Customer Comments

Brian Seifert has commented on (15) products.

All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House by David Giffels

Brian Seifert, March 28, 2009

All The Way Home is nice story of a family trying to cope with major changes in their lives. And when those changes include rehabbing an old home there's an added layer to the drama. What might interest folks outside of the midwest is what it's like to buy a house for less than $100,000 (still possible) and then spend years working on it. In this case the author became somewhat obsessed with the project, but his obsession really makes an impression.

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Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit by Matt Mccarthy

Brian Seifert, February 20, 2009

Just in time for baseball season, Matt McCarthy grabs the tradition of "Ball Four" and puts it to work on his teammates from a stint in the minor leagues. McCarthy was surprised to be there, but he was even more surprised by what he saw and who he saw doing it. Some of the characters are now the in the major leagues and are not too happy having their antics in this book. Its a ride as bumpy as a minor league bus trip, but worth taking for all the adventure and fun you'll have along with the team.

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The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America by David Hajdu

Brian Seifert, November 20, 2008

Did you enjoy comic books when you were a kid? So did lots of influential and creative people running media companies today...which is why you can trace their influence to current TV, video games, internet, and the movies. But as David Hajdu explains, comics were hardly mainstream in the '50s. In fact, they were considered downright subversive by lots of folks. Hard to imagine that ten cent entertainments generated that kind of fear, but we're talking serious censorship fights, Senate hearings, and social outrage. Hajdu takes us right into the controversies, introduces us to the comic masters, and explains why the counterculture won. It's another great ride from a talented writer. Can't wait for the comic version.

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Comedy at the Edge: How Stand-Up in the 1970s Changed America by Richard Zoglin

Brian Seifert, April 9, 2008

Have you heard the one about Rodney Dangerfield and Robert Klein on a boat trip when Rodney, who couldn't swim, impulsively decided to jump overboard? It's no joke, but it is true and representative of the wild days of comedy in the 1970s. Author Richard Zoglin has done a lot of research and come up with great backstage stories about the most influential new wave comics, including Klein, Richard Lewis, Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Martin, George Carlin and many others. Zoglin explains how they rejected the old "set up and joke" formula in favor of a more personal form of self expression. He develops well rounded portraits of some creative, but volatile performers, both on stage and off. The book takes comedy fans back to a time when it was all about creativity and even the club owners didn't really know where it would all lead.

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Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years by Michael Palin

Brian Seifert, August 31, 2007

Michael Palin has gone from Pole to Pole and role to role, but he'll always be a Python. Now he opens up his personal journals to tell us about the personalities and personal struggles that led to Monty Python's Flying Circus. Who knew this silly man was so obsessive about the details of his legendary comedy? In this large volume we get much more than a standard memoir. We get six hundred plus pages of details about the Pythons, the people who supported them, and those who didn't want "something completely different". Palin might be a little obsessive in his journeys and journals, but that's a good thing for true fans.

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