Reviews

The apple fell far from the tree in Baltimore's Offit family, where son Sidney became a college teacher, author and TV commentator, quite unlike his father‘a bookie. This affectionate reminiscence of Barney (``Buckley'' or ``Buck''), who died in 1992 at age 96, portrays a man ``relentlessly realistic, devoid of self-pity, unsentimental,'' tough enough to beat up Mafia goons and shrewd enough to pay for a way out of his trial for breaking gambling laws, something that still seems to bother his son. Although their son seems to be trying to put some moral distance between himself and his parents, both Buck and wife Lily, who backed his career choice to the hilt, appear to have been wonderful people. This slender volume with large type and few lines per page resembles an overblown magazine article. (June)