we all want? Sure, fabulous wealth would be nice, but experts agree that 90 percent of small business owners aren't hoping…

Making a living and a life

Review by bookpagedev

by Stephanie Swilley

Double Lives: Crafting Your Life of Work ∧ Passion for Untold Success by David Heenan shares the stories of modern-day renaissance men and women who weren’t satisfied with just one outlet for their passions. Throwing out the conventional wisdom that you must specialize in only one area, Heenan introduces 10 people who led double lives and pursued a second (or a third) interest to greater personal fulfillment. Chapters on Winston Churchill (statesman, author, painter), Norio Ohga (Sony chairman, opera singer, symphony conductor) and Tess Gerritsen (doctor, best-selling author) illustrate Heenan’s 20 keys to creating your own double life.

If you still think you don’t have what it takes to start your own business, then Kitchen Table Entrepreneurs by Martha Shirk and Anna Wadia is required reading (Westview, $26, 352 pages, ISBN 0813339103). Meet 11 determined women who escaped poverty by starting a hot dog stand, an auto parts store and an Indian crafts business, among other enterprising ideas. You’ll be inspired by their stories even as you learn from their mistakes. Don’t miss the small business resources listed in the appendix.

Making a living and a life

Review by bookpagedev

by Stephanie Swilley

Books to inspire budding entrepreneurs The editors of Victoria magazine know how to make owning A Shop of One’s Own look appealing. They cover all the basics getting started, planning for success, dealing with people then inspire you with the stories of savvy businesswomen like Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) and Mary Carol Garrity (Nell Hill’s) who created warm, inviting retail spaces. Much like their previous release The Business of Bliss, this book is filled with Quick Tips (customers should pass your store going home rather than going to work) and gorgeous photographs of the 48 shops included.

Double Lives: Crafting Your Life of Work &and Passion for Untold Success by David Heenan (Davies-Black, $24.95, 288 pages, ISBN 0891061673) shares the stories of modern-day renaissance men and women who weren’t satisfied with just one outlet for their passions. Throwing out the conventional wisdom that you must specialize in only one area, Heenan introduces 10 people who led double lives and pursued a second (or a third) interest to greater personal fulfillment. Chapters on Winston Churchill (statesman, author, painter), Norio Ohga (Sony chairman, opera singer, symphony conductor) and Tess Gerritsen (doctor, best-selling author) illustrate Heenan’s 20 keys to creating your own double life.

History

History

You’ve come a long way, baby

Review by bookpagedev

by Rebecca Denton

You’ve come a long way, baby Single women of America take note life is good. Parents and friends may nag you about getting hitched, but no one questions your right to go to college and have an interesting job, a house, a car even a live-in boyfriend. Most women under 50 take for granted the idea that they can be smart, sexy, successful and respectable without men in their lives. But journalist Betsy Israel’s insightful new book, Bachelor Girl: The Secret History of Single Women in the Twentieth Century, takes a revealing look at just how far the single woman has come.

Drawing on private journals, newspaper articles and personal interviews, Israel pieces together a fascinating history of single women in America, from 19th-century spinsters to today’s Sex and the City icons. She takes readers into the factories of 1870s New York, where some single working girls took up part-time prostitution to supplement their $2-a-week salary. And she conveys the dismay of 1940s-era women who worked in factories and white-collar professions during World War II only to be sent back home after the war or viewed as job stealers if they stayed on.

Israel packs more than a century’s worth of information into a detailed and entertaining overview of the bachelor girl’s evolution. She also presents snapshots of women’s lives against a backdrop of society’s changing attitudes as depicted in the media. While single women have more opportunities than ever before, the pressure to marry and follow traditional paths is still prevalent.

By and large, however, today’s society accepts that a single woman can live life on her own terms. For those girls and the country’s women in general, Israel’s Bachelor Girl serves as a reminder, as well as a yardstick: You may have come a long way, but don’t forget the countless hardy souls who made it possible. Rebecca Denton is an editor and writer in Nashville.

