The Jordan Rules - by Sam Smith (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 368Genre: PhilosophySub-Genre: GeneralFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Gallery BooksAge Range: AdultAuthor: Sam SmithLanguage: English About the Book Named "the best sports book of 1991" by The New York Times, this blockbuster bestseller about the Chicago Bulls' 1990-91 championship season has been updated with new material that takes us up to the minute in the fascinating life of Michael Jordan--including his minor league baseball career. Book Synopsis Sam Smith's seminal, New York Times bestselling "eye-opener" (The San Diego Union-Tribune) on Michael Jordan and the 1990-1991 Chicago Bulls team--perfect for fans of ESPN's hit documentary series The Last Dance. This is the book that changed the way the world viewed Michael Jordan, while delivering nonstop excitement, tension, and thrills. The Jordan Rules chronicles the season that changed everything for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. After losing in the playoffs to the "Bad Boys" Detroit Pistons for three consecutive years, the Bulls finally broke through and swept the Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, on the way to their first NBA championship. Celebrated sportswriter Sam Smith was there for the entire ride. He reveals a candid and provocative picture of Michael Jordan during the season in which his legacy began to be defined, and seeks to figure out what drove him. The Jordan Rules covers everything from his stormy relationships with his coaches and teammates and power struggles with management--including verbal attacks on general manager Jerry Krause and tantrums against coach Phil Jackson--to Jordan's obsessions with becoming the leading scorer, and his refusal to pass the ball in the crucial minutes of big games. Jordan's teammates also tell their side of the story, from Scottie Pippen, to Horace Grant, to Bill Cartwright. And Phil Jackson--the former flower child who blossomed into one of the NBA's top motivators and finally found a way to coax Jordan and the Bulls to their first title--is studied up close. "Smith takes us into the locker room, aboard the team plane and team bus, and seats us on the bench during games. Sometimes, books reflecting on a team's success don't reach the personal level with the people who made it happen: The Jordan Rules does" (Associated Press). Discover the team behind the man, and the man behind the living legend, in this intense, fascinating inside story of the incomparable Michael Jordan. Review Quotes "The Jordan Rules ... might be the best sports book since Season on the Brink about Bob Knight." - Chicago Sun-Times "Jordan boasts a wicked tongue, and not just when it's hanging out as he dunks ... [He] manages to blurt out enough in Smith's book to reveal his own narcissistic, trash-talking, obsessively competitive side." - Newsweek "The Jordan Rules entertains throughout, but the most fun comes from just hanging out with the players. Smith takes us into the locker room, aboard the team plane and team bus, and seats us on the bench during games. Sometimes, books reflecting on a team's success don't reach the personal level with the people who made it happen: The Jordan Rules does." - Associated Press "A riveting account ... what you want in a sports book: the behind-the-scenes stuff, a peek at the private side of the players, their hobbies and politics and religion, the way they get along or don't ... It's fair to compare The Jordan Rules with the campaign books that appear after every presidential race ... The difference is not only that The Jordan Rules explains more persuasively than most of the campaign chronicles how the winner was decided--it's that it does so more interestingly and with more understanding of the human heart." - Fred Barnes, The American Spectator "Revealing ...with often-evocative glimpses of players, coaches and on-court tactics." - Chicago Tribune "Thorough and funny and engaging ... Anecdotes and asides ... give a true flavor of life with a professional sports franchise." - Philadelphia Inquirer "Author Sam Smith shows you the other side of Jordan without malice, the side that is not slickly commercialized, or dramatically canonized according to hang time. Smith's book doesn't make Jordan out to be a bad guy or a tyrant. It simply makes him out to be mortal." - Orlando Sentinel "In some ways, reading this book made me like Jordan more. Beyond the pull of his puppeteers, he is revealed as being human. He grows and is humbled ... " - Sports Illustrated "Revealing and controversial ... Smith takes you through the championship season that, as it turns out, was a truly rocky journey." - Chattanooga Times "AN EYE-OPENER." - San Diego Tribune "Taking advantage of daily access to the Bulls, Smith takes the reader beyond the press-conscious statements usually heard through the media .... An excellent documentary on the Bulls' championship season." - Kansas City Star "An engaging, sometimes cruelly funny behind-the-scenes look