J. J. Parker Livres

In 1928, against powerful Army, Notre Dame "won one for the Gipper" -- but who was the legend inspiring the upset? He was the ultimate rebel: George Gipp drank and gambled, and skipped classes, exams, and football practices. But when it counted, the whirlwind back beat the other teams running, passing, and kicking. And he was as skilled on the diamond as he was on the gridiron. Yet he flunked out of college. Women loved Gipp, with his baritone voice, wit, and nearly regal bearing, but he had only one girlfriend, who dumped him. And he chose to become close to only a few people. Though already famous to sports fans by 1920, Gipp dressed like a nonconformist, as if trying to hide his identity. The daughter of his South Bend friend George Hull, a prominent businessman, said that Gipp "was a handsome young man, unassuming and nonchalant.... People introduced to him were surprised to find out he was George Gipp." He was a swirling mass of contradictions, an existentialist before the term was coined. Through his own negligence, he died an early, tragic death. Maybe that's why he's remembered, but will he ever be understood? Read on....

In January 1920, George Gipp seemed to have it all: a beautiful and brainy girlfriend, one more season as America's finest gridiron star, and enough gambling skill to support his lavish off-campus lifestyle. But by the year's end, he'd been expelled from Notre Dame, lost his true love ... and lost his life. How could the existence of All-American footballer Gipp -- the puckish opposite of Jack Armstrong, the All-American boy -- have gone so wrong? Read on, to discover the true, historical Gipp, and learn how his tragic denouement need not have ended as calamitously as it did. For as Shakespeare wrote in "Julius Caesar," Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

3-2-1 -- three plays. Three genres. Three experiences. Like Shakespeare, J.J. Parker realizes that all the world's a stage, but it's stocked with humor, drama, longing, and tragedy. So is this book. From the frustrated cell of the characters shanghaied into "The Waiting Room," to the goofball humor of the lazy layabout cousins Tom and John, to the searing boxing ring proving ground of "The Prizefighters," Parker has again served up generous helpings of imaginary grub that will compel attention, and fill an otherwise lonely evening. Here's three reasons to read that've been plucked from an imaginary need -- so savor the fruits of one man's seminal seed.... Ponder the fate of the prodigal quartet; laugh at the deranged strategems of the dopey duo; duck life's punches with the adversarial father and son. Read ... and bleed in your insides, for the human condition is a balance between fate and luck, blended with ingenuity and pluck. Vitality began with your DNA conception ... a fresh understanding of life begins on page one....

Some say Bobby Kennedy would never have become famous if not for JFK, his charismatic brother. Others claim Papa Joe's millions greased the skids for all Kennedy political bids.... RFK died in June 1968, in the midst of a turmoiled presidential election. The controversial sibling of a slain leader, and the head of Democratic opposition to the polarizing president, Lyndon Johnson, RFK perished at his apogee, after winning the California primary, seemingly unstoppably destined for the Democratic nomination. He died during a cruel year marred by corpses of American young men littering Vietnam, and black militants' unrest roiling the U.S. Yet these issues of peace -- in Vietnam and the streets of America -- were his stepping stones toward the presidency. For his candidacy advocated helping the poor, the discriminated against, and those whom the Pentagon tabbed to fight in its place. After RFK's assassination, the war still raged. Watergate would follow. Could a second President Kennedy have prevented those calamities? Could he have extricated America from its foreign quagmire, strengthened civil rights, provided more aid to the unfortunate, and shunned illegal political acts? Delve into this book, and judge: for the past is immutable, but not the future.

John Brown: Sinner or saint? Freedom fighter or terrorist? He personified performance, acting when no one else sharing his anti-slavery views did. He embodied old-fashioned (even for that era) values of steadfastness, fervent religiousness, empathy for the less fortunate, and aversion to material wealth. Brown dedicated his life to abolitionism -- in deed as well as word -- since 1837, when in church he raised his hand, and before the congregation swore his devotion, an oath he never broke. Significantly, many African-Americans considered Brown the only white man worthy of their admiration, right up to the 1960s. The following play may explain why. Brown's actions sparked the Civil War, some scholars say. He and his followers fought border ruffians in Kansas, guided escaped slaves toward Canada, and at Harper's Ferry lit the Southern powder keg that after Abraham Lincoln's election led to the secession of several states. John Brown: fanatic? murderer? liberator? Or just a plain, determined man? He calmly accepted his fate -- death by hanging -- hoping his execution would impel lassitudinous Northerners into action. And it did, epitomized by John Brown's Body. Read how it happened....

CAUGHT - One More for the Good Guys tells the enduring, true story of a female undercover officer who faced and overcame great odds in the line of duty. It provides an insight into what it was like for a woman to be on the street with real life druggies,thieves and murderers lurking around. Through the author's view, readers will experience every emotion that a soul could experience: the excitement, fun, fear, danger, disappointment and the sense of accomplishment in doing something worthwile. Along the way, this book also reveals the politics of law enforcement, the impact crime has on the local community and much more.