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Rating: 
Summary: ANNOYING TENDANCY TO GO OFF ON TANGENTS
Review: I enjoyed parts of this book, particularly those that related directly the turbulant 1978 season. However, Roger Kahn has an annoying tendancy to jump into subjects that really aren't related to the 1978 Yankees in some kind of effort to craft a wider view of the game and country at that point in time. (A treatise on Jimmy Carter and Rod Laver's lack of effort in a guaranteed payment tennis match, for example.)To me, it seems as though Kahn had all these stories,anecdotes, and opinions that he wanted to share, and jammed them in regardless of the fit with the overall subject or the point he was trying to make in a particular chapter. Perhaps he intends this to be his last book and didn't want some stories and opinions to go untold. I found myself thinking this was a poor attempt at the storytelling method used so effectively by Sebastian Junger in "The Perfect Storm." Take an incident and expand on it to explain how and why those individuals were there at that particular point in time and how history contributed to to the central incident. Whereas Junger creates a gripping tale with this methodology, Kahn created a book that has an odd flow to it, and ultimately, misses the mark. I did appreciate some of the behind scenes stories about Steinbrenner and his relationship with Martin and Jackson. However, I found Kahn to vicious in his opinions of his peers in the sports reporting world, like Howard Cosell, Dick Young and Dick Schaap, that are unable to defend themselves. To me, it came across as vindictive and a chance to get in the last word. It's worth a read only if you are a diehard Yankee fan. Otherwise, skip it and read "Moneyball" instead.
Rating: 
Summary: January-through-December Men
Review: I've read a lot of Roger Kahn, but by no means all of his work. However, when some wag columnist on ESPN.com rated this book a "0" last year, I knew I would have to step up and defend it. The "0" rating didn't seem to be so much a reflection on the quality of the book, but rather a shot across the bow at an older style of baseball writing. Well, I've read the new postscript to Michael Lewis' "Moneyball". What is the man so annoyed about? He wrote the bestselling baseball book of 2003, and he spends 20 pages in the new edition sniping at (and naming) his critics. When that's on the menu, let me read the dinosaur instead. That said, "October Men" is not a "10" either. The back cover blurb promises "the first in-depth look" at the '78 Yankees. Let's amend that to "the tenth in-depth look". A lot has been written about the Steinbrenner/Martin Yankees -- Kahn even lists all the other books, and rates them. Most of the anecdotes in "October Men" have been told before. Still, the whole book manages to be rather charming. Kahn spends the first few chapters describing his favorite baseball moments going back to 1903. He writes a lot about the early years of the key players in the saga (Martin, Steinbrenner, Jackson), and spends a few chapters on the 1977 Yankees as well. Editorially, this book could have been tighter. Kahn twice refers to the same W.P. Kinsella story, twice describes Lou Piniella as "the best slow outfielder in baseball", and twice has Yankees VP Al Rosen scowling at Roy Cohn on October 2, 1978. He also can't decide whether that date was Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. Kahn's writing style manages to be persuasive. Unlike the newer breed of baseball writers, he is more apt to drop literary allusions and verses from poetry. No surprise; Kahn's mother was an English teacher -- in fact, was my father's English teacher -- so all this is familiar. It's not enough for Kahn to say that the media is the Fourth Estate; he gives us the origin of the line, too. He also expounds on what it means to "cross the Rubicon", thus making Julius Caesar, for the first time ever, a central player in a baseball narrative. In the end, Kahn's goal is to transform what's now known as "The Bucky Dent Game" into a sweeping look at all of the currents in 1978 leading to that moment. The problem is, Kahn has done better before. His reconstruction of the 1920s for his Jack Dempsey biography (speaking of which, Dempsey is referred to about eleven times in "October Men") gives an overview of everything else about the 1920s, as if he was there. He's less concerned with talking about the "real" 1978, apart from a few stray Jimmy Carter references. This is not the paean to Ronald Reagan that was "Miracle", infusing a year (1980) with political overtones that weren't recognized at the time. Nor is this a sociological portrait of the end of an era, as was Michael Shapiro's "The Last Good Season" about Brooklyn in 1956. This is just a look at what it was like to read New York City newspapers in 1978. Kahn even takes his own Michael Lewis-style potshots at the other writers of the day, including the villainous Dick Young, and makes himself a central player in a few key scenes in the book (as a confidante of Jackson, Martin, and Al Rosen). Bottom line: can you learn more about the '78 Yankees from this book than you can from watching the Bucky Dent game on ESPN Classic or the YES Network? Yes, you can (although you should watch the game, too). Is "October Men" the kind of book that will no longer be written in ten years time? Yes, it is. Is it worth reading now? Yes, it is.
