Rating: 
Summary: The Stupidest Book Ever Written About Baseball.
Review: To set the record straight, no one in New England--except for the CHB--believes in any curse. The fact that people stand a decent chance of living 80+ years and never see the Red Sox win a World Series is a tad more distressing. Having grown up in California and not being a native New Englander, I can vouch for that. Blame poor ownership, bad management, bad luck, and--as much as I hate to say it--the fact that the New York Yankees have put together some legitimately great teams over the years. Don't blame a curse.Strictly looking at wins and losses, being a Boston Red Sox fan really isn't so bad. A disproportionate number of great players have worn the Red Sox uniform (Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, etc.) and Boston tends to win more games than they lose and be in the playoff hunt every year. I'd rather follow the Red Sox than the L.A. Clippers! That being said, the CHB has perpetrated a lie concerning a "curse" that has allegedly befallen the franchise. Using H.L. Mencken's motto "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public", he made a lot of cash with this book (I once saw him getting out of his shiny, black Mercedes-Benz near Newbury Street one afternoon a couple of years ago). To add insult to injury, every idiot sports announcer who's not from New England constantly--and aggravatingly--mentions "the curse of the bambino" each time the Red Sox either make the playoffs or are close to making the playoffs. Since he has a vested interest in the Red Sox losing every year, I'm sure the CHB was chuckling with mirth after the Yankees won Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. Shaughnessy is a medium talent at best--and a bitter jerk at worst--in his books and columns in the "Boston Globe". The CHB is basically the imbecile at the bar who trashes everyone's favorite teams--and goes home lonely wondering why no one "understands" him. "The Curse of the Bambino" won't explain anything of significance about baseball to the layperson, except to give them an understanding of why the CHB is so universally loathed in Boston.
Rating:
Summary: Pathetic
Review: When Sheffield goes 0 for 4 with 3 ks against Schilling
next year the CHB will still find fault with something.
Generally, there is a bias in hometown sports reporters,
that's to be expected. However, he has a NEGATIVE bias!
This just so his tired read can still be shilled.
Rating: 
Summary: COWBOY UP!!!
Review: I find it both ironic and funny that all the negative reviews about this book are from Red Saux fans. I give a lot of credit to that guy from NE who actually admits that this book is a good read. I've read this book 85 times and counting. I'm just looking forward to the revised edition that includes game 7 of the ALCS, but...oh yeah...there's no curse.
Rating:
Summary: just plain stupid
Review: this book should be classed as (bad) fiction rather than non-fiction. shaughnessy is a fool who can't write.
Rating: 
Summary: Obsolete
Review: For the past decade, this book (of which this edition is updated thru 1999) has been considered the be-all and end-all of Red Sox books. This was, for a long time, my favorite Red Sox book. Unfortunately, it just doesn't hold up anymore. Several recent books have told the Red Sox story, or at least large portions of it, better and more accurately, beginning with Golenbock's "Fenway," Keene's "The Babe in Red Stockings," and Waterman's 1918 chronicle "The Year the Red Sox Won the World Series." All of these books combine to cast doubt on significant portions of Shaughnessy's tale, particularly the story of the Curse itself. An even more recent title, "Red Sox Century," (to which, oddly, Shaughnessy contributes an essay) completes the job thouroughly, retelling this story and many others much more completely. In light of these other revelations, re-reading the Curse, as enjoyable as it is at times, is also disquieting. Facts upon facts are called into question, and make Shaughnessy's rendering of the Red Sox story appear as more a work of fiction. It seems impossible that he could have gotten so much so wrong, but the evidence in the above titles seems irrefutable when compared against the details of Shaughnessy's book. While the Curse remains enjoyable, it just appears that much of it is simply factually incorrect. Fairy tales have value, but it is time to grow up. This book is like a cherished baseball record, once considered unassailable, that has been broken several times over. Sox fans have long clung to the Curse as the defining moment in franchise history. Unfortunately, it now seems as if we've been worshipping a false god the whole time.
Rating:
Summary: Two words: absolutely horrible
Review: I can't add anything further regarding the content of this book beyond all the other negative reviews. Thank god I did not pay for this piece of crap - although I should charge Shaughnessy for the time I spent reading it... I find it quite interesting that all the earlier reviews are in the 4 or 5 star range (Shaughnessy's family and close friends, no doubt) and all the later reviews (1 star) appear to be from Red Sox Nation. I take great pleasure in lining my ferrets cage with Shaughnessy's newspaper articles, where they get the treatment they deserve. If I actually owned a copy of this book, I'd tear out all the pages and add them to the cage, too. Can't we trade this guy to the Expos?
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read for True Sox Fans
Review: As a 52 year follower and fan of the Sox and lifetime New Englander, I can't understand the negative reviews of this great book. Yes, it's hard to relive many of the heartaches... when they happened it was hard to believe, it still is. But they did happen. This book represents clearly the old adage that truth is stranger than fiction because if it was fiction no one would believe it. There have been so many unbelievable incidents over the years that many people have looked for reasons that would explain so many fiascoes. That's what this book is about. A terrific telling of history that makes you wonder...hey, what the heck is going on here? What have we done to deserve this?
I recommend it highly!
Rating:
Summary: Nonsense. A complete waste of time.
Review: It's not only the lack of factual research that makes this book a wasted read... The book is based on a fairy tale, that the author has presented as a reason for the Red Sox' misfortunes of the past 80+ years. It is completely illegitimate. Red Sox fans have Dan Shaughnessy to thank for getting the "Bambino" curse into the national media spotlight. He has (unwittingly?) become the number one enemy & annoyance to the Red Sox and their fans. Until The Sox win the series, they will be taunted by moronic tv announcers that treat this as an noteworthy story, and nit wit opposing team fans that hold up pictures of Babe Ruth, to try and taunt the Red Sox. There was a recent documentary on HBO on this subject, with the author trying to sell this book. After hearing him speak on the subject, I cannot even consider him a journalist. Thanks Dan, looking forward to your biography on the Easter Bunny.
Rating:
Summary: Garbage
Review: Factually incorrect (Shaugnessy did a disgraceful research job), and massively overhyped. Sox fans should look for Bill Lees entertaining "The Wrong Stuff" or *any* other book out there.
Rating:
Summary: Curses, foiled again!
Review: This book is cursed! You might try reading it backwards. Its deep blend of mysticism and historical revisionism made my eyeballs ache and blood flow out of my ears. I am not kidding about the literary curse, either. Since I read it, my hair has been falling out. I had nice curly hair, too. Beware!
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