A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys.
--from Noel Paul Stooky and Puff the Magic Dragon

Ted Anthony, a national writer for the Association Press who covers American culture has written an article about Cardboard Gods: An All-American Tale Told Through Baseball Cards, a book by Josh Wilker. Anthony says the book is many things including a portrait of an era.

This review is such an enjoyable read. There are so many artful paragraphs, it's difficult to select just one excerpt. Nevertheless, I loved this:

"How could disco be an object of ridicule when it had just arrived a few years ago? Why was Thurman Munson dead? What WERE those blacklight posters you weren't allowed to look at in the back of Spencer Gifts? How could companies other than Topps be allowed to make baseball cards?"

I think this book would make a great gift for almost every Gen X man.

By the way, Ted Anthony is the national AP reporter who interviewed me after Michael Jackson died. He's my Facebook friend, but I'm convinced we'd get along famously IRL.

Photo Credit: Parl via Flickr with Creative Commons