Book Description

Customer Reviews (9)

The Kindness of Strangers
Okay, this is a memoir, right?I've read plenty of memoirs before, but has there ever been one that makes you so dubious?I'm sorry for Mr. Powers, and he seems to have led a perfectly awful life, but he is not a good enough writer to make me credit the amazing narrative contrivances and coincidences he tries to pull off here.

I do understand that the problem of gay twins is a pretty basic one to the human condition, and that such boys (and possibly girls) are more sensitive and needy than the rest of us, with reason.The three stars I give to this book are because Powers dares to bring a hitherto ignored social condition to light, and notwithstanding the japes of the ignorant, he includes photos of himself and his brother defying the conventional wisdom in gay publishing that, if you're not especially good looking, nor your brother either, then skip the photos, do some imaginative line drawings instead.There's no photo of "Porky" however, and that makes me curious about who got the good looks in the gang.

When Tim goes missing, Kim pulls out all the emotional stops, and yet he encounters the human kindness of a number of male strangers who defy belief.The chatty bartender at "Charlie's" in the Village, who lets on that, yeah, I saw your brother, he tipped me good and said he was going to go swimming!The two New York cops who bend the rules to bring Kim some closure.Most insubstantial of all, "Stanley," the Texas acting student with the "surprisingly shapely" backside, an otherwise slight ingenu who drops everything to play Sal Paradise to Kim's broken down Dean Moriarty, prompting his flow of memory whenever things seem to be drying up."Stanley" is singlehandedly responsible for the book's worst rhetorical flourishes.When Kim and Stan break into a barn, one of them murmurs, "Don't cut yourself."The narrator then breaks into more anguish: "Don't cut yourself.If only someone had said those three little words to Tim."

I feel sorry for Kim and I'm glad he is finding some healing, but his book is a sorry piece of overwriting.However because it tells the truth about twins and their intimate relations with each other, it is an important steps in the long voyage of human understanding.

Keep reading
I picked up this book because it received a lot of hype.For most of the book, however, I couldn't figure out why.Most of the book is filled with a histrionic recitation of the author's search for his missing brother, coupled with flashbacks and memories of their early lives and the life of their older brother.Although the author's sense of desperation comes through well and is understandable, it doesn't make for a compelling read.Most of this portion of the book feels relevant for the author, but is difficult for the reader to identify with.I would have rated the book 2 or 3 stars if the story had, as I had expected, ended there.But it didn't, and it's in the book's "Afterward" -- the last 30 pages or so -- where the story takes a twist that makes everything comes together in an incredibly moving and powerful way.The change in the story comes almost from left field (although the author gave us hints all along).Perhaps it's for that reason that the change is so powerful, and why everything then makes sense.It's those final few pages that will stick in your heart and mind.I haven't stopped thinking about them for weeks now.I won't give any details here (and notice that none of the other reviewers have -- they also saw that it's so important to the power of the story that the turn of the plot comes seemingly out of nowhere), but it makes for an incredibly stirring, emotional, and satisfying "five-star" end.

The History of Swimming
I have found the book very hard to read - confusing.Haven't finished it yet.

An exhausting search.
I was exhausted by all of the drama in one person's life - both real and manufactured.Undeniably the Powers Twins were sensitive youths, products of their dysfunctional family, subject to the pressures of the time and place, prone to addictive behaviors, and filled with self-loathing.How they dealt with all of this and their twinship, as young adults, could be a case study for clinical practitioners.

The writing style is underwhelming.The use of swimming as the central metaphor is weak.The repetitive whine of self absorption is overwhelming.

But, in the end, Kim Powers becomes the lifeguard for both of his brothers.In the Afterword - the aftermath of his search - his writing has depth, clarity, and a genuineness that rescues the intent of the book and can satisfy most readers.

Love Is All We Know Of Love
Named Kim and Tim by their twelve-year-old brother Porky (wise parents vetoed Porky's first choice of Joe Bob for Tim) the Powers twins were separated in birth by only five minutes. They grew up together, attended the same college, and in many ways were inseparable, even once giving each other the same book, THE HABIT OF BEING, Flannery O'Connor's letters, for birthday gifts. ("Twins always know.") They also, as well as their older brother Porky, eventually figure out that they are gay. ("What was it in the water we drank as children?") Tim, however, becomes a suicidal alcoholic; Kim goes to graduate school in the East and becomes successful-- at least professionally. Much of this unflinchingly honest memoir is about Kim's attempts to find his suicidal brother when Kim learns that Tim has not shown up for work and has disappeared. Powers intersperses throughout the book his brother Tim's letters ("my older brother [Porky] taught me to swim when I was five years old"), letting his brother's own voice speak of his nervous breakdown, his sorrows, his craziness, but also his joy: ("Keep remembering. Keep coming out. Write. Live. Love. It's yours to do.")

