Keys to the City: Tales of a New York City Locksmith
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • I guess you had to be there
  • Fantastic!
  • Memorable characters and situations
  • Joel should stick to being a locksmith!
  • Amusing, reassuring vignettes
Keys to the City: Tales of a New York City Locksmith
Joel Kostman
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140279474

Book Description

Called "Doctor of the Deadbolt" by The New York Times, musician-turned-locksmith Joel Kostman has been collecting stories about the New York characters he's encountered in twenty years on the job: the poor and the wealthy, the friendly and the lonely, and, of course, the eccentric. As Kostman quietly lets them into their apartments, cars, or safes, they let down their guard and let him into their lives.

Here we meet a ninety-two-year-old cousin of Eddie Cantor who urges Kostman to try on one of the singer's jackets; a doctor who was Bugsy Siegel's personal physician; a very sexy Jersey girl; and five naked old men listening to Mozart in a steaming apartment, while a 35-degree-below-zero wind blows outside. In vignettes reminiscent of Isaac Bashevis Singer, Keys to the City is an unforgettable collection of fourteen encounters with New Yorkers locked out, locked in--and a few not far from being locked up.

Customer Reviews:

2 out of 5 stars I guess you had to be there.......2006-12-30

I'm not a New Yorker, but I only thought 2 or 3 of the stories were interesting enough to publish.

5 out of 5 stars Fantastic!.......2003-04-05

The day I moved to NYC, Joel was my locksmith, and I'm happy to say he's as brilliant a writer as he is/was a locksmith. His book is wonderful-it does exactly what you want great art to do. It's heartbreaking at turns, hilarious at others, it's a sly and witty Valentine to NYC, and it's just flat-out wonderful. I can't wait to see what he'll do next.

5 out of 5 stars Memorable characters and situations.......2001-03-14

Joel Kostman provides at least two essential services: locksmithing and storytelling. He is calm, smart, and - this unfolds with the stories - a careful observer-participant. In addition he is often saving the day for his characters, and he is humble.

These stories are great and short (as in, most are ten or fewer pages long) but each with a distinct purpose. You also find out that the narrator's brother, now schizophrenic, was once a Professor of Philosophy - and that Kostman knows an important moment when he meets one. He likes people, and they like him. You understand why.

This is a fine collection of stories that are unpretentious, elegantly simple, and very humane.

1 out of 5 stars Joel should stick to being a locksmith!.......1999-07-27

While Joel Kostman appears to be a very good locksmith, this book illustrates that he is not a very good author. The 14 tales are uninteresting, if not downright boring. Not one of the tales was a 'fun' read. The book is basically an oversized pamphlet, 130 plus small pages. Hire Joel to fix your locks, but do not buy his book.

4 out of 5 stars Amusing, reassuring vignettes.......1999-06-05

Joel is just a nice guy -- no questions there. He's also insightful and humble so he can let a story tell itself without trying to show off his ability to write. His writing style reminds me of a baseball umpire -- an umpire is at his best when you don't even realize he's umpiring the game. Joel's stories are like that -- they just smoothly tell themselves without too much editorializing and too much dramatization. He also doesn't use his book as an opportunity to list the litany of freaks, kooks, and morons he's undoubtedly dealt with in his locksmith years in NYC. These are funny stories, but they are more about everyday people and what they do to fill their time and make ends meet. It's the type of book that reassures you about the quality of people around you and makes you realize how extraordinary an ordinary life can be. It's a quick read, a few hours at most, but it's well worth it. I only wish there were more books by this author.
Keys to the City Tales of a New York City Locksmith
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Keys to the City Tales of a New York City Locksmith
    Joel Kostman
    Manufacturer: DK Publishing, Inc.
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover
    ASIN: B000J0KITE
    Keys to the City : Tales of a New York City Locksmith
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Keys to the City : Tales of a New York City Locksmith
      Joel Kostman
      Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback
      ASIN: B000OJD0XG