You've come a long way, baby Single women of America take note life is good. Parents and friends may nag you about getting hitched, but no one questions your right to go to college and have an interesting job, a house, a car even a…

Arts & Culture, Literature

Literature Arts & Culture

Insider exposes Wall Street

Review by bookpagedev

by Stephanie Swilley

Arthur Levitt made the individual investor his passion during his eight-year term as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Taking the post after 25 years on Wall Street, he knew that investors were almost totally in the dark about how the stock markets worked and felt compelled to educate consumers about the long-standing collusive practices that cost investors millions each year. Now the ultimate insider continues his cause in Take on the Street: What Wall Street and Corporate America Don’t Want You to Know, What You Can Do to Fight Back, a startling behind-the-scenes book for anyone who has felt intimidated or baffled by Wall Street.

Levitt’s cautionary advice on mutual funds, analysts’ recommendations and financial statements boils down to a simple lesson: Ignorant investors are being bilked for every possible nickel, so the more you know, the better you’ll be armed to protect your precious savings. For example, Levitt advises you to fire your broker if you have less than $50,000 to invest, and no matter who handles your money, always ask: How are you getting paid? Much of the book details Levitt’s political and corporate battles as SEC chairman, and many of those same issues returned to the spotlight in 2002 with corporate meltdowns like Enron and WorldCom. Levitt recounts the controversial Regulation Fair Disclosure decision, which required companies to release important information to everyone at the same time, and the push for independent auditors and stock options accounting. Levitt calls his decision to back down on a 1994 proposal that would have forced companies to account for stock options on their financial statements the single biggest mistake of his career with the SEC. Hindsight may be 20/20, but for future investors, Levitt’s eye-opening revelations are sure to make navigating the minefield of hidden potholes on Wall Street a little easier.

Giuliani’s inspiring guide to leadership

Review by bookpagedev

by Lynn Green

After the events of Sept. 11, 2001, most Americans and millions of other people around the world came to regard Rudy Giuliani as a great leader. Steady under pressure, saddened but unyielding, always appearing calm and in control, Giuliani kept his city and much of the nation reassured during those first harrowing hours. But the reality is that Giuliani had established himself as an impressive big-city mayor and a remarkably adept manager long before the events of that fateful day.

As it turned out, in the months before the terrorist attack, Giuliani had begun working on a book that would capture his management style a nuts-and-bolts guide to the approach that enabled him to wrest control of New York’s $40 billion budget and transform it from a crime-wracked, economically depressed big city to a shining example of urban reform. After Sept. 11, interest in Giuliani grew exponentially, and it appears likely that his newfound popularity will bring a well-deserved readership to his crisp and authoritative new book, titled simply Leadership.

Written in a blunt and straightforward style reminiscent of the man himself, Leadership allows the reader to peek over Giuliani’s shoulder as he goes about the day-to-day work of managing New York City. Giuliani focuses on 14 key mandates from Prepare Relentlessly to Stand Up To Bullies and gives examples of how he employed each one. Under the category of First Things First, Giuliani details his use of a daily morning staff meeting and explains how it was crucial to the success of his crime-fighting program, and much later, to the recovery effort after 9/11. Lively yet practical, the book should be required reading for every governmental manager, and anyone else trying to lead an organization, large or small.

Giuliani’s book is also notable for his recollections of the events of Sept. 11. One can imagine historians of some future era turning to these pages for an eyewitness account of history in the making. Giuliani describes how he rushed to the World Trade Center immediately after learning of the attack and was stunned to see victims jumping from the towers. Grabbing the arm of Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, he remembers saying, We’re in uncharted waters now. We’re going to have to make up our response. Giuliani’s response, as we would later learn, would inspire a nation and help to resurrect the city he was elected to lead.

Humor, Nonfiction

Nonfiction Humor

Surviving cancer with your individuality intact

Review by bookpagedev

It’s hard to imagine laughing out loud while reading a book called The Cancer Monologue Project (MacAdam/Cage, $22, ISBN 1931561222). But, the fact is, I laughed many times. Of course, humor isn’t the only emotion expressed in this remarkable volume. Lust, fear, stoicism, doubt, disappointment and exaltation are all here and expressed so remarkably well, it’s hard to believe that almost all the writers are amateurs.