Rating:
Summary: January-through-December Men
Review: I've read a lot of Roger Kahn, but by no means all of his work. However, when some wag columnist on ESPN.com rated this book a "0" last year, I knew I would have to step up and defend it. The "0" rating didn't seem to be so much a reflection on the quality of the book, but rather a shot across the bow at an older style of baseball writing. Well, I've read the new postscript to Michael Lewis' "Moneyball". What is the man so annoyed about? He wrote the bestselling baseball book of 2003, and he spends 20 pages in the new edition sniping at (and naming) his critics. When that's on the menu, let me read the dinosaur instead. That said, "October Men" is not a "10" either. The back cover blurb promises "the first in-depth look" at the '78 Yankees. Let's amend that to "the tenth in-depth look". A lot has been written about the Steinbrenner/Martin Yankees -- Kahn even lists all the other books, and rates them. Most of the anecdotes in "October Men" have been told before. Still, the whole book manages to be rather charming. Kahn spends the first few chapters describing his favorite baseball moments going back to 1903. He writes a lot about the early years of the key players in the saga (Martin, Steinbrenner, Jackson), and spends a few chapters on the 1977 Yankees as well. Editorially, this book could have been tighter. Kahn twice refers to the same W.P. Kinsella story, twice describes Lou Piniella as "the best slow outfielder in baseball", and twice has Yankees VP Al Rosen scowling at Roy Cohn on October 2, 1978. He also can't decide whether that date was Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. Kahn's writing style manages to be persuasive. Unlike the newer breed of baseball writers, he is more apt to drop literary allusions and verses from poetry. No surprise; Kahn's mother was an English teacher -- in fact, was my father's English teacher -- so all this is familiar. It's not enough for Kahn to say that the media is the Fourth Estate; he gives us the origin of the line, too. He also expounds on what it means to "cross the Rubicon", thus making Julius Caesar, for the first time ever, a central player in a baseball narrative. In the end, Kahn's goal is to transform what's now known as "The Bucky Dent Game" into a sweeping look at all of the currents in 1978 leading to that moment. The problem is, Kahn has done better before. His reconstruction of the 1920s for his Jack Dempsey biography (speaking of which, Dempsey is referred to about eleven times in "October Men") gives an overview of everything else about the 1920s, as if he was there. He's less concerned with talking about the "real" 1978, apart from a few stray Jimmy Carter references. This is not the paean to Ronald Reagan that was "Miracle", infusing a year (1980) with political overtones that weren't recognized at the time. Nor is this a sociological portrait of the end of an era, as was Michael Shapiro's "The Last Good Season" about Brooklyn in 1956. This is just a look at what it was like to read New York City newspapers in 1978. Kahn even takes his own Michael Lewis-style potshots at the other writers of the day, including the villainous Dick Young, and makes himself a central player in a few key scenes in the book (as a confidante of Jackson, Martin, and Al Rosen). Bottom line: can you learn more about the '78 Yankees from this book than you can from watching the Bucky Dent game on ESPN Classic or the YES Network? Yes, you can (although you should watch the game, too). Is "October Men" the kind of book that will no longer be written in ten years time? Yes, it is. Is it worth reading now? Yes, it is.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Grand Slam for Roger Kahn
Review: Roger Kahn, who I consider the best baseball writer of all time, has done it again with October Men. In his gifted, wonderfully unique style, Kahn takes us through the zany 1978 season with the New York Yankees. But the book also gives us insightful backgrounds into the main Yankee characters and an interesting, informative historical perspective on the Yankee dynasty. By far this is his greatest work since The Boys of Summer (and he has had many great books since that 1971 classic) and is a MUST read -- not only for Yankee fans -- but for all sports fans in general. A truly great work from a truly great author.
Rating: 
Summary: Hasn't this been done before?
Review: The book itself is a great read but the problem is this topic was already done better in Sparky Lyle's Bronx Zoo and Graig Nettles' Balls (one of the most underrated baseball books ever). Plus from the subtitle I thought it would only be about that crazy 1978 season but it takes 190 pages to get the reader there.
Was the stuff on the origins of the Yankees really necessary to get to 1978?
I did like the profiles of George (learned he's into poetry...who knew?), Billy Martin (came from a broken home...now there's a surprise...NOT!) and Reggie Jackson (never remarried after his divorce).
Anyway, somehow given the fact that two excellent books on the '70s NYY came out around the same time, I don't get why a third is necessary over 25 years later. Personally, I'm now more interested in that Buster Olney book on the Torre dynasty Yankees and what made them tick.
Rating:
Summary: Tale of a legendary Yankee season...
