Amazons: An Intimate Memoir By the First Woman to Play in the National Hockey League

by Cleo Birdwell and Cleo Birdwell

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0919630324
• ISBN13: 9780919630321
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Holt Rinehart Winston
• Length: 390 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Genius

Hard to believe that Don DeLillo thought of this as a throwaway, or that it couldn't stand with his other work. The level of comic ingenuity here is staggering. I'm assuming that it's not in print because DeLillo won't permit it. It's a shame. It stands with his best comic work, and I prefer it to some of his "real" novels.

A Warped But Lively View of DeLillo

I'm glad you've somehow heard of this book. It's a charming thing. It seems like DeLillo felt like he could use the same textual ideas found in his other books, because of the Birdwell disguise. You'll see things said exactly the same way as he said them elsewhere. That brings up a criticism of D, that All his characters talk the same. If you think this it's hard to argue with you. How do they talk? You can give me a line, and I'll often be able to tell you which character said it. But, you say, that just means you've memorized his books. But I wonder, even if the characters do speak in a certain style, how could you tell this, given that each of the fictional worlds they're dealing with is totally unique? Unless you're arguing that even within a book the dialogue is uniform. If you're saying this, I think you may have an internal thing in your brain that only lets you percieve one thing. If you can't distinguish tonal variations... I guess it would be interesting to inhabit your mind to see what tone-blindess is like for a while. Because you must have writers who you think write dynamic dialogue. Maybe DeLillo is too subtle for you. Or too potent--he overwhelmes your sensors with beauty, which secretly causes you pain, because your imagination isn't as beautiful. An example to study would be the exchange between old Ratner and big Bill in _Ratner's Star_. (Of course I think that his whole body of work is one big example, but this is a particularly blatant one).

This woman hockey player will have you howling out loud

This fictional story of the first professional woman hockey player starts out a little slowly, but soon will have you laughing out loud at the improbable situations the heroine finds herself in, including an interesting adventure with a boyfriend who has "Maine Jumping Frenchman", also known as Tourette's Syndrome. This book is definitely worth a look.

Great book, but a little brutal

I found this book at a used book store in Missouri, of all places. It intrigued me, so I bought it for 50 cents. The language is a bit brutal, yet very true to life. I've worked for many hockey teams and even played for one. I was surprised Cleo Birdwell used the language she did in the book. Overall, though, I recommend it to any ADULT female thinking she might make it in the NHL.

i miss this book!!!

a friend of mine found this book in hc for 75 cents in k-mart when i was around 13. she got it for me because i was a huge ny rangers fan & wanted to play hockey. the book turned out to have little to do with hockey, but was truly different & funny in a seinfeld kind of way. there are certain moments & phrases from it that i will never forget. i lent it to one friend who loved it as much as i did, and then another who was not impressed and eventually lost it. i have never ever seen another copy, and it appears that she never published anything else. cleo birdwell, where are you???