at the Bulls' tantrum-and doubt-filled but finally triumphant journey to the NBA title." - New York Newsday "In context, Jordan actually comes off as a sympathetic mortal, which is no easy trick given his supernatural powers and Fort Knox bank account." - People "The Jordan Rules tells the story of how a pro basketball team overcomes the handicap of having the greatest individual virtuoso in history as its centerpiece player. Even a Michael Jordan must learn how to pay attention to team dynamics." - Boston Globe "You know it's gotta be certifiable, reliable, verifiable, authentic and every other synonym when Bulls GM Jerry Krause labels Smith's work 'mostly fiction.' That's a sure sign the writer has the drop on the situation ... There's nothing more controversial than the truth." - Peter Yecsey, USA Today About the Author Sam Smith was a reporter for the Chicago Tribune during the Chicago Bulls' 1991 championship season. He is a Brooklyn, New York, native with degrees in accounting from Pace University and in journalism from Ball State University. He has worked for Arthur Young and Co., the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, and States News Service in Washington, D.C. This is his first book.
Why We Can't Wait - (Signet Classics) by Martin Luther Dr King (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 240Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: Ethnic StudiesSeries Title: Signet ClassicsFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Signet BookAge Range: AdultBook theme: African American StudiesAuthor: Martin Luther Dr KingLanguage: English About the Book This paperback reissue of a classic not only examines King's Birmingham campaign for civil rights, but the history of the struggle and the tasks that await future generations fighting for equality. New Afterword by Rev. Jesse Jackson. Reissue. Book Synopsis Martin Luther King's classic exploration of the events and forces behind the Civil Rights Movement--including his Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963. "There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair." In 1963, Birmingham, Alabama, was perhaps the most racially segregated city in the United States. The campaign launched by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights movement on the segregated streets of Birmingham demonstrated to the world the power of nonviolent direct action. In this remarkable book--winner of the Nobel Peace Prize--Dr. King recounts the story of Birmingham in vivid detail, tracing the history of the struggle for civil rights back to its beginnings three centuries ago and looking to the future, assessing the work to be done beyond Birmingham to bring about full equality for African Americans. Above all, Dr. King offers an eloquent and penetrating analysis of the events and pressures that propelled the Civil Rights movement from lunch counter sit-ins and prayer marches to the forefront of American consciousness. Since its publication in the 1960s, Why We Can't Wait has become an indisputable classic. Now, more than ever, it is an enduring testament to the wise and courageous vision of Martin Luther King, Jr. Includes photographs and an Afterword by Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. Review Quotes "No child should graduate from high school without having read this book. In telling the story of the third American Revolution, it is as integral to American history as the Declaration of Independence."--Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. About the Author Martin Luther King, Jr., was born January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, the son and grandson of pastors. He graduated from Morehouse College and Crozer Theological Seminary, becoming at age 25 pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He subsequently earned his Ph.D. from Boston University. In 1957 he and other civil rights leaders founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization he led until his death. A proponent of Gandhian principles of non-violence, he led many protests and demonstrations for civil rights, including the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 29, 1963, where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Winner of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, he continued to fight for civil rights, the eradication of poverty and the end of the Vietnam War. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN. Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., is the founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, an organization committed to fighting for social, political, and economic justice for people of all races, genders, and creeds. A two-time candidate for President of the United States, Rev. Jackson has been called the "conscience of the nation." Rev. Jackson is also renowned for his efforts around the world to spread the promise of democracy, human rights, and peace. Rev. Jackson and his wife, Jacqueline, reside in Chicago and are the proud parents of five children.