Although Mr. Powers can be at times a bit tedious and self-indulgent, his prose is as transparent as the water about which he writes so eloquently.I almost didn't finish this book. That would have been my great loss for the last 30 or so pages of this memoir will break your heart; they contain so much sadness but so much more love.

I confess I cannot be objective about this book. I too am a twin (being forever the older by 15 minutes) and see so much of my brother and me in these two men: never being photographed alone as children, being forever "the twins," should we live to be a hundred (At least we were not saddled with rhyming first names), and knowing that we are in many ways so close and love each other so much, yet so different as my twin is straight.

The New York Times listed THE HISTORY OF SWIMMING as one of the notable nonfiction books of 2006, an honor it richly deserves. ... Read more

Book Description
This fascinating title traces the evolution of competitive swimming from the first organized races in the 1830s to the present day. Controversies, such as the use of steroids by Olympic swimmers, are treated in depth. Prominent figures in the sport are also profiled. ... Read more

Book Description
This history covers swimming from the perspective of an active participant in the organization of the Manhattan marathon swim.The emphasis initially was on New York swims but was broaden to include the whole development of open-water swimming events worldwide.Early English and Austria swims prior to Capt. Webb and prior to Lord Bryon are included.The author includes an analysis of the development of the modern swimming stroke: the American Crawl, along with comments regarding swimming strokes forgotten during the Renaissance.Illustrations and photos abound.The reason Alfred Hajos won the first swimming races in the 1896 Olympics and strategies employed by other swimmers.The development of baths, their alternatives, and the role they played in the development of the swimming arts.The public need for swimming education and the response of non-governmental agencies to this need.The story of the first person to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge as well as the story of the first person to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge and live is included.The irrefutable evidence that Annie Taylor was not the first person to go over Niagara Falls and live is presented.Cage swims and cage construction is discussed.The inside scope on the Florida Straits swims from someone who was there in Cuba and on the swims.How Suzy Maroney cheated in her swims is but one of the stories about charlatans, pretenders, and swims gone badly.Every swim is covered with dates, times, and reference sources (over 700 references).The author suggests ways to address "assisted" swims.The first great American swimmer, Captain Boyton, entire career is covered from his days as a lifeguard in New Jersey to a demonstration of a lifesaving devise before Queen Victoria, receptions throughout the European capitols, his Irish activity and torpedo work for foreign governments, and his retirement to Coney Island. Why his invention is still needed today is presented. Secrets of the Manhattan swim are revealed by the author from ten years of trials that yielded up the current Manhattan Island record and how this knowledge could be applied to the English Channel.The author reveals the date when the next Manhattan marathon record attempt will occur.The computer program and a formula to calculate a swimmer's expected finishing time are revealed as well as how this knowledge was applied.The complete history of the Manhattan marathon swim is discussed in detail.Swim injuries are discussed and facts about swimming that are alarming.Above all, the book is packed with swims and swimmers galore, swims you couldn't imagine, swim you've heard about but didn't believe, and swims that have been forgotten and why.The swims that won a Congressional Metal of Honor are covered and a swim that should have.The first Chesapeake Bay swim, the first Boston Light swim, the first Manhattan marathon swim, the first Alcatraz swim, the first Long Island Sound swim, the first Potomac swim, the first swim by an American in the Thames, the first swim across the Baltic Sea, the first swim from Montauk to Watch Hill across Block Island Sound, the first swim to Block Island, the first swim across the Messina Straits, the first swim across the Mersey, the first swim across Gibraltar Straits, the first swim ever recorded in a newspaper.Animal swims: the first recorded shark attack, the dog that set a swimming record down the Hudson River, and a record night swim by an elephant.Swims that you will want to do and who to contact to schedule your next swim include: Key West, Tampa Bay, Bonaire, St. Croix, Boston Light, Other New England Swims, Chesapeake Bay, British Swims, Professional Swims, Gibraltar Straits, Palk Straits, Hawaiian Island Swims, Catalina Channel, Fremantle-Rottnest, and the Irish Sea.And finally, swims that will just tear your heart out, you wish they had never gone in the water. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

History of Open Water Marathon Swimming
As a book covering the facts of Marathon Swimming history, it is quite okay. But tye layout is terrible. The book is printed on the worst recycled paper you can think of and the photos are extremely bad. I am disappointed tho have paid to much for such a lousy quality.

