Tag: Olympics

ARC, Books, Professional Development

Book 503: Win at Losing – Sam Weinman

Geoff W

I’m still making headway on my pile of galleys/ARCs from the end of 2016 and early 2017.* Now this one is read I think I’m down to under five!

This is another one of those Tarcher Perigee books that I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to read, but the publisher reached out to me and it sounded interesting enough that I figured why not through it into the mix and thankfully, it covered a lot more than just sports (which I was really worried about at first).

The entire premise of this book is Weinman’s son throws a fit after a tennis match he “clearly” should’ve won, but didn’t and Weinman pondered the idea of losing and not just losing, but losing in such a way that it became iconic in certain aspects of our culture.

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Bookcast

Oddness Moving Bookcast Episode 2

Geoff W

The Oddness Moving BookcastI know every one of you have been desperately waiting for this, the second episode of The Oddness Moving Bookcast! I’m impressed I was able to get it out on my two-week schedule as originally planned. I’ve recorded it in three different sittings so I’m sure I sound a little off at different times.

This episode I discuss the Sochi Olympics and Patricia Nell Warren’s iconic novel The Front Runner. I apologize in advance the editing is a little rough this week, I’m still learning, and I definitely went off on a few tangents and should probably learn to plan out a bit better than I have these past two podcasts.

If you haven’t subscribed on iTunes you totally should by clicking here or searching for ‘The Oddness Moving Bookcast’ in the iTunes store. If you don’t have iTunes or a device that lets you listen to podcasts you can listen below.

Books

Book 212: The Front Runner – Patricia Nell Warren

Geoff W

Warren, Patricia Nell - The Front RunnerI had no idea what to expect going into this novel other than the basic ideas of what the novel was about and the time period of the setting, but I am so glad I read it. It has such an iconic place in the LGBT literature compendium and even holds a place in Hollywood legend in that it has been rumored to be turned into a film (and the rights have changed hands many times) since the early 80s.

The first thing I do have to say is that this book is a product of its time and it is definitely dated, but what was shocking to me as I read it was how little rights for LGBT individuals changed up until about five-to-ten years ago. And as such it had most of the archetypes of LGBT literature and it didn’t bother me as much as I knew its history and I fell in love with the characters and the story itself. As with most books of this time period, the book provided a great guide to the LGBT underground in NYC and even took a trip to Fire Island. I can easily imagine some young closeted, or freshly out, LGBT individuals reading this book and heading to the big city to find themselves.

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