Rating: 
Summary: This is a truly great book.
Review: (4.5 stars) In short, this is an extremely entertaining story that shows just how strong a grip hollywood has on sports, and just how much money corporates are willing to spend on smoke and mirrors, as long as the bikinis are skimpy enough. Investigative work of Forrest is surprisingly thorough and likely has made him a candidate for some brand new cement shoes. Body guards might be in order. One asks the questions, "How does a guy so bright get in so close to guys so dense?" For what its worth, my advice...buy and read this book if you are fed up with sappy fairy-tales of johnny-come-lately's saga with fame, drugs and women/men and the obligatory successful finale, with a "how-to" for the rest of us. And/or if you are fed up with media books by the likes of the Murdoch empire. "Media-studies" readers will finally be entertained by a strong media book. Die-hard sports fans will have a chance to do a healthy re-think of their views on mass-media sports. I did. Most of all...entertaining and sharp, bridges realms of sports/media. (4.5 stars)
Rating: 
Summary: Long Bomb succeeds in sports and media realms
Review: (4.5 stars) In short, this is an extremely entertaining story that shows just how strong a grip hollywood has on sports, and just how much money corporates are willing to spend on smoke and mirrors, as long as the bikinis are skimpy enough. Investigative work of Forrest is surprisingly thorough and likely has made him a candidate for some brand new cement shoes. Body guards might be in order. One asks the questions, "How does a guy so bright get in so close to guys so dense?" For what its worth, my advice...buy and read this book if you are fed up with sappy fairy-tales of johnny-come-lately's saga with fame, drugs and women/men and the obligatory successful finale, with a "how-to" for the rest of us. And/or if you are fed up with media books by the likes of the Murdoch empire. "Media-studies" readers will finally be entertained by a strong media book. Die-hard sports fans will have a chance to do a healthy re-think of their views on mass-media sports. I did. Most of all...entertaining and sharp, bridges realms of sports/media. (4.5 stars)
Rating:
Summary: Good read
Review: An interesting book that doesn't skew TOO far into McMahon bashing. In fact, McMahon is actually presented in the most realistic fashion that I've read personally. That said, it is kind of obvious that the author didn't write the book until he knew what the outcome would be, and one can't help but wonder if most of the "skew" comes out of that fact. Whether you watched the XFL or only heard about it, this book gives us some really intriguing behind the scenes viewpoints of the mini-drama that was the league's only season. Anyone else remember the dead air in one of the early weeks? Charles Puleri? The SNL/J-Lo fiasco? Rusty vs. Jesse? "He Hate Me?" Clement vs. Grieb? All of the stories, big and small, of the XFL are covered, with additional info from an insider point of view. Good stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Good read
Review: An interesting book that doesn't skew TOO far into McMahon bashing. In fact, McMahon is actually presented in the most realistic fashion that I've read personally. That said, it is kind of obvious that the author didn't write the book until he knew what the outcome would be, and one can't help but wonder if most of the "skew" comes out of that fact. Whether you watched the XFL or only heard about it, this book gives us some really intriguing behind the scenes viewpoints of the mini-drama that was the league's only season. Anyone else remember the dead air in one of the early weeks? Charles Puleri? The SNL/J-Lo fiasco? Rusty vs. Jesse? "He Hate Me?" Clement vs. Grieb? All of the stories, big and small, of the XFL are covered, with additional info from an insider point of view. Good stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: The XFL didn't live up to expectations; nor does this book.
Review: Aside from going into significant detail mentioning how Dick Butkus couldn't fit his RV into a stadium parking lot, The book fails miserably at telling the true, full story behind the XFL's failure. Instead it spends time going into the lives of players from the Las Vegas Outlaws and how their quarterback lamented his failure to reach stardom via the NFL. The XFL failed to hit its mark because it didn't connect with its core audience - football fans. This book fails to hit its mark because it didn't connect with its core audience, either.
Rating:
Summary: One of the all-time great sports books
Review: I cannot say enough good things about this book. Mr. Forrest is a talented and unique writer who has found a rich vein to explore. Long Bomb is as good or better than the classic North Dallas 40. And Mr. Forrest is a true talent, like a modern day H.L Mencken he skewers our media culture with a razor sharp wit. If you read one book this year read this book. Full of sex, drugs, intrigue and violence, it will have you captivated from cover to cover.
