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Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing & disorganized
Review: Having been a freshman at Helix High School in La Mesa, California when Bill Walton was a senior there, I had the privilege of seeing all of his home games in person. His playing was phenomenal, of course, and the team that year (1969-70) was exceptional as well. Although I didn't know him personally, we all admired him tremendously. He wasn't "just a jock"; he was also an A student and politically aware as well.Having these treasured memories, I was more than a little motivated to find out more about Bill Walton the person when I happened upon this book.
After reading it, however, I was taken somewhat aback. While some interesting anecdotes are revealed, it leaves the reader thirsting for more substantive, human detail in many places. First of all, this book is not a proper biography, so if that's what you're expecting, disabuse yourself. One gets the impression that his co-author plunked down a tape recorder, had Bill reminisce haphazardly, and then just transcribed the result with minor editing. There is no attempt to deal with Bill's life in a clean, logically connected, chronological way which is satisfying to the reader. Secondly, the book gushes maniacally about basketball from cover to cover, but leaves one wondering about his non-basketball life as a human being. We learn very little about his childhood, and even very little about his time as a basketball player in Helix High School or as a student at UCLA. The absence of references to his personal life (except as they pertain to basketball) is so cold that it borders on the bizarre. (Perhaps this is what led to the "Nothing but Net" title.) For example, he talks almost obsessively about his coach at UCLA and his influence on his life. But what did Bill major in at UCLA? What kind of life did he have? Sorry, nothing but net. Another example: he mentions that he is a "single father with four sons", but nary a mention about who the mother(s) is or are or how he came about to have custody of (or adopt?) them or what his relationship is with them. He gives only passing reference to his love life. He mentions his "fiance, Lori Matsuoka" once -- but how did they meet, etc? Most authors writing about their lives would give greater importance to this side of their humanity. Perhaps not unrelated to this is the total absence of any mention at all of the twin burning issues in basketball of drugs and sex. How did these issues affect his life personally? Perhaps Bill was trying to maintain his privacy (a contradiction in an autobiographical work as this), but the overall effect is that of a still immature, shallow athlete narcisstically preoccupied with his place in basketball history. I'm sure that's not what Bill intended, and that's why I was disappointed in this book. Perhaps someday when Bill has the maturity and the comfort to write more openly about his own humanity, and work with an author who can place the events in his life in a more satisfyingly coherent, chronological order, will we have a decent autobiography of this fine human being who has given us so much and who has suffered so much.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing & disorganized
Review: Having been a freshman at Helix High School in La Mesa, California when Bill Walton was a senior there, I had the privilege of seeing all of his home games in person. His playing was phenomenal, of course, and the team that year (1969-70) was exceptional as well. Although I didn't know him personally, we all admired him tremendously. He wasn't "just a jock"; he was also an A student and politically aware as well. Having these treasured memories, I was more than a little motivated to find out more about Bill Walton the person when I happened upon this book.
After reading it, however, I was taken somewhat aback. While some interesting anecdotes are revealed, it leaves the reader thirsting for more substantive, human detail in many places. First of all, this book is not a proper biography, so if that's what you're expecting, disabuse yourself. One gets the impression that his co-author plunked down a tape recorder, had Bill reminisce haphazardly, and then just transcribed the result with minor editing. There is no attempt to deal with Bill's life in a clean, logically connected, chronological way which is satisfying to the reader. Secondly, the book gushes maniacally about basketball from cover to cover, but leaves one wondering about his non-basketball life as a human being. We learn very little about his childhood, and even very little about his time as a basketball player in Helix High School or as a student at UCLA. The absence of references to his personal life (except as they pertain to basketball) is so cold that it borders on the bizarre. (Perhaps this is what led to the "Nothing but Net" title.) For example, he talks almost obsessively about his coach at UCLA and his influence on his life. But what did Bill major in at UCLA? What kind of life did he have? Sorry, nothing but net. Another example: he mentions that he is a "single father with four sons", but nary a mention about who the mother(s) is or are or how he came about to have custody of (or adopt?) them or what his relationship is with them. He gives only passing reference to his love life. He mentions his "fiance, Lori Matsuoka" once -- but how did they meet, etc? Most authors writing about their lives would give greater importance to this side of their humanity. Perhaps not unrelated to this is the total absence of any mention at all of the twin burning issues in basketball of drugs and sex. How did these issues affect his life personally? Perhaps Bill was trying to maintain his privacy (a contradiction in an autobiographical work as this), but the overall effect is that of a still immature, shallow athlete narcisstically preoccupied with his place in basketball history. I'm sure that's not what Bill intended, and that's why I was disappointed in this book. Perhaps someday when Bill has the maturity and the comfort to write more openly about his own humanity, and work with an author who can place the events in his life in a more satisfyingly coherent, chronological order, will we have a decent autobiography of this fine human being who has given us so much and who has suffered so much.