      Close Shave: The Life and Times of Baseball's Sal Maglie
      Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
      • Great Subject, Poor Execution
      • Good Baseball Biography!
      • Good Baseball Biography!
      • THIS ONE'S A STRIKE-OUT
      Close Shave: The Life and Times of Baseball's Sal Maglie
      James D. Szalontai
      Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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      ASIN: 0786411899

      Book Description

      Sal Maglie was a feared and hated pitcher perhaps best known for his vicious knockdown pitches that made batters tremble. Yet he was also respected as a ferocious competitor, one who pitched with his arm and his head, one who could be depended upon when his team needed a victory, and one who refused to quit, even when faced with a blacklisting, crippling injuries, and advanced age. Off the field, he was an amiable man.

      This work chronicles the life and career of the man and the player: his unspectacular minor league career, his 1945 debut with Mel Ott's New York Giants, his blacklisting by organized baseball for playing in Jorge Pasquel's Mexican League, and his rejoining the Giants in 1950 at the age of 33.

      He thereupon established himself as a bona fide big league pitcher, and went on to have a stellar career in the majors that included stints with the Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees, and St. Louis Cardinals. Game-by-game analyses of Maglie's professional career, intimate portraits of the men Maglie played with and against—Mel Ott, Eddie Stanky, Monte Irvin, Jackie Robinson, Carl Furillo, Willie Mays, among others—and a look at baseball as it was played in the 1940s and 1950s are features of the book.

      Customer Reviews:

      2 out of 5 stars Great Subject, Poor Execution.......2003-11-06

      Let's start with the good points about this book. The author's choice of a subject--pitcher Sal Maglie--is a fine one. His research was obviously exhaustive, as he seems to have documented every game Maglie ever pitched in the minor leagues, major leagues, Mexican League and winter leagues.

      Now for the faults. The writing is truly poor. There are spelling errors, grammar mistakes, sentence fragments, run-on-sentences and more. This, combined with a game-by-game approach to telling Maglie's story made the book a chore for me to wade through. I say that with a sense of sadness, because I can tell how much effort and devotion to the subject went into this book.

      Sal Maglie seemed to be on a sure track for a major league career, but the combination of World War II and a sojurn in the Mexican League (then an outlaw league in the eyes of organized ball) which led to his suspension for 2 1/2 seasons left him a marginal rookie prospect at age 33. Yet a combination of skill and determination allowed him to become one of the dominant pitchers in the National League during the 1950s. Even when age and injuries seemed to have caught up with the man known as "The Barber," he managed more than one dramatic and heroic comeback. It's a great baseball story, and a great human story that deserves a better telling. I think there's still the core of a good book in this manuscript, crying to get out.--William C. Hall

      4 out of 5 stars Good Baseball Biography!.......2003-06-19

      This biography of Sal Maglie proved to be an interesting read. He started out a major leaguer with the team of the legendary Mel Ott.He bacame hated because of his tendency to throw knock-
      down pitches. After getting off to a major league start he found himself blacklisted for playing in the Mexican leagues.He was finally able to resume his major league baseball career at the age of 33.During his time as a major league baseball pitcher
      he was able tp pitch in some world series games. One world series game he pitched in was the perfect game by Don Larsen.
      This is a good sports read. Buy it. You will find it to be very readable.

      4 out of 5 stars Good Baseball Biography!.......2003-06-19

      This biography of Sal Maglie proved to be an interesting read. He started out a major leaguer with the team of the legendary Mel Ott.He bacame hated because of his tendency to throw knock-
      down pitches. After getting off to a major league start he found himself blacklisted for playing in the Mexican leagues.He was finally able to resume his major league baseball career at the age of 33.During his time as a major league baseball pitcher
      he was able tp pitch in some world series games. One world series game he pitched in was the perfect game by Don Larsen.
      This is a good sports read. Buy it. You will find it to be very readable.

