Matthew Jacob – författare

What was eating them? And vice versa.   In What the Great Ate, Matthew and Mark Jacob have cooked up a bountiful sampling of the peculiar culinary likes, dislikes, habits, and attitudes of famous—and often notorious—figures throughout history. Here is food   • As code: Benito Mussolini used the phrase “we’re making spaghetti” to inform his wife if he’d be (illegally) dueling later that day. • As superstition: Baseball star Wade Boggs credited his on-field success to eating chicken before nearly every game. • In service to country: President Thomas Jefferson, America’s original foodie, introduced eggplant to the United States and wrote down the nation’s first recipe for ice cream.   From Emperor Nero to Bette Davis, Babe Ruth to Barack Obama, the bite-size tidbits in What the Great Ate will whet your appetite for tantalizing trivia.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Read the captivating biography of Abe Saperstein, originator of the Harlem Globetrotters, which is called "meticulously researched and written in an easy and entertaining style" by Booklist in a starred review.The original Harlem Globetrotters weren’t from Harlem, and they didn’t start out as globetrotters. The talented all-Black team, started by Jewish immigrant Abe Saperstein, was from Chicago’s South Side and toured the Midwest in Saperstein’s model-T. But with Saperstein’s savvy and the players’ skills, the Globetrotters would become a worldwide sensation.Globetrotter: How Abe Saperstein Shook Up the World of Sports is the fascinating biography of Saperstein, a five-foot-three promoter who made an amazing impact in a sport where height is at a premium: basketball. After Saperstein founded the team in the 1920s, they battled everything from blizzards to bigotry, steadily building a reputation for talent and comedy until their footprint covered the entire world. Abe Saperstein’s impact went well beyond the Harlem Globetrotters. He helped keep baseball’s Negro Leagues alive, was a force in getting pitching great Satchel Paige his shot at the majors, and befriended Olympic star Jesse Owens when he fell on hard times. When Saperstein started the American Basketball League, he pioneered the three-point shot, which has dramatically changed the sport. Globetrotter reveals the tireless work and impressive achievements of a man and a basketball team that made millions of people laugh, gasp, and applaud at their astounding performances.

*Booklist starred review* The captivating biography of Abe Saperstein, creator of the Harlem GlobetrottersThe original Harlem Globetrotters weren''t from Harlem, and they didn''t start out as globetrotters. The talented all-Black team, started by Jewish immigrant Abe Saperstein, was from Chicago''s South Side and initially toured the Midwest in Saperstein''s model-T. But with Saperstein''s savvy and the players'' skills, the Globetrotters became a worldwide sensation.Globetrotter: How Abe Saperstein Shook Up the World of Sports is the fascinating biography of Saperstein, a five-foot-three promoter who made an amazing impact in a sport where height is at a premium: basketball. After Saperstein founded the team in the 1920s, the players battled everything from blizzards to bigotry, steadily building a reputation for talent and comedy until their footprint covered the entire world. Abe Saperstein''s impact went well beyond the Harlem Globetrotters. He helped keep baseball''s Negro Leagues alive, was a force in getting pitching great Satchel Paige his shot at the majors, befriended Olympic star Jesse Owens when he fell on hard times, and pioneered the three-point shot. Globetrotter reveals the tireless work and impressive achievements of a man and a basketball team that made millions of people laugh, gasp, and applaud at their astounding performances.