Work in progress
Several editions and revisions of this book are in print, which might not mean much to the general public. However, if you are an open water swimmer and the published rosters of successful swims mean anything to you, the various editions WILL make a difference.

A friend of mine has the 2004 edition, and I just received the 2005 edition. It would seem that, in more recent printings, the history of Catalina Channel swims has been reduced to one page...almost a mere footnote.

Over 100 pages of this 400-page book focus on the partly-current-assisted Manhattan Island swim, and reflect the author's bias, which further adds to my disappointment in this otherwise well-written history.

A more equitable history of open water swims and treatment of the sport, although sadly outdated, is given in Conrad Wennenberg's "Wind, Waves & Sunburn".

Interestingly, the list of customer reviews for this book is beginning to read like a "Who's Who" of long-distance swimmers.

Review of History of Open Water Mar Swimming
Has good background of open water swimming from antiquity to the present.Book is mostly about east coast and Europe with focus on New England and NY, since this is where author lived and swam.Amazing details in the stories, requiring much time for research by the author.No wonder it's taken over 20 years for author to write the book!By Carl Kawauchi.

Fantastic book on an ultra-extreme sport loaded with details
This is a fantastic book on an ultra-extreme sport loaded with details.Captain Johnson has obviously done much research on this excellent book.I highly recommend this book as it offers rare insights into the beginnings of this ultra-extreme sport.You do not have to be a swimmer to appreciate this fascinating book.

Awesome history for an awesome sport!!!
Captain Johnson has obviously put in a ton of time researching an awesome ultra-extreme sport.His ambition may be his undoing however, because I believe the more he researches, the more he'll find that he can add to this already hefty project. I can't wait to see how this book grows over the years as he adds yearly results and unearths other "lost" swims.I am also proud that he has decided to leave out the dubious efforts of "cage swimmers" and other kooks who claim to be swimming with other aids such as fins and wetsuits.I higly recommend this book to swimmers and non-swimmers who enjoy reading about lofty human endeavors! ... Read more

Book Description
From novelty tricks in swim classes, through the Aquacades and movies, to the highly complex Olympic competitions—this history of synchronized swimming tells how the sport grew, examines the role the United States has played in its worldwide development, and describes the status of synchronized swimming in world sporting events today.

Among the topics covered are competition development, development around the United States, rules and technical changes, and leadership (from volunteers to a National Office). Four appendices list major award winners, U.S. National Champions, the results of major international competitions, and U.S. participation in international events. The work boasts photographs from the first trial national competition in 1942 to the World Championships of 2003, as well as a full bibliography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A New Perspective On Swimming - It Took Me Out Of The Pool
This book is very well written although a little outdated (references to women, training methods,stroke technique,the virtue of fat).I thought I knew a few things about the history of swimming but this book took me into a new dimension. Out of the pool and into the wilds. I never heard of most of the open water swimmers mentioned by the author. Most of the races as well. The author ends his book around 1970 so I am now naturally wondering:
a. What has happened to the heroes of the story after that year?
b. How has the sport developed?
c. Is the author still alive?

A bit dated, but great reading!
The original copy of this book was released in the early 70s, and politically-correct readers probably won't warm to his outdated language (esp. in referring to female swimmers). But if you can forgive the author by remembering when it was written, Wennerberg excels at describing in detail what these swimmers went through to accomplish feats like the English Channel, Lake Michigan, etc. He makes you feel as if you're swimming right along with these pioneers of long-distance swimming in the 1950s and 60s as they stroke across some famous bodies of water, all before the advent of modern wetsuits and goggles!

Obviously, Wennerberg does not mention any swims after the early 1970s (except in the afterwards of the 1997 edition), but being a rather young open-water swimmer, I really enjoyed reading about the brave men & women who paved the way for those of us who enjoy open-water swimming today.