      1 out of 5 stars THIS ONE'S A STRIKE-OUT.......2002-10-08

      As a lifelong baseball fan with vivid memories of Sal Maglie, this book was a terrible disappointment. I bought it with high hopes of learning more about exactly what this book promises in its sub-title: the "life and times" of one of my childhood heroes and one of Major League baseball's truly fascinating and enigmatic figures. Instead, the reader learns almost nothing about Maglie-the-man and is subjected to an endless stream of data concerning just about every game in which Maglie ever participated, from his early days in the minors through his last days with the St. Louis Cardinals. The eyes of even the most ardent fan of 1940s and 50s baseball are likely to glaze over after a few paragraphs--not to mention quite a few chapters--of this.

      Strike One: The author's prose isn't just dull and flatter than home plate; it frequently borders on illiterate. OK, not everyone who writes about baseball is an artist like Red Smith or Roger Kahn. But readers of even the most ordinary sports book have a right to prose that isn't full of awkward sentences littered with errors of grammar, punctuation, word usage and even spelling, and they shouldn't have to plow through long paragraphs where the sentences meander aimlessly, with no logical connection to one another, as if the writer were randomly transcribing note cards.

      Strike Two: There's an even more serious problem with this book than bad writing, which is that Mr. Szalontai presents and defends two contradictory claims. On one hand he wants us to believe that Sal Maglie was a true American hero, a man who overcame all sorts of obstacles--early failures, black-listing, injuries, old age--to forge a successful baseball career. On the other hand, he presents Maglie as a homicidal maniac. The author keeps insisting that Maglie not only threw at batters--which he definitely did--but that he threw at batters' HEADS, with the intention of HITTING them in the head. This is a debatable claim. If it were true, Maglie, with his pinpoint control, would have beaned a lot more batters than he did and it's very likely he would have severely injured if not actually killed a number of them, which of course did not happen. Szalontai uses the word "beaning" incorrectly, to refer to any hit batsman. He ought to know it's a specialized term that should be used only to describe a pitcher hitting a batter in the "bean," or head, with a pitched ball, and not to describe the batter being bonked anywhere else on his body.

      Strike Three: A final complaint is that the author relied entirely on old newspaper files, books and a few magazine articles for his information. He never interviewed any sportswriters or team officials from Maglie's era, any of Maglie's numerous surviving teammates, or any members of the Maglie family. The players who knew Maglie are now in their 70s and 80s and are dying almost daily. To give just two examples of missed opportunities: Maglie's NY Giants teammate and fellow pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm died just a few weeks ago and Maglie's favorite and most frequent catcher, Wes Westrum, died in May of 2002. Surely Mr. Szalontai could have gleaned some new and interesting insights into Maglie from talking to these men.

      This could have been a terrific book about a colorful era and one of its most exciting players--a real literary home run. But sad to say, despite all the patient research that went into it, the book is dull, badly written and superficial. As a portrait of Sal Maglie it's strictly "three strikes and you're out!"

      Mapping the Godzone: A Primer on New Zealand Literature and Culture (Latitude 20 Books)
      Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
      • Useful introduction
      Mapping the Godzone: A Primer on New Zealand Literature and Culture (Latitude 20 Books)
      William John Schafer
      Manufacturer: University of Hawaii Press
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

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      ASIN: 0824820169

      Customer Reviews:

