Weekend Review - Mon 23rd July

• 23rd Jul 2007 at 11:45:31 BST by Liam Doyle
• 0 comments

Pigeons, the legend of Seve and Budd Schulberg.

In a week when every other article was about Harry Potter or David Beckham, I wasn't too hopeful that I'd have anything to write about this week. Fortunately, there's were a few columinsts prepared to break ranks.

I've been promising (not least the publisher) a review of A Very British Coop for a couple of weeks now. My inability to get it done is not because I didn't rate it - quite the opposite for I found it engaging - and fortunately for me whilst I get my proverbial in gear, the far more significant Telegraph comes to my aid with its review. I'm not in the doghouse for anything regarding Surf Nation but if I was, The Telegraph would also spare me grief for they have a review of that book by surfmeister extraordinaire Andy Martin.

Not surprisingly Golf was very much in the minds of reviewers during the last week. In The Telegraph Andrew Baker offered reviews of At Home on the 18th, The Golfer's Mind and Golf Courses. Over in The Independent, 112 Miles To The Pin was reviewed - although you'll have to wait a little longer for that as it's not published quite yet.

Seve dominated the pre tournament headlines with his announcement of retirement. I bet his publishers are delighted at the waves of emotion his news brought and I'm sure that'll be expressed in sales when his autobiography is released at the end of September. There's also couple of nice appreciation pieces in The Observer and The Sunday Times that are worth taking a look at.

Two recent tennis books - Breaking Back, James Blakes' autobiography and Charging the Net are reviewed in the New York Times. Both find favour in parts although Blake's attracts criticism for succombing to the plague that can affect many current players' autobiographies - valuing the dressing room omerta more than your readers. Still, if you want to delve further, there's a first chapter extract available.

There's nothing about the story itself, but one picture caught my eye on the front of Publishers Weekly (see Picture of the Day). There's a photo of Floyd Landis who drew a crowd of 250 to a book signing in Illinois. That's obviously a very good attendance for a book signing, and whilst you can't draw too much from a single event, I wonder if that demonstrates an acceptance of his claims and support in his battle to clear his name. Perhaps that something that some of our American readers will be able to shed some light on.

Kevin Mitchell has a headline feature with the famed Budd Schulberg in The Observer. Mitchell has produced some really interesting articles this year (check back through our blog and you'll see his name features quite often) and, as you'd expect from someone who wrote the impressive War, Baby really knows his boxing. His interview covers a wide range of themes and, at 93, Schulberg seems remarkably chipper. We're also told that there's a stage version of his classic On The Waterfront in the offing for London's West End.

Some of Schulberg's work isn't as easy to obtain as it used to be, and indeed as easy as it should be, but there are still a couple of titles available and they're worth seeking out. Forget too Mitchell's plug for Amazon regarding the availability of Ringside. You know it makes sense.....