Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 8/30/2007

8/30/1972:
You can never tell what gems are waiting to be discovered on the field courts at the U.S .Open. In today's first round at Forest Hills, Australian Roy Emerson, winner of 12 grand-slam singles titles, defeats up-and-coming Swede Bjorn Borg, who will eventually win 11 of his own. And working the match is a 13-year-old ballboy from Douglaston, Queens, named John McEnroe.

Birthdays:
Ted Williams b. 1918
Coy Bacon b. 1942
Jean-Claude Killy b. 1943
Tug McGraw b. 1944
Robert Parish b. 1953

FICTION THRILLER

“Dirty Sally is my kind of novel—tough, dark and gritty.”—James Ellroy

If James Ellroy is your kind of novelist, then you’ll agree with his assessment of Dirty Sally. It’s got a lot in common with L.A. Confidential: a murder to be solved, a cop with problems of his own, political corruption, and more. And if the pages weren’t turning so fast you’d notice smart, smooth prose. An incredibly satisfying thrill ride.

DIRTY SALLY, by Michael Simon (Penguin, 2005)