Review: This book, by the noted baseball author Roger Kahn, tells the legendary story of the 1978 New York Yankees. Once you read this book and learn of the many distractions and personality conflicts that besieged the team, you will be in awe that this Yankee team managed to come from behind and will the World Series. This is truly an enjoyable book, and a fast read. A must-have for a Yankees fan, all baseball fanatics will find this a worhty addition to their library.
Rating:
Summary: A worthy addition to the Kahn canon!
Review: While not the walk-off home run that "Summer of 49" was, this delightful volume paints a vivid picture of the tempest that WAS the 1977-1978 Yankees.
Reading it during this year's World Series was just about a perfect reading experience.
Kahn is widely recognized as one of our greatest baseball writers, and this is simply raising his batting average.
Reggie, Steinbrenner and especially Billy Martin spring to life, in a manner just different enough than what you expect, where even baseball diehards will find troves of new info and/or fresh perspective.
It's a quick read...dozens of pages fly by before you notice... but Kahn's style warrants a little slower pace. He's good. And funny. I found myself laughing out loud more than once.
When was the last time you laughed out loud at a BOOK?
A worthy addition to any fan's library. Heck, I'd like to check out the rest of the Kahn baseball canon!
Rating:
Summary: Roger Kahn tries to explain the New York Yankees of 1978
Review: Your ability to enjoy "October Men," Roger Kahn's look at the miraculous finish of the New York Yankees in 1978, will be dependent mainly on how much you enjoy digressions (and parenthetical comments). Those who expect a chronological look at what happened during the 1978 season will not really find it until chapter nine, because the first half of this book is devoted to setting the stage for what happened that year. Kahn is inspired to touch upon a wide range of topics to bring us to the pivotal moment in the history of the universe when Buck Dent hit a baseball into the netting atop the Green Monster in Fenway Park. Where was I at that moment? Driving down Coors Road on my way to a late afternoon class at the University of New Mexico, screaming "Bucky! Bucky! Bucky!" while pounding on the dashboard (but I, too, digress). Once I finished this book I went back and reconsidered its structure. Kahn's prologue sets up the idea that the Yankee championship teams of 1977 and 1978 were the greatest number of clashing egos on a single ball club in baseball history, and sets up Bobby Thomson's famous 1951 homerun that gave the New York Giants the pennant over the Brooklyn Dodgers as the moment and season against which the 1978 season would be judged. Kahn actually has a thesis for this book, which is that: "Remarkably and uniquely, 1978 comes down to us as the year in which Yankee news management failed completely, and a very rugged Yankee baseball team did not" (17). Keep that in mind and you will understand why he talks as much about Al Rosen as he does Ron Guidry. The first eight chapters of "October Men" sets the stage for the season, with the first chapter specifically focusing on what was happening the day of the playoff game before the first pitch. The second chapter talks about the "New York Red Sox" to show how the sale of Babe Ruth and other deals created a link between the Yankees and Boston in not only the 1920s but throughout the rest of the century. Kahn then devotes chapters to "Steinbrenner Unbound," Catfish Hunter and free agency, Billy Martin as "The Dark Prince," Reggie Jackson, and the Yankee team that won the 1977 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with Reggie hitting three home runs on three swings against three different pitchers in the final game at Yankee Stadium. The rest of the book is devoted to the 1978 season, beginning with the bickering in spring training. This part is also divided in half, first building to the firing of Billy Martin, and then detailing how the Yankees came from ten-and-a-half games behind the Red Sox (on July 25 when Bob Lemon took over as manager) to force a playoff and make Bucky Dent's middle name a curse word throughout New England. However, throughout the book Kahn writes about a lot of other topics, such as female reporters in the lockeroom, Jimmy Carter's decision not to authorize the construction of American neutron bombs, and having to memorize the Latin phrase "Alea iacta est" ("the die is cast") when he was a schoolboy. I am not sure if Kahn is correct in his assessment that by rising above their turmoil the 1978 Yankees became an inspiration for the country, but he certainly chronicles that turmoil. Ultimately Kahn talks much more about what happened off the playing field, where alcoholism, broken homes, and racism all came into play. Repeatedly he tries to explain the enigma that was Billy Martin, and in comparison turns Al Rosen into something of a baseball saint Throughout the book there are lots of interesting baseball stories (e.g., Joe DiMaggio's thoughts on Jackie Robinson, Joe Gordon decking a fan for anti-Semetic remarks) and a fair share of insights into the game (e.g., if you take into account all the times they swing and miss or hit a foul ball, a great hitter actually succeeds less than 10% of the time). I enjoyed "October Men" because I do not mind being all over the place to tell a story (I have a weakness for parenthetical commentary myself), but I understand Kahn's writing style will drive some to distraction. The chief attraction here will be for Yankee fans who, inspired by Aaron "bleeping" Boone's series clinching homerun last Fall, will want to take a walk down this particular memory lane.
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