Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment
Review: Neyer's a good ESPN.com writer, but you wouldn't know it from this book. If you need a flannel fix, get Baseball Dynasties instead.
Rating:
Summary: Think I'll Change My Seat
Review: On ESPN.com Neyer does a decent job with thought provoking, statistically inspired commentary on current baseball events. This is not that. In this book Neyer spends a season in the stands of Fenway Park thinking not so deep thoughts, not so much about baseball, but about Rob Neyer, who just isn't that interesting. Had he sat in the Metrodome watching the Twins he would have written much the same book. The result is a self-indulgent letter to oneself which read like like sitting next someone in the stands who just won't stop talking about stuff you just don't care about. The format just isn't his forte. Without the numbers fueling his ideas, he is an empty vessel. Neyer awkwardly tries to adopt all the qualities he imagines Red Sox fans to have, and he does. All the annoying ones, without providing any insight whatsoever. As a chronicle of one of the more forgettable seasons in recent Red Sox history, the book is adequate, because in between the "Song of Himself" is the basic story of a season (2000). Unfortunately there is little in this season that is particularly notable, and that part of the book is already badly dated. Personal memoirs like this aspire to uncover something universal in the particular, but the only universe revealed here is that of someone who incorrectly thinks his every thought is worthy of preservation; they are not. Easily the most vapid Sox book since "Player for a Moment," and that's saying something.
Rating: 
Summary: A Passionate Story About A Season With The Red Sox
Review: Rob Neyer lived many a fan's dream during the 2000 major league season when he attended all 81 home games of the Boston Red Sox at their historic home, Fenway Park. But that wasn't the full extent of his baseball watching that summer. He managed to push his season total higher still with games in Seattle, New York, Kansas City and Pawtucket. The book that resulted, "Feeding the Green Monster," is Rob's diary of that busy season. We get plenty of baseball between these covers--and also a lot about Rob's life. Neyer is a columnist for ESPN.com, and his knowledge of, and passion for the game shine throughout the text. He's also quite eloquent and passionate about Fenway itself, and makes a strong case why this historic ballyard, the oldest left in the major leagues, should not be prematurely retired. One of the highlights for me was the story of how Rob and a friend managed to stay after the end of a game and spend the night in Fenway, exploring every nook, cranny and crevice. It's going to be a long time before anyone can write this way about any of the current crop of "retro" ballparks, and I can never, ever imagine a fan feeling the same way about one of those cookie-cutter stadiums that proliferated in the 60s and 70s. Sadly, Neyer didn't have much of a season to write about. The BoSox made a promising start that year, remained in contention for their division title for most of the summer, and were in the hunt for the wild card slot almost to the end, but once again fell short against the Yankees. A classic pennant race instead of a sad fade would have made for a more gripping text. Some of the other reviewers seemed to find the book a bit too self-involved, but such is the nature of a dairy. I had a different take...I found myself thinking of Rob as something of a kindred spirit, and wishing I could go to a game with him sometime. Anyone who laments over the fact that too many great books are published to keep up with in a year, let alone a lifetime; and who had such a passionate love for this great American sport is going to rate very highly in my personal book.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read for Baseball Fans
Review: Rob Neyer maintains ties to his Sabermetric roots in Feeding the Green Monster, but it is the diary-like nature of his season at Fenway that hooked me. Having never been fortunate enough to attend an entire season of home games for any team, Neyer's journey through 81 games at Fenway Park plus several more on the road, allowed me to live vicariously through him. For those who enjoy Neyer's column at ESPN.com, he still dives into the stat zone every so often to drive home key points. Do yourself a favor and order a copy of Feeding the Green Monster. Your baseball season will be that much better for it.
Rating: 
Summary: BEAN MONSTER
Review: Rob Neyer's book is sad.The Theme of the book is sad.The Green
Monster is sad.Sitting in fenway park for 80 games is sad.So why
would any Boston Red Sox fan read a book about the one thing that has kept them from winning a world seris,I'am trying to be truthful here just think about it for a moment.Whats the one thing that hits you right in the face when you walk into that
park the big ugly wall.I found no charm in the book or the WALL
I say rip it down and play baseball instead of raketball.I throw the book in the garbage it was well bucky dentshess.If that wall was not there Boston would have some flags flying.And thats my story about the Wall plan and simple theres no curse just a wall
were there should be a fence.