      4 out of 5 stars Useful introduction.......2003-08-29

      The premise of this book is fantastic: it aims to be an introduction to New Zealand culture geared toward the educated but non-specialist American. By explaining dominant trends in NZ literature, describing some of this literature's historical context, and relating it to American culture, William Schafer outlines some answers to the questions of what it means to live in New Zealand, and how that nation has structured its unique identity. On a more basic level, this book gives its readers a sense of what NZ lit and film is available, and thus provides a spring board for an independent exploration of NZ culture. Schafer's quotes and discussion of the fiction of Witi Imihaera (author of the novel The Whale Rider, upon which the 2003 film is based), for instance, were particularly attractive to me and, as a result, I have since read several of his works. Mapping the Godzone opened a new world to me, and I look forward to continuing to explore NZ culture under its guidance.
      While the book's aims are laudable, its execution is not quite as impressive. Schafer tries to avoid the jargon and heavily theoretical analysis of contemporary literary criticism, but at times he slips up and his prose drags. At other times, he is somewhat too summary in his discussions--particularly when he relies on series of lengthy quotes by other critics. The quotes from literary sources should be well appreciated, since they provide a window into the style of many authors; the quotes from scholars simply seem to point to laziness on the part of the author. Could he not sum up the material himself? Besides these (not too grave) issues of style, the content of the book could have been improved. Clearly Schafer (an English professor) was mostly interested in the literary achievements of New Zealand. However, he does intend his book to be a primer on culture as well, and to achieve this end he would have done well to include more of popular and visual culture in hi
      s book. He does write a short section on film, but it consists mostly of a list of movies that the reader might find interesting.
      Despite its flaws and shortcomings, Mapping the Godzone is a unique resource for the American reader curious about New Zealand, and it seems to be an excellent overview of that country's literature. I am glad to have found it.

      Straight Whisky
      Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
      • Straight Whiskey
      • Straight Fantasy
      • Must-read for any music fan; a tour through the decades
      • Living La Vida Loca
      • Wish I was there
      Straight Whisky
      Erik Quisling
      Manufacturer: Bonus Books
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Hardcover

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      ASIN: 1566251974

      Book Description

      Straight Whisky is the first book ever to chronicle all the music, magic, and mayhem of the Sunset Strip.

      Customer Reviews:

      5 out of 5 stars Straight Whiskey.......2006-03-14

      If you love rock and roll, you will enjoy this book. Its a well written and an easy to read book, which gives the reader a tonn of insight to the world of the Whisky A Go Go. One of the best things about this book, it doesnt stop too long on one decade, keeping you wanting more. It equally shares stories and information about most everything that went on at the Whisky. If your looking for rock history with a side of Americana, read it.

      2 out of 5 stars Straight Fantasy.......2005-12-05

      Having hung out on the Sunset Strip in the late 70's/early 80's, I was REALLY excited about this book. The moment I got my hands on it I flipped thru the photos and saw...

      7 pages of historical posters for great Whisky shows such as the Doors, Hendrix, Led Zep, etc. Except these posters didn't exist prior to 1999 when they were created for this book. You have to read the teeny-tiny print on the bottom to realise this. That's the first example of "Straight Whisky"'s lack of veracity.

      More examples abound. On page 54 is recreated a conversation between the Doors & Whisky manager Mario Maglieri where Mario says "John Lennon's sitting down there with a .... tampon on his head". Except this incident actually occured in 1974 at the TROUBADOUR so not only could Mario have not said this, he certainly didn't say it to the Doors (Jim Morrison was already dead in 74).

      Later,(pg 58) in the authors bio of Mario Maglieri, they state that he was born in 1924 & at the age of 16 drove bootleg beer for Al Capone. Simple math skills show that Mario would have been 16 in 1940. Simple Google skills show that Al Capone was a retired man in 1940, that beer was no longer bootlegged, and that wherever this bit of folklore came from, someone should have fact-checked it before it was published.

      Errors & absence of fact checking abound on almost every page of this book, which makes it hard to believe anything within it's pages. While Straight Whisky may be an entertaining read for those who weren't there during the glory years of the Sunset Strip, the reader should be warned this book is a work of fantasy & not non-fiction.

      5 out of 5 stars Must-read for any music fan; a tour through the decades.......2005-09-09

      Outstanding! Prepare to be consumed by the tale of a Hollywood landmark, the Whisky A Go-Go, from its go-go and movie star days to the hippie era to rock to punk to glam metal and into the current day. The authors' style is accessible and easy-to-follow--each chapter opens with an anecdote about people in the club and closes with a comprehensive historical analysis and commentary. The two components of each chapter were perfectly delineated and well balanced.

      Prepare for a lot of tell-all uncensored anecdotes about everyone from the the Byrds to The Doors to Guns N Roses to Led Zeppelin to The Germs to Motley Crue. There's something for everyone in the history of The Whisky.