Rating: 
Summary: Recommended, but with reservations
Review: I had high hopes for this book since I heard about it late last year (when it was originally going to be released in February 2002). I had hopes that this book would give readers a good analysis on why the XFL didn't work. I also was looking forward to reading an indepth background study of the league in a way that someone who wasn't into watching the program could get a clear picture of the history involved. Unfortunately, such insight is missing for the most part of this book. The author has really written this book for people who were closely following the league from Day One, and if you weren't you'll feel lost pretty early on in the text. I also have a personal problem with the fairly new concept of some nonfiction writers of writing the "innermost thoughts" of participants out in the text as if they were writing fiction. It would be better to actually read the comments by the participants instead of what reads like the author having telepathic communications with the participants as events occurred in the book. In defense of the author, however, I should point out that he really had to write the book under some durress thanks to WWE/XFL/NBC's lawyers breathing down his and the interviewees' necks, so this may have been the only way to get some thoughts of the participants across in the book. Still, from this reader's standpoint, it ends up being very awkward phrasing and a demerit to the book. The book also seems a bit sloppy in the editing department. The first three chapters each read like introductions to the book and could have been combined, while later chapters leave large holes in the narrative on the assumption people will know what the writer is referring to. I also wish an editor would have told the author to cut back on his metaphors, as they do nothing to advance the text and get very annoying after the first twenty pages. All this combines to a very jumpy style that is all over the place and makes following of the narrative a bit off frequently. Saying all this, I do recommend the book, but with reservations. If you were following XFL at the time, then by all means, pick up the book. If you are filling in your history for the first time about the failed attempt at a new league, you may want to study up on the subject a bit first before giving the book a go.
Rating:
Summary: Long Bomb...do not pick it up if you have a looming deadline
Review: I'm a graduate student at New York University and I just picked up Mr. Forrest's book for the sole purpose of researching a few pages related to Ted Turner. After reading the pages on Turner, I thought I might just check out the first few pages of Long Bomb...five hours later, I can't say I've made much progress on my thesis, but I can say that I've been taken on a fascinating and informative tour of the hubris-filled shell that was the XFL.
Rating:
Summary: Long Bomb...do not pick it up if you have a looming deadline
Review: I�m a graduate student at New York University and I just picked up Mr. Forrest�s book for the sole purpose of researching a few pages related to Ted Turner. After reading the pages on Turner, I thought I might just check out the first few pages of Long Bomb...five hours later, I can�t say I�ve made much progress on my thesis, but I can say that I�ve been taken on a fascinating and informative tour of the hubris-filled shell that was the XFL.
Rating:
Summary: Defense versus offense. Ya gotta love it...
Review: Let's get one thing clear up front: "Long Bomb" is not, repeat, NOT, the definitive history of the XFL. The XFL doesn't deserve a definitive history! "Long Bomb" instead is a neat little slice of gonzo journalism; an extended magazine piece showring Vince McMahon's year-long football hybrid with all the sardonic barbs it so richly merited. What sold me on the book was author Brett Forrest's photo and author blurb, which talks about how he squandered his book advance on gambling and booze. He even looks like the kind of guy you'd expect would go undercover with minor-league quality football players for a year, just to get a book deal. There is no more perfect man to describe the XFL. Actually, the XFL defies description. It sounded like a good concept at the time -- a stripped-down, bare-bones football league, without the attendant NFL media hype and over-management (like the gritty, muddy, audience-free football scenes in the movie version of "North Dallas Forty"). The problem is, XFL went right out and got everything wrong: it was all about the fireworks and McMahon-staged theatrics, and the players couldn't play. The league was "unscripted", but non-competitive -- all teams were owned by the league, an idea so awful that Major League Baseball went right out and copied it by purchasing the Montreal Expos. XFL couldn't lure talent away from the college campuses, so the teams were comprised of injured collegiates and retreads from the CFL or (even worse) NFL Europe. Their star attraction was a player who wore the phrase "HE HATE ME" on the back of his jersey. HE HATE ME was a running back who couldn't run. And now you know... the rest of the story. Forrest's disdain for the entire misbegotten project pervades every page of the book. His recaps of the error-filled TV broadcasts are a hoot, and even by the final weeks of the season, when the ratings were gone and the Cheerleader Cam was shut off, he doesn't spare any bile. Forrest is more fair to the players and producers who granted him interviews or access, but even then we're allowed to see how empty HE HATES ME's home life is, or how sad it is when Las Vegas quarterback Ryan Clement retells the same tired college bowl triumph to the same disinterested crowd. There are some hideous turns of phrase in the book: "In a season that lasted two fistfuls of games, the XFL was about to begin its second hand". A list of nasty adjectives used in the book would be longer than this review, although Forrest is neutral when it comes time to describe McMahon's near-shoving match with Bob Costas (he sneers at both sides!). He clearly admires Jesse Ventura, erstwhile XFL broadcaster and governor, but doesn't spare us Ventura's lack of ability to spin on-air phrases (see the title of this review for a great example). Take "Long Bomb" for what it is: a bitterly funny and mercifully brief post-mortem of a spectacular TV failure. If you remember anything at all about the XFL (and I watched all of 45 seconds), this book is a great features-eye view of all the ways in which it went wrong.
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