Little help needed

[Opie 308]

I was just checking out Christy's site and was looking at the books

I want to read the books, so my question is which one should I start with?

I usually like to read one book about a topic and then read another topic, so I will read them all just not in succession.

But I would like the opinion of people who have read them as to which one to start with.

[Hank 0]

I was just checking out Christy's site and was looking at the books

I want to read the books, so my question is which one should I start with?

I usually like to read one book about a topic and then read another topic, so I will read them all just not in succession.

But I would like the opinion of people who have read them as to which one to start with.

I'll save you some money, don't buy "Yzerman" by Doug Hunter. It's not that he's a bad writer or it's a bad book, it's just that Yzerman is so private that Hunter has a really hard time getting any information from those Yzerman's related to, played with or worked with.

There are some good tidbits about Yzerman's life in there, but because of the lack of information the book ends up being more about how someone becomes a good leader.

I'd highly recommend finding it at a local library first.

I really enjoyed "The Captain" by the Free Press. It's a quick and easy read, has some great articles (especially from when he was young) and an excellent array of photos. I bought this one and it was worth the cash.

[irishtemper14+25 11]

yea i have "The Captain" and i really liked it, even though it has some typos =D

[Winged Scooter 0]

I will also nominate "The Captain" as well, I really enjoyed it. Also if you can find a back copy of the Sports Illustrated tribute to Yzerman I really liked that as well.

[Hank 0]

I will also nominate "The Captain" as well, I really enjoyed it. Also if you can find a back copy of the Sports Illustrated tribute to Yzerman I really liked that as well.

Yeah, that was an excellent book as well.

I'm still bummed that there isn't, and probably never will be, a biography on the man with his assistance. I can't get enough of sports biographies and it would be awesome to read one about my favourite athlete.

I'm reading "The Rookie" right now. It's about Crosby and all that he experienced in his first season. It's a great read.

[Opie 308]

Thanks for the advice after reading this and the blood feud thread I am starting with The Captain and then Blood Feud.

Thanks again, now I just have to finish the book I am on!!!

[Barrie 900]

Thanks for the advice after reading this and the blood feud thread I am starting with The Captain and then Blood Feud.

Thanks again, now I just have to finish the book I am on!!!

"Yzerman" is still a good read even though Stevie was never interviewed. Don't miss out on that one.

[redwingschick33 0]

Personally, I really enjoyed The Captain and Nineteen. Yzerman by Doug Hunter wasn't bad, but he isn't always factually correct. He did interview friends of Yzerman so those quotes were interesting. But like someone else said, the author did not interview Yzerman.

[Yzermania19 1]

Besides "The Captain" and "Nineteen", both of which have been mentioned and are excellent, here are some comments on a few more...

If you can find it, "Heart of a Champion" is a good start. It's more than 10 years old, though, and is out of print, so if you can find a copy it might be expensive.

"Hockeytown Hero" by Shelley Lazarus is also a good one, even though it's written for kids. She interviewed Steve and some of his family members for it.

"Steve Yzerman, The Quiet Captain" is a thin paperback by Paul Harris that's a quick read and very good.

"Yzerman", the Doug Hunter book, isn't bad, but it does have a lot of inaccuracies in it, which in my opinion, are inexcusable. He never talked to Stevie directly for the book, but he talked to enough people close to Stevie so he should have his facts straight. Plus, some of the things he got wrong are common knowledge, or at least found fairly easily through some quick research. He also kind of tends to go on and on for pages about technical stuff for playing hockey. Despite this, I think it's still worth reading.

Stay away from "Of Ice and Men," which is four bios in one, by Bruce Dowbiggin. The Stevie chapter is just full of errors and you start to wonder if the author even bothered to do any research at all. Also, "A Wing...And A Hero" by Gary Morrison is just flat-out awful!!! It's a self-published book that repeats itself over and over. The guy just can't write. He says he sent Stevie a copy of the manuscript hoping for his authorization and never got it. Well, it's not surprising. It's awful.

[irishtemper14+25 11]

did u guys ever read "And Howe", i have an autographed copy in my bookcase =D

[Wing Nut 19 0]

Thanks for the advice after reading this and the blood feud thread I am starting with The Captain and then Blood Feud.

Thanks again, now I just have to finish the book I am on!!!

....and what book is that?

[Opie 308]

....and what book is that?

I just finished reading Maus I & II

very interesting reads.

Edited August 6, 2007 by Opie

[Hank 0]

I know this isn't Yzerman-book related but if you're into reading biographies on hockey players here's a few I read that were excellent:

Thunder and Lighting - Phil Esposito

Grapes: A Vintage Age of Hockey - Don Cherry

Jean Beliveau: My Life in Hockey

The Hammer: Confessions of a Hockey Enforcer - Dave Shultz

These were all excellent books filled with great anticodotes and humour. It was amazing to read that Shutlz was a self-professed 'chicken' when he was younger. He said, while growing up in Saskatchewan, he did whatever he could to avoid fights on and off the ice.

And love him or hate him, Grapes' book is a very funny and easy read. Lots of great stories about his playing days and Bruins.

One story I loved was about Terry O'Reilly (who Dave Shutlz used to have nightmares about). It was in the offseason and he was spending some time at the beach. Some surfer-dude asked him if he wanted to try surfing. Terry turned him down but the guy kept pestering him saying "You're a big guy, this should be no problem. What are you chicken?". So O'Reilly grabbed the board and went out there to try. He almost drowned. Grapes said it took every ounce of his strength to get back to shore after being flipped over and over again by the waves. And the fact that he wasn't a strong swimmer made the whole ordeal that much worse. When O'Reilly finally made it back to the shore he collapsed on the sand trying to recover his breath and energy. The surfer-dude walked over and said something like, "Geez. That was rough. You shouldn't have done that". O'Reilly, despite having almost no strength left in his body, managed to use his rage from this comment and beat the crap out of the guy.

[yankeebaddabing 0]

R-E-A-D-A-B-O-O-K

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN2VqFPNS8w

I thought that was funny....

[Opie 308]

So "The Captain" showed up on my door step yesterday and by the end of the day I had finished reading it. I am not trying to say that I am some special type of reader, especially considering the length of the book. But that was a great read, I had a hard time putting it down.

Thanks for the recommendation. Now I am going to start Blood Feud.

[BigTex 1]

those sound great, I'll have to check them out.

I really liked the SI commemorative issue, very good quality.