      This book takes you inside a trio of clubs owned by the same family: the legendary Wisky, the smaller venue for unsigned bands, the Roxy, and the legendary Rainbow, where rock stars and Hollywood scenesters dined and drank in the heyday of the Sunset Strip and continue to do so today. Anyone visiting LA should stop by the Rainbow for a meal and to see a part of living history.

      4 out of 5 stars Living La Vida Loca.......2005-07-11

      The Sunset Strip is a cultural phenomenon of America, a place where you can go to really touch how the youth of the country are changing. Having grown up in California in the 60s, going back to the strip for visits in the mid-70s, and visiting quite often in the 90s to today, I've always been fascinated by the vibe of the street. My favorite hangout was the Roxbury in the early 90s.

      This book does an excellent job covering Rock focusing on the Whiskey a Go Go, the ultimate rock/nightclub venue that brought in changing music and the celebrity culture. From the beginning days of celebs such as Johnny Carson attending to see Johnny Rivers through the most famous period of appearances by the Doors this book has a story to tell. But it goes in to much further depth with help by the eventual owner, Mario, as he described the evolution, the up and down years, and the other joints that became Rock n Roll royalty hangouts designed to keep fans away where the stars could hang out without much fear of being exposed.

      I ran into a scathing review on the Internet that talks of the many inaccuracies of this book. But after reading the inaccuracies stated, I found them to be more faulty memory and slight embellishments rather than gross lying. Therefore I still recommend this book but encourage you to do your own research before taking everything at face value. For me, this book fills in a lot of holes and projects great Rock history. I encourage you to read this book specifically if you have interest in Rock n Roll in the 60s and 70s.

      5 out of 5 stars Wish I was there.......2005-05-23

      I was a bit too young (too fall in love) to be on the sunset stip in its prime. I live near Hollywood now and even now in my early twenties the sunset strip rocks. After reading Straight Wisky I have a whole new insight on my favorite Hollywood Hangouts. Man if those walls could talk....my only problem with this book is that its seems as if the writers were trying to prove they knew a lot of big words. So many words that werent necessary, not that I am an idiot but I felt as if I was being lectured to at times with the choice of grammar. Other then that I LOVED THIS BOOK. I also HIGHY RECCOMEND "The Dirt" Confessions of the Wolds most Notorious Rock Band Motley Crue!!!
      The world's whiskey: American straight whiskies, from Kentucky, Tennessee and elsewhere, are surging. : An article from: Cheers
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        The world's whiskey: American straight whiskies, from Kentucky, Tennessee and elsewhere, are surging. : An article from: Cheers
        Jack Robertiello
        Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Digital

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        ASIN: B000BKSR1I
        Release Date: 2005-09-27

        Book Description

        This digital document is an article from Cheers, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2005. The length of the article is 1567 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

        Citation Details
        Title: The world's whiskey: American straight whiskies, from Kentucky, Tennessee and elsewhere, are surging.
        Author: Jack Robertiello
        Publication: Cheers (Magazine/Journal)
        Date: September 1, 2005
        Publisher: Thomson Gale
        Volume: 16 Issue: 7 Page: 48(4)

        Distributed by Thomson Gale

        Learn Chess Fast: The Fun Way to Start Smart & Master the Game
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Learn Chess Fast: The Fun Way to Start Smart & Master the Game
          Raymond Keene , and Nancy Stewart
          Manufacturer: Bright Sky Press
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback

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          ASIN: 0970472943

          Book Description

          Begin by getting to know each chess piece on the board, how to set up the chess board, how each chess piece moves, attacks and is obstructed, how to read and understand chess notation, how to follow and understand chess diagrams.
          Masters of the Chess Board (Hardinge Simpole Chess Classics)
          Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
          • Synopsis
          • A classic
          Masters of the Chess Board (Hardinge Simpole Chess Classics)
          Richard Reti
          Manufacturer: Hardinge Simpole Limited
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback

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          ASIN: 1843820145

          Book Description

          Réti produces a penetrating thumbnail sketch of each of the great masters who contributed decisively to the progress of chess thinking from the days of Morphy and Anderssen up to the time of Capablanca, Alekhine, Nimzowitsch and the hypermoderns, amongst whom Réti numbered himself.

