FADED GLORY: A Documentary By Rick Cohen ASC’87 (Endorphin Entertainment, 2009; $14.99.) The true story of a group of aging athletes on a 38-and-over amateur baseball team called National Network. Brought together by Cohen, their player-manager and the movie’s writer-director, the team survives a plague of middle-age crises—divorces, near-fatal car accidents, job losses, drug addictions, incarcerations, paternal disapproval, even the death of a teammate—and reunites to compete in the 2007 Amateur Baseball Association World Series in Phoenix. Cohen, president of the Atlanta-based Endorphin Entertainment (www.endorphinentertainment.com), is also the writer/director of And the Lord Said … Smack ’em in the Mouth!
THE DESSERT ARCHITECT By Robert Wemischner C’72 (Delmar, Cengage Learning, 2010; $60.95.) This complete and photo-illustrated guide to building 50 versatile desserts goes beyond recipes by discussing the four cornerstones of a fine dessert (flavor, texture, temperature, and contrast) as well as ingredients and equipment, creating a dessert menu, plating, and the art of pairing desserts with beverages. Wemischner is a Los Angeles-based pastry chef, culinary educator, and food writer.
THE KILLING OF MINDI QUINTANA By Jeffrey A. Cohen L’88 (2010, Welcome Rain; $24.95.) Freddy Builder, a frustrated department-store clerk, has been charged with the brutal murder of Mindi Quintana, an old college flame who had been reading his short stories. As Freddy’s trial approaches, he rewrites their relationship in a book whose published excerpts bring him the media attention he has always craved—and the growing revulsion of his defense attorney. In this first novel, Cohen—a Philadelphia trial lawyer and technology entrepreneur—brings another dimension to the crime novel by probing our national obsession with celebrity.
