Bowled Over: A Roll Down Memory Lane

A pleasant enough short history of bowling, giving just enough detail to be interesting without getting too technical though in some cases I would have appreciated more information, in particular the development of the automatic pinsetter (surely the one item that pushed the sport into the big-time) and the architecture of bowling lanes, the work of the architectural company Powers, Daly & DeRosa helped pull in the customers to the flamboyant lanes of the fifties.The book is a neat square shape (seven by seven inches) and well produced with over a hundred pictures but before you order your copy you have to know that (amazingly) none of the pictures have captions! Some of them clearly are just graphics to help the design along but I counted fifty-two that really should have some explanation for the reader, for instance page eleven shows actor Telly Savalas just about to bowl, when was it taken and where? Page forty-seven shows the outside of the streamline Tower Bowl in San Diego (designed by Charlie Lee) I think readers should be told this in a caption, page ninety-six has a bowling championship in progress, where, when? I'm surprised that the publisher did not pick up this rather fundamental flaw in the books presentation.A book I enjoyed more than 'Bowled Over' is 'Bowl-O-Rama' by Thomas Steele, essentially a visual history with hundreds of pictures (all with captions) and short introductions to the nine chapters. Oh and the cover shows part of a bowling ball with three holes punched right though the stiff cardboard.

I love this snappy, informative book with its vintage photographs, evocative memorabilia,great layout, and fact-filled text. The authors cover all aspects of the bowling phenomenon -- from the history of the sport to fashion, technology, andarchitecture, and helped me understand the important social and cultural role of this sport. Two things really stayed with me: the authors' ability to connect bowling to American social history; and the fantastic design. This book puts me in a great mood! Intelligently written -- without being high brow--and full of entertaining anecdotes, Bowled Over makes a great present for bowlers and fans of popular culture.