THE BOOK REVIEW: RED SOX THREADS & other August Reads

Bill Nowlin has worked on more than a dozen books about the Red Sox and it shows in this compendium, book of lists and tales, stats and streaks and all kinds of seat of the pants info and data about the team that packs Fenway every game out.

"Red Sox Threads: Odd and Ends From Red Sox History” (Rounder Records, $18.95, 545 pages) is a mother lode of interesting, insightful and intelligent ruminations on Red Sox Nation - - -nicknames, Jewish , Latino, Foreign born Sox, the first Woman who played at Fenway, numbers and uniforms, opening days and more and more. For fans of the Old Towne Team – required reading and for the rest of us a book to browse through and enjoy.

“Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World" by David Maraniss (Simon & Schuster $26.95 496 pages) by the Washington Post journalist and author of acclaimed biographies of Bill Clinton and Vince Lombardi, is a page turner dealing as it does in great detail with games played 48 years ago in a simple era, without terrorism threats, crass commercialism and inane and "stop-it-already” TV coverage. The skilled Maraniss carefully crafts chapter after chapter and goes into detail on such items as the controversial decision in the men's swimming event, the Tigerbelles' encounters with predjudice. Muhammad Ali, Rafer Johnson and others are once again given that "up close and personal look.” HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

From Oxford comes a slew of titles geared to China and Olympic reading for these lazy, languid summer days: "China: Fraigile Superpower” by Susan L. Shirk, (Oxford University Press $27.00, 336 pages), “Fallun Gong and the Future of China” by David Ownby, $29.95, 312 pages), "Modern China” by Rana Miller, $9.95, 168 pages, paperback), “Oxford Chinese Mini Dictionary,” $9.95, 656 pages, paperback). If China is your cup of tea - -these are books just for you.

"The Crowd Sounds Happy” by Nicholas Dawidoff (Pantheon, $27.95, 272 pages) is a true page turner of a memoir as the author takes us back to his childhood struggles with baseball in the foreground and background. It is a brilliantly told tale and one would expect no less from Dawidoff, author of "The Catcher Was a Spy.”

Harvey Frommer, now in his 33rd consecutive year of writing sports books, is the author of 39 of them including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Red Sox Vs Yankee: The Great Rivalry.” Frommer’s REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) an oral/narrative history will be published in September as well as a reprint version of his SHOELESS JOE AND RAGTIME BASEBALL.

Frommer sports books are available direct from the author - discounted and autographed.
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