The project represents a compilation of writings by men and women whose sole common thread was a diagnosis of cancer. With the assistance of acting/writing coaches Tanya Taylor and Pamela Thompson, each participant developed a piece of autobiographical writing based on their experience with cancer and then read the work in a public appearance. Taylor and Thompson compiled the 30 pieces in the book, which includes passages like these:

The next morning I met the doctor. He was the bastard child of H. Ross Perot and George H.W. Bush. After the biopsy he looked at me and said, Becca, it’s real important that nothing penetrate your vagina for the next eight weeks. Ya hear me? (Rebecca Dixon)

I had cancer of the sphincter muscle. Sphincter . . . It really rolls off the tongue so delicately, doesn’t it? Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to have a cancer that affected a part of the body that we’re more used to talking about. (Blythe Jane Richfield)

Cancer has also shut up my inner critic. I finally have the courage and words to talk back to it as fiercely as it talks to me: Ã”Shut up! So I’m not doing it your way perfectly I’m doin’ it! If it’s not perfect I’ll try again.’ (Judi Jaquez) Every piece is as different as the person who wrote it: complex, subtle, fierce, funny, alarming, silly. And that, no doubt, is part of the triumph we share with each writer a zesty individuality that shines through despite the numbing, humiliating experience of cancer treatments. Rosemary Zibart writes from Santa Fe, New Mexico.

It's hard to imagine laughing out loud while reading a book called The Cancer Monologue Project (MacAdam/Cage, $22, ISBN 1931561222). But, the fact is, I laughed many times. Of course, humor isn't the only emotion expressed in this remarkable volume. Lust, fear, stoicism, doubt, disappointment…

History

History

Divulging the secrets of war

Review by bookpagedev

by James Webb

Take the uncertainty of the past year and extend it over a decade, and you have an approximation of what the 1960s were like. The tumultuous era is captured in Daniel Ellsberg’s fascinating new book Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers (Viking, $29.95, 480 pages, ISBN 0670030309). Ellsberg, a Harvard graduate, U.S. Marine and during the ’60s hardcore advocate of America’s fight against Communism, was enlisted by Lyndon B. Johnson to serve in the Pentagon during the Vietnam War. As an insider in the Defense Department, Ellsberg had access to information that convinced him of the futility of Johnson’s war policies, and in 1969 certain that he would be jailed for his actions he leaked to The New York Times a copy of the Pentagon Papers, a 7,000-page document on U.S. decision-making in Vietnam that helped to end the conflict. Spanning the years between his entry into the Pentagon and Nixon’s withdrawal from the presidency, Secrets is ultimately a memoir about Ellsberg’s crisis of conscience. His struggles to tell the truth to power evolved into his momentous decision to take matters into his own hands. In telling his unforgettable story, he skims over much of his personal life. (He does, however, admit to taking his 12-year-old son along when he copied the Pentagon Papers.) A compelling look into the workings of power, Secrets is the story of a hero and a patriot.

Take the uncertainty of the past year and extend it over a decade, and you have an approximation of what the 1960s were like. The tumultuous era is captured in Daniel Ellsberg's fascinating new book Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers (Viking,…

Memoir

Memoir

Remembering a first-class First Lady

Review by bookpagedev

by Edward Morris

This combined history and memoir by her grandson arrives on the 40th anniversary of Eleanor Roosevelt’s death. Remarkable for her intellect, energy and compassion, the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt has left a legacy, her chronicler argues, that is fully as durable in its own way as the one compiled by FDR as he led America through the Great Depression and all but the last few months of World War II. She was the first First Lady to achieve stature independently from that of her husband, and the first to demonstrate and tap into the latent political power of women.

Because his childhood memories of vacations and holidays with his grandmother are his most vivid ones, David Roosevelt writes of her with an unvarying mixture of warmth and wonder. Not so of FDR, who appears as a marginal figure in the author’s thoughts. It may take the reader awhile to adjust to Roosevelt’s repeated use of grandmere (a designation the French-speaking Eleanor requested of her grandchildren), but ultimately the preciousness wears off. Fortunately, Roosevelt leans on the research of scholars to fill in the factual blanks and interpretive nuances his own restricted perspective denies him.

Born into the same wealthy and socially prominent New York family that included her future husband (a distant cousin), Eleanor was handicapped early by a mother who rejected her and a father who was loving but dissolute. Her most positive early role models were her uncle, Teddy Roosevelt, and her teacher, the free-thinking Marie Souvestre. Both inspired her to think beyond the decorative, social and domestic roles then assigned to women. In what appeared to be a real affair of the heart, she married Franklin in 1905, when she was 20, and soon began having children. Five years later, Franklin scored his first political victory, election to the New York State Assembly. From the outset, the author says, Eleanor was his most reliable (if not always his most enthusiastic) political ally even though it would be several more years before women won the right to vote.