Rating:
Summary: Rooting for the Underdog
Review: Rob Neyer, ESPN.com columnist and cutting-edge baseball writer, attended 114 ballgames during the 2000 season. I attended one, and even that was shortened by rain. He sat in Fenway Park for all 81 Boston Red Sox home games. I saw the Red Sox only during their battles with the Yankees that year, and apart from Scott Brosius's killing-blow home run off Pedro Martinez that September, I remember little. But I devoured "Feeding the Green Monster" in just a few days, racing through the Red Sox's also-ran season just to read what Neyer would have to say about it, wishing I had been there in his entourage. "Green Monster" is a diary, a confessional -- at the end, Rob writes, "I fell in love twice this season, with a ballpark named Fenway and a woman named (spoiler removed)". There are entries covering Opening Day through the offseason, but not each one is as meticulous or documented as his ESPN.com columns. As with Rob's previous work, the book is better when he's in full-on research mode. The entries concerning Gary Gaetti, Johnny Pesky, the 1946 World Series, and the history of the outfield wall now called the Green Monster, are outstanding. The personal content is also intriguing, although the fact that the author could devote a whole season to buying tickets at Fenway -- and then flying or riding to 35 other games in other cities -- hints that it might be easier for Neyer to be a baseball fan than most of his readers. I always wanted more details on the people he went to games with -- we come to know Fenway's scalpers better than the author's girlfriends. Passages such as "Baseball fans in these parts are about as moody as a pregnant woman who forgot to each lunch" should have been deleted long before publication. I've only been to Fenway once, and came out just a little bit more enamored of the Red Sox -- not an easy thing to do, as I am a New Yorker. After finishing "Feeding the Green Monster", I found I wanted to be there at Fenway again, rooting for the likes of Tim Wakefield and counting Pedro Martinez's strikeouts. Rob Neyer's diary of the 2000 season is far from perfect, but it's unique in its approach and its refreshing lack of interviews with ballplayers. Rob is Every-Fan, our agent in the bleacher seats, and it would be kind of nice if he could write a book like this again.
Rating: 
Summary: Long live Fenway Park
Review: There have almost certainly been more books written about Fenway Park than any other sports facility in North America, most of them missing the point. Many Fenway books are pictorials, filled with glossy photos of grass and walls and empty seats. Fenway Park is not a building that you take pictures of, it is a place in which you have experiences. A picture is not always worth 1000 words, or 200 minutes. The person in the next seat might be a friend or a stranger, you might be sitting in the fourth row on a star-filled 75 degree night or in a cramped blue seat in a cold steady rain. Rob opens up his scorebook, and allows the park and the people and the game to control what happens next. What happens next is much more likely to be a surprise than it is in a modern mallpark. I appreciate Rob's book because I recognize what he writes about. Fenway Park is a wonderful place to spend three hours, and Rob reminds me that some of the best times of my life have been spent there in a way that a picture of the famous left field wall does not. I have not been there in five years, and I can't wait to get back.
Rating:
Summary: Long live Fenway Park
Review: There have almost certainly been more books written about Fenway Park than any other sports facility in North America, most of them missing the point. Many Fenway books are pictorials, filled with glossy photos of grass and walls and empty seats. Fenway Park is not a building that you take pictures of, it is a place in which you have experiences. A picture is not always worth 1000 words, or 200 minutes. The person in the next seat might be a friend or a stranger, you might be sitting in the fourth row on a star-filled 75 degree night or in a cramped blue seat in a cold steady rain. Rob opens up his scorebook, and allows the park and the people and the game to control what happens next. What happens next is much more likely to be a surprise than it is in a modern mallpark. I appreciate Rob's book because I recognize what he writes about. Fenway Park is a wonderful place to spend three hours, and Rob reminds me that some of the best times of my life have been spent there in a way that a picture of the famous left field wall does not. I have not been there in five years, and I can't wait to get back.
Rating:
Summary: Feeding the Green Monster offers nothing new...
Review: There have been plenty of cute, outsider-comes-to-baseball-heaven books about out of town visitors and their experiences at Fenway Park. Unfortunately, Feeding The Green Monster, differs from none of them in it's style, depth, perspective, or insight. It provides little more than a kid-at-a-candy-store hyped up feel-good movie of the week view of what is arguably one of the more interesting landmarks in sports. Also, Mr Neyer's fake humility regarding what he does and does not know about the park and the city is laughable, and no doubt embarrassing to many Boston sports fans. And nobody in Boston above the age of 5 calls the left field wall at Fenway the 'Green Monster'. Perhaps that is the target audience.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Baseball Book
Review: This is an excellent book. Along with being entertaining, funny, and informative, it was well written. Not only does Neyer document every aspect of the 2000 Boston Red Sox, he shares a bit about baseball history, sabermetrics, and Fenway Park itself. You don't even have to be a fan of the Red Sox to enjoy this book. If you're a baseball fan, be sure to pick it up.
|
