May 16, 2012
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The dean of Vanderbilt coaches, Geoff Macdonald is his 18th season leading the women’s tennis team. A two-time Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year, Macdonald is a regular contributor to the Straight Sets tennis blog on NewYorkTimes.com. Macdonald sat down with Commodore Nation last month to discuss a few books that have piqued his interest lately.
1. LAST TRAIN TO MEMPHIS
by Peter Garulnick
“Peter is probably the best writer on music in the United States and he teaches here. He’s also a tennis player. This is his first volume on Elvis Presley. The follow-up, Careless Love, is about how he became big and how he fell apart. Both really interesting.”
2. PULPHEAD
by John Jeremiah Sullivan
“This collection of essays that came out in November is fantastic. He’s a Sewanee grad that’s written about living with (Southern scholar) Andrew Lytle, but he’s also got an incredible essay on Michael Jackson and wrote another really good one on Axl Rose.”
3. NEVER DRANK THE KOOL-AID
by Touré
“He’s another very interesting writer. His profiles are featured in the New Yorker a lot. They range from Eminem and 50 Cent to some that are sports-related like Dale Earnhardt, Jr.”
4. NIGHT OF THE GUN
by David Carr
“David is a columnist on the business page of the New York Times, usually on Mondays. He was a drug addict and this book is about how he overcame that.”
5. THE CATCHER WAS A SPY
by Nicholas Dawidoff
“This is the story of Moe Berg, who was a catcher in the Major Leagues before becoming a spy for the Office of Strategic Services in World War II.”