What did you like best about this story?
Before writing forty-one books, including “The Snow Goose,” “Mrs. ‘Arris goes to Paris,” “The Posidon Adventure,” plus numerous short stories and movies, Paul Gallico was the pre-eminent sports writer of the 1920s and ‘30s; these are the stories that prove it. He was a man of his time, recording his time, and he did not pull his punches. There are no proper, “politically correct” references here. He calls ‘em like he sees ‘em, with the slam-bang nouns and adjectives available to the reporter of the era. Here is history, in your face, with no excuses, and no matter one’s ethnicity. When he describes the experience of the ethnic athlete in the time of Jim Crow and Adolph Hitler, he is so vivid that this listener had to stop listening for a bit, in order to recover emotional equilibrium. I can feel tears glimmering on the edge even now, as I write this.
What about David Stifel’s performance did you like?
David Stifel is evocative and edgy, smooth and sly, very much a vivid interpreter of the author’s voice without being intrusive. A masterful reading of timeless observations in the pivotal decade in the life of a very American author who should be revered for not only his insight into the foibles of man, but his use and reverence of his language.
Any additional comments?
This is the perfect gift for the sports lover of any age.