          Customer Reviews:

          5 out of 5 stars Synopsis.......2007-07-09

          Richard Réti produces a penetrating thumbnail sketch of each of the great masters who contributed decisively to the progress of chess thinking from the days of Morphy and Anderssen up to the time of Capablanca, Alekhine, Nimzowitsch and the hypermoderns, amongst whom Réti numbered himself. Widely regarded as one of the most stimulating books ever written on chess, its strategies and personalities, Masters of the Chess Board has both educated and enchanted generations of chess enthusiasts. Richard Réti -one of the leaders of the hypermodern school of chess which rose to prominence in the 1920's - was a formidable over the board grandmaster as shown by his victories at the splendid tournaments of Kaschau 1918, Gothenburg 1920 and Teplitz Schonau 1922. His victims included Capablanca, Alekhine and Nimzowitsch, while his elegant destruction of Bogolyubov deservedly won the beauty prize at New York 1924.

          4 out of 5 stars A classic.......2004-07-03

          Richard Reti shows the evolution of chess by analyzing games from great players from the past. In doing so, he also provides the reader with basic ideas on how to handle the opening, approach the development of pieces and confidently enter the middlegame. The contrast between the hypermoderns and classicists is also of interest and, in my opinion, a landmark in chess is represented by this book.
          The biographical notes are also interesting from the chess culture point of view. I love this book and consider worth having it in my personal library. Why 4 stars instead of 5? Because of the descriptive notation...
          Masters of the Chess Board
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            Masters of the Chess Board
            Richard; Translated By M. A. Schwendemann Reti
            Manufacturer: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Hardcover
            ASIN: B000JC3056
            Masters Of The Chess Board
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              Masters Of The Chess Board
              Richard Reti
              Manufacturer: G. Bell & Sons Ltd
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Hardcover
              ASIN: B000J31KV6
              Masters of the Chess Board
              Average customer rating: Not rated
                Masters of the Chess Board
                Richard Reti
                Manufacturer: McGraw Hill
                ProductGroup: Book
                Binding: Hardcover
                ASIN: B000PWBOL2
                Masters of the Chess Board
                Average customer rating: Not rated
                  Masters of the Chess Board
                  Richard ; Schwendemann, M. A. Reti
                  Manufacturer: G. Bell and Sons
                  ProductGroup: Book
                  Binding: Hardcover
                  ASIN: B000OYN70M

                  Code Name Ginger: The Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen's Quest to Invent a New World
                  Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
                  • Book Critique
                  • How not to conquer the World.
                  • Great
                  • Nice read, but lacking in a few ways...
                  • Nice Read!
                  Code Name Ginger: The Story Behind Segway and Dean Kamen's Quest to Invent a New World
                  Steve Kemper
                  Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
                  ProductGroup: Book
                  Binding: Hardcover

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                  ASIN: 1578516730

                  Book Description

                  "It's going to change the world."-Dean Kamen

                  They came from across the country and from the lab down the hall. Some left behind lucrative jobs, some moved their families. Each hand-picked engineer was drawn by the same irresistible lure: the chance to work with a brilliant, eccentric inventor on a secret project. Dean Kamen was already a millionaire with an impressive list of medical inventions to his name, but none of them had excited him like his newest world-changer. Extraordinary things were happening inside his New Hampshire laboratory, things no one could find out about-at least not yet.

                  This is the unforgettable story of "Ginger," officially named the Segway Human Transporter: a self-balancing, electric-powered people mover that Kamen called "magic sneakers." With the pacing and excitement of a suspense novel, Code Name Ginger documents the birth of a marvelous new technology and the feats of its remarkable inventor, his team of engineers, and the financiers who pursued them.

