Word: stein
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...sports cars usually falls into two categories. There is the British school which catalogs some Veddy Famous Marques and adds historical data on them. Then there is the American or Goe Whiz school which stresses snappy phraseology instead of facts. "Sports Cars of the World" by cartoonist Ralph Stein parodies both schools unintentionally. The author arbitrarily lists 56 cars by nationality, describes each one in a few inadequate paragraphs, and throws in his off-hand yak-type comments...
Most of the factual information here can be found in the British Foulis books at one-third the price. And the imported works at least refer to an honest engine by its right name: Stein prefers terms like "old lump" or "hot little innards" and modifies them with the word (?) "hairy." But the sloppiness which marks this book reaches a high mark in its "performance figures." Speaking of the successful Allard J-2 competition model, Stein says "130 mph is claimed but I wouldn't know." Actually the Allard's performance is 110 mph and accurate test figures...
...Sports Cars of the World" could have been a valuable and original book if Stein had done some thorough research and arranged his material by mechanical or chronological development of the sports car. Such a comprehensive study remains to be written...
...Little Steel strike and the shooting of "Pretty Boy" Floyd, and he survived a mid-air collision at the National Air Races. He covered World War II as a correspondent. He has interviewed, among others, Lord Halifax, Earl Browder, Newton D. Baker, Clarence Darrow, John Barrymore and Gertrude Stein, who told him "a newspaperman is too immediate to be immediate...
...first fifty years of its life the glee club was an adjunct of the banjo and mandolin clubs. Professional coaches were hired to teach members to sing the "Stein Song" and "Down by the Stream Where I First Met Rebecca" and similar pieces...