[Dudd]

So, I've started reading again, might as well post my thoughts here.

<u>Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets</u> -David Simon

If you've watched The Wire or the show based off of this book, Homicide on NBC, you'll know what you're getting. Simon trailed the Baltimore homicide unit for a year in the late 80's, and this is the day by day account of that year. It really is a fascinating book, both telling the tales of detectives who are consumed by 'stone whodunits' and lucky ones who solve case after case, stringing together a perfect year of one 'dunker' after another. You really get a sense for how the unit works, how idiot criminals can get talked into admitting their guilt when simply keeping their mouth shut would have gotten them off. Anyone with the slightest interest in the subject matter should read it, it's simply outstanding.

<u>Can I Keep My Jersey?</u> Paul Shirley

If you've ever wondered what a completely self involved basketball player thought about while sitting at the end of the bench, this is the book for you. Shirley played ball at Iowa State and then bounced around Europe, minor league ball, and eventually NBA garbage time. You'd think this would be pretty interesting, but the entire book pretty much revolves around Shirley pointing out how much smarter he is than the rest of his teammates, how stupid people who believe in religion are, how tough it is to be a white basketball player, and how much Europe sucks for being different than the US. You'd think that someone who accepted a job in Siberia in the winter for something like 30 grand a month would realize that it would be cold there and would be able to not constantly complain about it, but he does. Since he pretty much hates most of his teammates, there are no interesting stories about crazy NBA parties. I think the craziest thing he did was go to a concert the night before a game because he figured as the 12th man, it wouldn't make a difference if he was slightly tired. The few semi-interesting stories he has about fights in the locker room, he changes the names to protect those involved, which pretty much ruins the whole NBA insider part since I could easily come up with a story involving random people shouting at one other. Stay away unless you really like basketball.