Sports

Seth Mnookin was given access never before granted to a reporter for this fascinating inside account of the Boston Red Sox. As a result he has written perhaps the best book yet about a professional sports team in America.

Feeding the Monster shows what it takes to win a championship, both on and off the field. Seth Mnookin spent mornings in the front office, afternoons in the clubhouse, and evenings in the owners' box. He learned how the Sox persuaded Curt Schilling to sign, why Nomar Garciaparra resented his teammates, and what led to Pedro Martinez's acrimonious exit. He knows the real story behind Theo Epstein's brief departure and witnessed the development of his rift with Larry Lucchino. And in a new epilogue, Mnookin examines the 2006 offseason, including the negotiations for Japanese phenom Daisuke Matsuzaka.

In a juicy narrative that is filled with thrilling detail, Feeding the Monster peels back the curtain to show what it means to be a part of a major league sports team today.

The 2004 Red Sox are champions because they engineered the greatest comeback in baseball history when they won four straight games against the hated New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series. It was a baseball epic, an event for the ages that put the Sox into a World Series that was profoundly anticlimactic. From the writers, editors, and photographers of the award-winning Boston Globe comes the official 2004 Special Commemorative Book.

Since the publication of "Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, " millions of golfers have learned why this gentle, wise teacher is a true national treasure. With simple, clear images and with words that wipe away decades of overly technical instruction, Harvey Penick brings out the best golfer in everyone he touches, but there is one group of pupils with whom Harvey has always had a special rapport.
Unique among great golf teachers, Harvey has worked with and helped -- and learned from -- as many women champions as men. Of the thirteen women enshrined in the LPGA Hall of Fame, five worked with Harvey for a substantial period of time. But beyond these great players -- women like Mickey Wright, Sandra Palmer, Betsy Rawls, Kathy Whitworth, Judy Rankin, and Betty Jameson -- Harvey has taken as much pleasure in the accomplishments of the countless women who came to him hoping only to be able to hit the ball in the air for the very first time.
In "For All Who Love the Game, " Harvey shares the lessons he has learned from all the women he's watched in his seven decades of teaching the game he loves. He describes the techniques that can help women gain greater power, discusses the psychological hurdles some women must overcome to improve their game, and gives his tips for developing the parts of the game where women can and should outplay their male partners. He provides a clear image of the proper swing, gives advice on what equipment every woman should carry, and provides wisdom, inspiration, and sound instruction for anyone hoping to improve her game. With the same blend of sage advice and common sense that made his first two books such an essential part of every golfer's library,Harvey shows how every woman, whatever her other athletic gifts might be, can play great golf and enjoy it to its fullest.
Harvey has often said that the day he stops learning is the day he'll quit teaching. Fortunately for us all, that day is still a long way in the future for America's best-loved teacher of the greatest game of all.