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Title: Playing Right Field : A Jew Grows in Greenwich by George Tabb, Fly, John Strausbaugh ISBN: 1-932360-40-9 Publisher: Soft Skull Press Pub. Date: 09 April, 2004 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.8 (5 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: Let Us Shed A Tear For The Fat Guy With The Beer
Comment: Hoo boy, talk about your trip into the world of an unexamined life. While the rest of the planet gets up every morning and goes to work, here's a guy with more time on his hands than Charles Manson. And what's even worse, he thinks his slacker ass has somehow done something others might actually find interesting.
So let's see, daddy was rich, divorced mommy, took the kids and moved off to the land of the cruel and unusual. Young lad pined for absent mommy, had to deal with cruel bullies, was terribly misunderstood, and nobody liked him. And this is different from every other brat from a dysfunctional home how? Oh, that's right. His daddy had money. Enough to buy him the 20 or so years of leisure it took to write this tree killer.
So how does that Austin Powers tune go?
"Daddy wasn't there
to change my underwear."
Quit whining. Get a job.
Rating: 5
Summary: CinderFella Strikes Back!
Comment: Kids can be extremely cruel. Most people have horrible memories of childhood, and would rather not stroll down memory lane. Do we really want to read any more appalling stories about a 98 pound weakling getting beaten up daily by his classmates and bullies at school (as well as at home)? Do we need to read about these horrible kids torturing animals, eating sheep eyes to spew out onto enemies' faces, or dismembering a sea turtle with an axe? Do we have to read in detail about getting dry humped and ejaculated on by a 200 pound dog named Bear? Of course we do. Especially when George Tabb is the narrator. Nothing personifies the definition of punk rock like Tabb. According to the dictionary, punk rock is "marked by extreme and often deliberately offensive expressions of alienation and social discontent". This perfectly describes "Playing Right Field: A Jew Grows in Greenwich". Tabb certainly understands what its like to be on the outside looking in. He just doesn't care to be on the inside.
After spending his first few peaceful loving years in Brooklyn, his folks got divorced and he was dragged up north to Greenwich, CT to live with his physically abusive father and new wife in Waspville. This made young George awfully miserable. His father certainly knew how to snatch defeat from his son's jaws of victory. His cruel stepmother, who liked nothing more than to humiliate and antagonize him, also treated him like CinderFella. Even his home wasn't a safe haven, but somehow Tabb made it through all the violence and mental abuse.
Tabb's schoolmates were all anti-Semitic too, which also made his life a living hell. Nothing is worse than being ostracized as the local kike, since everyone in Greenwich seemed to have the Heebie-Jeebies towards him. Luckily the natives never strung him up from a tree, since the most brutal physical torture was saved for local animals. At least his friend Jimmy crucified a frog instead of Tabb. Even the blind kid who looked like a zombie and had no eyeballs beat him up on the head with his Braille typewriter for being a Member of the Tribe. Maybe he was trying to push down the horns he thought Tabb had growing on his head, being Jewish and all. The one legged kid didn't like him either; at least Tabb had the upper hand (or lower leg) with him. Something is seriously wrong when even the unaccepted won't accept you. It's a good thing Helen Keller didn't go to his school; she would have kicked his ass too. This is extremely ironic since Tabb was the only good-natured soul to befriend the one mentally retarded kid at camp, and took under his wing. Of course he got the crap beaten out of him for defending him, but Tabb eventually does get his revenge. Or as much revenge an angst ridden adolescent can dish out.
The author has a candor and empathy when describing his experiences that is rarely found. This must be due to the endless persecution he endured. Fortunately Tabb still had a typical suburban childhood, filled with comic books and superheroes. His enthusiasm and humor even in the darkest of times (for a 10 year old) shows a kid who just keeps trying and never gives up. Always looking for approval from his father and never getting it. Some role models pass through his life, and show him that he really is a great person, no matter what. Tabb soon learns life lessons, such as breasts are really comfortable to lay on, and there is something in between his legs for a reason .He still has an innocence about him that wasn't completely lost. Except for the time he got dry humped and ejaculated on by a 200 pound dog. But Tabb just gets up, wipes himself off, and goes on. That's what this book really is about, perseverance in the face of adversity. And that's how Tabb's vivid memoir makes you feel, as if you are actually there with him experiencing his miseries and joys, through his young perspective. You'll be out playing in right field; sharing the same sweat encrusted team shirt with his two brothers. During the same game. That his rich father was generous enough to buy. We should all be so lucky. George Tabb is a pussy, and is damn proud of it. If you read this book, you'll agree, too.
Rating: 1
Summary: I wanted to read about Letch Patrol....
Comment: Instead I got some garbage about Tabb's childhood. The 40 something Tabb haunted the periphery of the NYC punk scene for 20+ years and likely would have a few interesting tales to tell. But no, we must hear about his boring childhood instead. George, you are closer to wearing Depends than you are to childhood, get over it already. Thank goodness I didn't pay for this nonsense.
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Title: On The Road With The Ramones by Monte A. Melnick, Frank Meyer ISBN: 1860745148 Publisher: Sanctuary Publishing Pub. Date: November, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Double Duce by Aaron Cometbus ISBN: 086719586X Publisher: Last Gasp of San Francisco Pub. Date: 10 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant ISBN: 1400060737 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 17 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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