The honest rainmaker; the life and times of Colonel John R. Stingo

by A.J. Liebling

Traces the life of Stingo, a journalist, con man, and horse fancier

Genres: Sports

Hardcover

First published November 1, 1989

About the author

Abbott Joseph "A. J." Liebling was an American journalist who was closely associated with The New Yorker from 1935 until his death.

Reviews

[David Veitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some crazy stories in here (although I have no idea how many of them are actually true). A very entertaining read.

[Nog · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I picked up "Liebling at Home" at the central branch of the San Diego library, solely for the purpose of reading “The Telephone Booth Indian” and “The Honest Rainmaker”, which are long OOP.

It has its moments but is overall a disappointment. I believe some of the Colonel Stingo writings are in collections I haven’t gotten to yet. At 165 pages, this is way too much about the man; much of the book consists of Stingo’s writings or verbalizations of them, and one wonders if Liebling had a wire recorder or one of the early magnetic tape recorders to capture his distinctive voice with its odd ways of articulation. At any rate, some of the descriptions of his antics as a rainmaker or in business of selling horse racing information I found pretty boring. Liebling’s own voice takes a backseat, which is a shame.

This book can be recommended to Liebling completists, but with the LOA volumes and various other collections available, it’s nonessential.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best extant documents of the old sporting fraternity. An ocean of sporty talk.