Dive right in!
At first I wasn't sure whether i'd like this book despite being a competetive swimmer myself. The title sounded pretenscious and overblown. However... reading this bookk gave me an incredible insight into the worldof marathon swimming.It is a mix of scientific knowhow (ideal foranyone planning a triathlon style swim) and amazing anecdotes from theauthor who manages to combine incredible feats with his own cool andstylish panache. In fact it's what one would expect if Kerouac had goneinto sports writing instead of travel writing. All in all, i canthoroughly recommend this book to anyone, even non-swimmers, for it's easymix of anecdotes and stylish sports writing. ... Read more

Book Description
As sites of race riots, shrinking swimsuits, and conspicuous leisure, swimming pools reflect the tensions and transformations that have given rise to modern America. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Social History of an Unusual Aspect of America
Here comes summer, and Americans will head for a trusted way of getting rid of stress and heat: they will jump into swimming pools.But pools themselves have been a source of stress to many communities within the nation; indeed, Jeff Wiltse has written a history of the social tensions pools have caused (and sometimes eased) in _Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America_ (University of North Carolina Press).It is surprising that what might seem a trivial subject, a pastime in which millions of Americans have innocently indulged for over a hundred years now, might even have a history.But Wiltse, who teaches history at the University of Montana, has driven from town to town to draw information for this book.His travels were mostly in the north, for he did not want to range too far and write separate regional histories, although he says the pattern of social use of pools is consistent within the towns he surveyed.He amassed a huge amount of data from newspapers and civic documents about who was using the pools, with statistics often kept by race and sex.Wiltse has shown beyond doubt that pools have reflected and generated our feelings on sexual and racial matters, and although his book is a serious academic history, it is by turns amusing and sad as America came to an incomplete understanding of how we ought to treat pools and the swimmers who use them.

We didn't have pools originally, going down to swim in the river or "the old swimming hole".The swimmers often had no running water at home and this was a way for them to wash away some bodily grime; their Victorian betters strongly agreed with bathing for this purpose, but not with the way it was being accomplished.The problem of how to get those underclass clean without letting their pastoral cavorting offend others resulted in a solution, the first municipal bathing pools.Remarkably, there was not racial segregation in these initial pools.Pools changed again when they became not centers for training but locales for play.The huge pools were viewed as resorts, places where a family might come on vacation, and they had sand around them for artificial beaches.Pools had been segregated by gender, but these were not; because of fretting over what might happen if white women saw athletic black bodies, or if blacks started appreciating the displayed bodies of white women, racial segregation of pools began.There was violence in many cities when black people tried to use the pool.The way one city after another attempted to exclude black people in different ways makes for uncomfortable reading.

Desegregation eventually happened, but the victory turned out to be Pyrrhic.As blacks were admitted, white swimmers stopped going to the public pools, and so it became easier for cities to reduce maintenance on the pools, which fell into disrepair and were closed.Cities had financial crises in the 1970s, further reducing pool budgets, and have never started up another building surge.White swimmers went to private pools or home pools, and Americans aren't putting a high value on public recreation as much as they used to.Suburban communities are building water theme parks, which are busy places for kids, but do not foster the socialization that families used to find around a public pool.It may not have worked out to be the best outcome for either blacks or whites, but that's the way history works out sometimes.Wiltse's readable history gives a surprising outlook on important aspects of American culture, and shows that swimming pools are far more consequential than you'd expect.
... Read more

Book Description
In The Springboard in the Pond, Thomas van Leeuwen looks at the domestic swimming pool and discovers an icon indispensable to the reading of twentieth-century modernism. At one level, the book is a rereading of modern architecture that will leave that story permanently altered. At another level, it is the story of the origin and evolution of the private swimming pool as a building type and cultural artifact. And at still another level, it is a material philosophy of water.

This book is the second in a planned tetralogy by the author, with each volume centered on the relationship of architecture to one of the four classical elements: sky, water, fire, and earth. The first volume was The Skyward Trend of Thought: The Metaphysics of the American Skyscraper (MIT Press, 1988). The third volume, Columns of Fire: Architecture and Destruction, is currently in preparation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Judge a book by the title
A clever title and a very clever book. Wide ranging in scope, with many unusual insights. At the present bargain price it is a must have. Makes you think, and not in the usual way you think.

