Poignant nostalgia

There are few better interview subjects out there than Doris Kearns Goodwin, who has written books on Lyndon Johnson, the Kennedys and the Roosevelts. Whenever I've seen her interviewed about her books, she always has an interesting take on the question and is full of enthusiasm.

Lately, however, she has become a fixture whenever a show like "Nightline" needs someone to talk philosophically about baseball. Kearns grew up as a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 40's and 50's, obviously as a way to be close to her dad. The stories about her baseball interest were the starting point of this memoir, which developed into a full-blown look at Kearns' childhood. (And it's not fiction, no matter how epinions lists it.)

It's difficult to make something like this work, but Kearns does it pretty well. She gives a very clear picture of what life was like in the first ring of the suburbs back then, before the demographics started changing and the rush away from the city began. The Dodgers were part of that rush; unable to get a new stadium, they moved to Los Angeles.

Kearns comes off as extremely intelligent as a child, and she does not pass judgment on anyone's actions -- which really adds to the sweetness of the book. I think if you are from a particular time and place (urban, start of the baby-boom generation), you'll like this book a great deal. But even if you're not, you'll admire how well it was put together.