                  Steve Kemper was the only journalist granted complete access to the Ginger project as the machine was designed, prototyped, and readied for manufacture. He takes us inside a world of ingenious engineering, in which improbable ideas become real: wheelchairs climb stairs, scooters balance on two wheels, polluted water is made clean. He reveals Kamen as few have seen him: in the heat of invention, racing against time, caught between his idealistic beliefs and his obsession to make Ginger a commercial success. He chronicles the wheeling and dealing of high-rolling investors and New Economy kingpins from John Doerr to Steve Jobs. And he delivers vital business lessons about leadership, entrepreneurship, marketing, and innovation while recounting a technological adventure that will be studied and argued about for decades.

                  For anyone who has ever wondered what it was like inside Thomas Edison's lab or the Wright Brothers' garage, here is the twenty-first century equivalent. Step inside Dean Kamen's laboratory and discover the thrills and risks of invention. The Segway's story, like the machine itself, is appreciated best by climbing aboard and taking a ride.

                  AUTHORBIO: Steve Kemper is a journalist whose work has appeared in Smithsonian, National Geographic, and other magazines. He lives in West Hartford, Connecticut.

                  Customer Reviews:

                  5 out of 5 stars Book Critique.......2007-01-04

                  I picked this book from a list for a book critique for my management principles course. I am really glad I choose this book. The book is very well written. It gives you an almost voyueristic look at the development of the segway and a kind of radical and unheard of management style. The author had an amazing opertunity when he experieenced this and does a great job of relaying it in the book. He even did this with not much bias towards the segway company. The book seems to almost be like a movie playing infront of you. You feel as if you are there with everyone during the development.

                  4 out of 5 stars How not to conquer the World........2005-11-01

                  If you are an engineer you will be unhappy with the scattershot presentation of the design & engineering challenges and their resolution. If you are interested in the marketing decisions behind the introduction of the Segway you will find that the planning was amateur and the execution thin. There is little to learn because pre-launch research into the views, beliefs, attitudes and needs of eventual buyers was ruled out due to an hysterical fear of revealing the nature of the product.
                  Where this book does excel is in giving readers a very real feel for the pace of the development work, the excitement and passion of some very talented engineers and the tensions and frustrations they felt working for a man who can only be described as extra-ordinary. Like many business case studies, this story illustrates what happens when the drive, courage and brains that, under constrained financial conditions and anonymity, delivers wondrous innovation; can, in the end, produce nothing more than the alloted 15 minutes of Fame when the constraints are gone and the dream surrenders to the ego.

                  5 out of 5 stars Great.......2003-08-13

                  A unique insight into the development of not only a new product, but a new industry. Whether you like the Segway or not, the book gives you behind the scenes look that most people never get to see, and it's a type of revolutionary technology (maybe not the application) that only comes around every few decades.

                  4 out of 5 stars Nice read, but lacking in a few ways..........2003-08-12

                  I don't own a Segway, but I find it (and DEKA) interesting from an engineering perspective. This book is a largely non-technical view into the process of creating it.

                  Is it a good read? Yes. Would I recommend it to others interested in the topic? Yes. Could it be improved? Yes.

                  I wish it were more technical, which seems to be a reasonable request since the readership should be largely engineers and business people, not a general audience. It also needed a section of photos and/or diagrams of Ginger as the engineering progressed and to illustrate various features discussed in the book. (For example, the handle is described as W-shaped and then it becomes redesigned as M-shaped, but it wasn't clear if that was from the perspective of the rider or looking at it head-on.)

                  I also thought that the writing was awkward in places, and found the few transitions from third-person observer to first-person participant to be jarring. I do recognize that the author's presence was key to those few events, but it was jarring to the flow of the page nonetheless.

                  So, overall, I liked it, but given that it will probably be the only book on the topic, I wish it were better...

                  4 out of 5 stars Nice Read!.......2003-08-01

                  Enjoyed the book. Would have liked to have read a bit more about the engineer's and the engineering process, and it would have been nice to have seen some rough sketches of Ginger at different stages. Nonetheless, I think Dr. Kemper did a nice job.

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