Oceanomare of all feeling & thoughts connected with the pool
Oceanomare of all feeling & thoughts connected with the pool, T.A.P. van Leeuwen, a teacher of mine, has written a book about all the different aspects of theswimming pool. TAP van Leeuwen manages to evoke new kinds of interesting emotions concerningwater- and he manages to fill the pool with these emotions. After all, the pool, as he himselfdescribes it, has no very interesting shape: it's just a floating boarding or a concretehole-in-the-ground.

TAP van Leeuwen has made an excellent choice to show as much as possible in different media, allshattered around on the spread: notes next to the text next to pics. The very thorough and beautifuldesign of the book itself makes this possible- and points back to its archetype, the "Bauen inFrankreich"-book by Sigfried Giedion (a lifelong teacher for van Leeuwen). I liked very much thepart about all the fifties-Hollywood-stars, sitting besides or floating atop of the water, in theirexpensive tweed costumes, afraid of the water and proud of their success (of owning a pool?). Let'sall take a dive into the richness of this book, a book definitely not about architecture, only,architecture is the only housing into which these stories have a room.

History of Swimming Pool
This is the second in an anticipated series of four unorthodox books by a Dutch historian on architecture in relation to the classical elements: sky, water, fire and earth. The first volume, about the metaphysics of theAmerican skyscraper, was published in 1988; while the third, which willfocus on buildings destroyed by fire, is in preparation. This secondvolume, which is illustrated by more than 200 drawings, plans and vintagephotographs, is a wonderful visual and verbal review of the origin andevolution of the domestic swimming pool, which is, as the author describesit, "the architectural outcome of man's desire to become one with theelement of water, privately and free of danger." To swim in a hole in thebackyard, he continues, "is a complex and curious activity, one thatoscillates between joy and fear, between domination and submission, for theswimmer delivers himself with controlled abandonment to the forces ofgravity, resulting in sensations of weight- and timelessness." This is ahistory of architecture, as exemplified by a single building type; while,at the same time, it is a rich, multi-faceted social history in which thebehavior of humans toward water is shown in relation to religion, sex, art,psychology, engineering and architecture. (Copyright by Roy R. Behrens fromBallast Quarterly Review, Vol. 15, No. 1, Autumn 1999.)

Oceanomare of all feeling & thoughts connected with the pool
T.A.P. van Leeuwen, a teacher of mine, has written a book about all the different aspects of the swimming pool.TAP van Leeuwen manages to evoke new kinds of interesting emotions concerning water- and he manages to fillthe pool with these emotions. After all, the pool, as he himself describesit, has no very interesting shape: it's just a floating boarding or aconcrete hole-in-the-ground.

TAP van Leeuwen has made an excellent choiceto show as much as possible in different media, all shattered around on thespread: notes next to the text next to pics. The very thorough andbeautiful design of the book itself makes this possible- and points back toits archetype, the "Bauen in Frankreich"-book by Sigfried Giedion(a lifelong teacher for van Leeuwen). I liked very much the part about allthe fifties-Hollywood-stars, sitting besides or floating atop of the water,in their expensive tweed costumes, afraid of the water and proud of theirsuccess (of owning a pool?). Let's all take a dive into the richness ofthis book, a book definitely not about architecture, only, architecture isthe only housing into which these stories have a room. ... Read more

Book Description

Covering a time of great social and technological change, this history traces the development of the four classic aquatic disciplines of competitive swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo, with its main focus on racing. Working from the beginnings of municipal recreational swimming, the book fully explores the links between swimming and other aspects of English life society including class, education, gender, municipal governance, sexuality and the Victorian invention of the sports amateur-professional divide.

Uniquely focused on swimming -often neglected in analytic sports histories- this is the first study of its kind and will be an important landmark in the establishment of swimming history as a topic of scholarly investigation.

This book was previously published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.

Product Description
General History of Swimming in Greensboro, N.C. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Learning and Motivation, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
In two experiments, the evidence showed that 20min of forced swimming by rats caused aversion to a taste solution consumed before swimming. When one of two taste solutions (sodium saccharin or sodium chloride, counterbalanced across rats) was paired with swimming and the other was not, the rats' intakes of these two solutions showed less consumption of the former than the latter solution. Furthermore, a post-training two-bottle choice test clearly demonstrated long-lasting avoidance of the swimming-paired solution. These results imply that forced swimming acts as an unconditioned stimulus for establishing taste aversion. Preexposure to swimming opportunities before conditioning disrupts such conditioned taste aversion induced by forced swimming. ... Read more