Rating: 
Summary: THE RED HEAD SCORES
Review: I ENJOYED THIS BOOK. I FOUND BILL TO BE HONEST, REFRESHING AND OPINIONATED. I DON'T AGREE WITH SOME BUT HE MAKES MANY GOOD POINTS. HE DOES NOT GET INTO HIS PRIVATE LIFE TOO MUCH BUT THAT IS WHY IT IS CALLED PRIVATE. I ENJOYED HIS STORIES AND PHILOSOPHIES OF JOHN WOODEN AND THE OTHER COACHES HE PLAYED FOR. WALTON WAS A REBEL IN HIS YOUNGER DAYS BUT HAS CALMED DOWN. HIS FEET INJURIES TOOK AWAY A GREAT CAREER. HE WAS THE BEST PASSING CENTER I HAVE SEEN. THIS BOOK IS FOR BASKETBALL FANS AND DEADHEADS. (GROUPIES OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD)
Rating:
Summary: honest and thought provoking
Review: I liked this book. I had the pleasure of meeting Bill Walton a few months ago and I subsequently read his book. What you get in the book is an honest discussion of basketball and life. It is not written so much to "entertain" you with juicy gossip or snide remarks as it is to explain what it is really like. What are the pressures of big time college basketball and the pros? That is the insight that I appreciated. Bill clearly conveys his experiences, the successes and the failures. As a person of similar age, I found it fun to remember what I saw and thought and compare it to someone who was experiencing it first hand. Bill Walton is a man of principle and honor. He doesn't necessarily say the popular or the politically correct thing. But, he speaks his mind and he makes a lot of sense. Read this book with an open mind. If you approach it as a conversation, not a logical, step by step lesson, you will find yourself like I did, listening, reflecting, and thinking. Isn't that what you really want in a book? I have seen Bill Walton go to great efforts to speak to ordinary people he meets on the street. I have seen him personally provide motivational materials and notes of encouragement to Special Olympics kids that he will never meet. I have seen the real Bill Walton. It is someone that you should meet. Your life will be all the richer for it.
Rating:
Summary: LIKE WALTON'S CAREER, SOMETIMES HE'S THERE, AND SOMETIMES...
Review: I still remember Bill Walton's 44 point performance in the NCAA Championship game in 1973, maybe the greatest NCAA final performance ever. Walton followed his collegiate career at UCLA at the end of the 1974 college basketball season with an injury filled NBA career with just three full seasons, his championship year with the Portland Trailblazers in 1977 in his first full pro season (he was hurt most of the 1974-75 season and the 195-76 season)--still Portland's only championship--1985 with the LA Clippers (he missed all of the Clippers' 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons), and an unusual season as Sixth Man of the Year in 1986 as he won a championship with the Boston Celtics. After more injuries Walton retired and started a new career as a basketball announcer for NBC, and I've been impressed:he's good, he's honest, and he's funny! And he's parlayed the broadcasting into a career as an entertaining writer, too, as his articles are a blend of former New York sportswriter Dick Young and every ultraliberal who ever played a guitar, protested, or smoked marijuana. So I was expecting a lot from NOTHING BUT NET, but as much as I hate to admit it except for the stories about his 3 seasons with the Boston Celtics--particularly a one on one game with Kevin McHale and his thoughts about Larry Bird--Walton leaves out too much of the obvious, like what happened to his wife, the mother of his 4 sons? And what about all the controversies involving drugs, the Draft, and Patty Hearst that he got into at UCLA? And what about the feud between him and John Salley at NBC? Just like Walton's career, sometimes in NOTHING BUT NET Walton is there, and sometimes he's not. Chari Krishnan RESEARCHKING
Rating:
Summary: LIKE WALTON'S CAREER, SOMETIMES HE'S THERE, AND SOMETIMES...
Review: I still remember Bill Walton's 44 point performance in the NCAA Championship game in 1973, maybe the greatest NCAA final performance ever. Walton followed his collegiate career at UCLA at the end of the 1974 college basketball season with an injury filled NBA career with just three full seasons, his championship year with the Portland Trailblazers in 1977 in his first full pro season (he was hurt most of the 1974-75 season and the 195-76 season)--still Portland's only championship--1985 with the LA Clippers (he missed all of the Clippers' 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons), and an unusual season as Sixth Man of the Year in 1986 as he won a championship with the Boston Celtics. After more injuries Walton retired and started a new career as a basketball announcer for NBC, and I've been impressed:he's good, he's honest, and he's funny! And he's parlayed the broadcasting into a career as an entertaining writer, too, as his articles are a blend of former New York sportswriter Dick Young and every ultraliberal who ever played a guitar, protested, or smoked marijuana. So I was expecting a lot from NOTHING BUT NET, but as much as I hate to admit it except for the stories about his 3 seasons with the Boston Celtics--particularly a one on one game with Kevin McHale and his thoughts about Larry Bird--Walton leaves out too much of the obvious, like what happened to his wife, the mother of his 4 sons? And what about all the controversies involving drugs, the Draft, and Patty Hearst that he got into at UCLA? And what about the feud between him and John Salley at NBC? Just like Walton's career, sometimes in NOTHING BUT NET Walton is there, and sometimes he's not. Chari Krishnan RESEARCHKING
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