After Franklin fell victim to crippling polio in 1921, he grew even more reliant on Eleanor, and by the time he ascended to the presidency in 1933 she was perhaps the most vital part of his inner circle, serving as his eyes, ears and personal representative. As a young girl, she had worked to better the lot of New York’s poorest. In her capacity as First Lady, she became a tireless advocate for the nation’s downtrodden. She probed, lectured, wrote books and articles, even became a syndicated newspaper columnist. After FDR died in 1945, she continued her advocacy, ultimately helping to write and pass the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

David Roosevelt’s most revealing recollections of his grandmother are of her soul-mending retreats to Val-Kill Cottage, in New York, and Campobello Island, off the coast of Maine. The book is illustrated with 260 photographs, many of which have not been published before.

This combined history and memoir by her grandson arrives on the 40th anniversary of Eleanor Roosevelt's death. Remarkable for her intellect, energy and compassion, the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt has left a legacy, her chronicler argues, that is fully as durable in…

Nonfiction, True Crime

Nonfiction True Crime

Cashing in with stolen loot

Review by bookpagedev

by Martin Brady

On a cold day in February 1981, erstwhile longshoreman Joey Coyle and a couple of his South Philadelphia buddies set out to score some drugs. They couldn’t locate the dealer, but on their way home the trio came upon a large yellow container lying in the street, which contained two bags filled with unmarked $100 bills totaling $1.2 million. Flabbergasted and excited, Coyle picked up the money, placed it in the car and began to hatch a half-baked scheme to write his own rags-to-riches story. His two friends were skeptical, but they said nothing as Coyle immediately sought out an old pal of his late father, who allegedly brought in a Mob-connected accomplice to launder a substantial portion of the loot. Promising financial ease for all and dreaming of long-overdue medical care for his ailing mother, Coyle noted for a demeanor that could veer from rather endearing to out-and-out pathetic swore his cohorts to secrecy.

Almost hilariously, apparently spurred on by his newfound self-importance, he then set out to blab to others about his sudden good fortune. What Coyle didn’t know was that the money he found had fallen out of the back of a Purolator armored car that had been making routine rounds only minutes before he found the container, and that the Philadelphia police were hunting high and low for the substantial cash. By the end of a week, Coyle had stashed piles of dough hither and yon, gambled in Atlantic City, dined in high style, bought expensive clothes, doled out cash gifts (sometimes to complete strangers) and planned a getaway trip to Mexico, before being nabbed in the nick of time by the FBI at New York’s Kennedy International Airport.

Best-selling author Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down), formerly a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, offers a stark journalistic account of this thoroughly unlikely chain of events a story that takes on the air of a The Three Stooges episode, though the comedy of errors aspect is leavened by Coyle’s annoying, delusionary belief that the money should be his by some cockamamie fatalistic fiat. His penchant for waving around a .44 Magnum often makes the tale more worrisome than whimsical. However, the subsequent trial contains many humorous and ironic elements, as earnest prosecutors are thwarted by both judge and jury, who can’t bring themselves to be anything but sympathetic toward the plight of the poor Philly lad who stumbled onto a king’s ransom, the vast majority of which was eventually recovered.

The coda to this story is particularly grim: three weeks before the 1993 opening of Money for Nothing, a Disney-produced film based on the actual events, Joey Coyle took his own life. Bowden’s spare reportorial style makes for a quick, compelling read and a solid entry in the true-crime genre.

Martin Brady is a freelance writer in Nashville.

On a cold day in February 1981, erstwhile longshoreman Joey Coyle and a couple of his South Philadelphia buddies set out to score some drugs. They couldn't locate the dealer, but on their way home the trio came upon a large yellow container lying…

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bookpagedev

Childhood memories warm the heart

The story of a not-so-perfect pet

Let the games begin

Making a living and a life

Making a living and a life

Making a living and a life

You’ve come a long way, baby

Insider exposes Wall Street

Giuliani’s inspiring guide to leadership

Surviving cancer with your individuality intact

Divulging the secrets of war

Remembering a first-class First Lady

Cashing in with stolen loot

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