Out of print for more than 30 years, now available for the first time as an eBook, this is the controversial story of John Wooden's first 25 years and first 8 NCAA Championships as UCLA Head Basketball Coach. This is the only book that gives a true picture of the character of John Wooden and the influence of his assistant, Jerry Norman, whose contributions Wooden  ignored and tried to bury.

Compiled with more than 40 hours of interviews with Coach Wooden, learn about the man behind the coach. The players tell their their stories in their own words.

Click the book to read the first chapter and for ordering information. Also available on Kindle.

Lore (5/10)

by Tony Medley

Runtime 108 minutes

Not for children.

This is a well-made but disturbing story of a 14 year-old girl (Saskia Rosendahl), her sister, brother, and infant sibling, who are basically abandoned by their German parents after V-E day in 1945 and have to walk hundreds of miles across the devastated German countryside to find respite with her grandmother in Hamburg.

While it sounds like it could be a great adventure film, it is so stark and realistic that there's no romance involved. Although it involves a long walk across Germany, this isn't Saving Private Ryan, but a cinéma-vérité look at what it was like to be German after the annihilation of World War II.

Directed (and co-written with Robin Mukherjee) by Cate Shortland, who was responsible for the remarkably entertaining Somersault, which won multiple awards in 2004 by the Australian film institute for best picture and best director, among others, this is a dark, unforgiving story based on the book The Dark Room by Rachel Seiffert. Co-starring Kai Malina as the mysterious boy/man who joins Saskia in her treck, while another story of a young woman in a difficult position, this is much blacker and more unrewarding.

There are some sexual scenes and short shots of nudity that make the film inappropriate for children.

The performances by Rosendahl and Malina are very good, but the story is so unremittingly depressing that it's not the kind of film one would choose for an evening's entertainment.

Shortland is a talented director, and this film is well done, but I hope that her next choice is more palatable. Movies are an entertainment. While this presents a stark picture of what life was really like in Germany after the end of fighting, it is not pleasant to watch.

In German.