Rating: 
Summary: Pretty disappointing
Review: After recently reading "Tropics of Hockey" and Ken Dryden's "The Game", "Thunder and Lightning" was a bit of a disappointment.
The 5 or 6 word sentences wear thin very quickly. "I loved hockey a lot." "We sure had a lot of fun." "Boy, those girls were hot." Just not as insightful as I had anticipated. If you'd like to learn more about the '72 Summit Series, by all means pick up "The Game." The only thing of real interest was his process of getting the Lightning franchise off the ground. However, even that could've been written without as many, "Yeah, I liked him a lot because he liked me a lot. He was a jerk because he wouldn't do it my way."
Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous!
Review: Brutally honest, scars and all. Couldn't put it down. Probably one of the best sports book I ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: Espo fans on the shot
Review: Don't waste your time or money on this.
Sloppy, poorly written, filled with cliches.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, but not necessarily great
Review: From Esposito you can always expect a good laugh and brutal honesty and this book provides all of this. Yet it isn't enough, I agree with others that there was not enough on the Summit Series, I also think some things could have been left out. I'd rather not have known some things, but I'm not surprised he included them either.
This book will never be classed among the best books, not even the best hockey books, but it still is entertaining for the hockey fan, or the Esposito fan. Worth reading unless you are looking to use an ounce of brain work.
Rating: 
Summary: It ain't Shakespeare - and it ain't supposed to be....
Review: I get the impression that this is a transcript from Phil just sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a beer, talking about the good old days. The writing style is very conversational and reflective and his thoughts and emotions are quite real.The content is exceptionally interesting and the book has a very good flow to it. It is easy to pick this book up and read half of it, before realizing you have done so. Many of the stories are laugh-out-loud funny. The motley cast of characters is never-ending, from Eddie Shack to Wayne Cashman to Ron Duguay. Esposito had some great times on and off the ice and he delivers his experiences in a neat little package.
Rating:
Summary: It ain't Shakespeare - and it ain't supposed to be....
Review: I get the impression that this is a transcript from Phil just sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a beer, talking about the good old days. The writing style is very conversational and reflective and his thoughts and emotions are quite real. The content is exceptionally interesting and the book has a very good flow to it. It is easy to pick this book up and read half of it, before realizing you have done so. Many of the stories are laugh-out-loud funny. The motley cast of characters is never-ending, from Eddie Shack to Wayne Cashman to Ron Duguay. Esposito had some great times on and off the ice and he delivers his experiences in a neat little package.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing...
Review: I have not a positive impression about this book. I don't know Esposito's business inside NHL well enough, and can't judge it, but I do know very well all the USSR-Canada and USSR-NHL games with his participation. The way he describes 1972 superseries USSR-Canada, and especially his phrase that he does not know how Tretiak, the Russian goalie, got in the Hockey Hall of Fame, takes away the confidence from his book. He could tell this about somebody else, but not about Tretiak! I understand that probably the author is still jealous and feels bitterness of all the defeats he had from Soviet team. How come, they were supposed to give a good ice hockey lesson to Soviet team, and barely escaped at the end! And the author does not mention another significant defeat to the Soviet team with his participation (1975 superseries NY Rangers-CSKA). I don't tell the score, I suppose that the author knows it too. But I will mention something else. The author speaks about 1977 Ice Hockey World Championship in Vienna, Austria, and recalls the loss to Soviets 1:8. But it was the second game between these two teams, and for some reason he skips the first one, when the Soviets beat Canada 11:1! This was probably the worst ever defeat of professional Team Canada on ice. And Tretiak was in place. But with one thing I agree: it was pretty funny and unusial to watch the author and other Canada guys wearing helmets...
Rating:
Summary: Sports athletes not very interesting people.
Review: I read this book because I grew up on hockey and Phil Esposito was definitely foremost in his profession. He was top NHL scorer of all time, until Wayne Gretzky, unofficial captain of Team Canada in 1972, so I really put him up on a pedestal. But reading his book, I was hoping to plenty of insight into the 1972 Russia series, instead I get a diatribe about how plastered he and others were on the plane ride home and how he told Alan Eagleson to f___ off. In fact, if I had the capability to download this book, the f word probably would have returned a few thousand hits. Phil does give some insight into pro hockey culture and it isn't pretty. His New York Ranger teammates after morning practices had no idea what to do with themselves so the majority would park at the local bar until closing time or passing out, whichever came first. How interesting! If you're really kean on reading, do what I did and borrow from local library.
Rating:
Summary: A Bit of a Disappointment
Review: I think Phil's ego filled up most of the pages. Good reading but I expected more. He was born to play hockey, no doubt. If you cut Phil Esposito he bleeds hockey.
Rating:
Summary: Easy Goal
Review: I used a Mylec blade in the streets near my "poor-side-of-town" home, south of Boston. For you non-hockey players, no the blade is not a knife, but a Phil Esposito street-hockey stick that beautifully resisted the punishment that street hockey gives, something that an ice-hockey stick just couldn't do. So naturally I needed to read "Thunder & Lightening." It's been picked on a bit in the reviews. The guy is no intellectual. So what? And he cuts down a few icons. Who in Boston wants to hear that Bobby Orr drilled as many women as pucks, or maybe made a few exploitive business deals? But what he says rings true. Maybe that is why the book has gotten more than its fair share of thumbs down. He lays everybody up for a hit, no matter how big they are. Phil is a jerk. He doesn't know it so it makes the book that much more amusing. But no matter what you think of him, he has passion. At least fire burns in his blood and he lives life fully, which is more than you can say for most people. It's a fast read and takes up so little time how can anybody be sorry they invested the energy? If you love hockey, played in the streets, the rink, or just watched Espo in the bars, the book is worth the read.
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