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Near the southwest corner of our house, a patch of dandelions has been growing and spreading over the last four years. Earlier this year, Sarah and I decided to spread some weed-and-feed on that area this fall. After reading Ted Steinberg’s new book, American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn, we changed our mind and the dandelions will get at least another year of life.Steinberg’s book is an entertaining and informative dissection of how Americans view and care for their lawns. As he points out early in the book, Americans spend more on lawn care every year than the GDP of Vietnam. Clearly, Americans care deeply about the health and appearance of their turf.

The ironic thing is that most people are, in fact, hurting their lawn when they slather it with fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides; water it often and deeply; and then mow it close to the ground. This unholy troika combines to leave turf in a precarious situation where the failure to pursue any one of those three operations practically guarantees some sort of health crisis for the lawn. Steinberg, numerous turf experts, and state and county extension officers will tell most anyone who listens that lawns need little to no applications of chemicals, much less water than they get, and that mowing a lawn to a height at least three inches high results in a much healthier, though less homogeneous, lawn.

Steinberg covers numerous topics in the book. He discusses just how it is that the lawn came to be such a staple of American life. He dissects the unfortunate intersection of lawn care and subdivision covenants. He dissects the impact that golf has had on lawns across America. The tools and substances that American use to care for our lawns do not escape Steinberg’s notice, either.

The popular 2-4-D herbicide, which conveniently kills broadleaf plants while leaving grasses untouched is a product of World War II. It was originally designed to be sprayed on the enemy’s food crops, which would then wither and die and help to force the opponent to surrender. The chemical may never have been used in that way, but plenty of American homeowners can attest to the chemical’s potency. Unfortunately, almost no studies have been done on the long-term effects of repeated exposure to the chemical. Of course, the industries responsible for producing, selling, and spreading 2-4-D vigorously deny that their pesticide could cause harm to humans. And yet, when I think about a chemical that was designed to defoliate the ground in order to make an enemy’s life more difficult, the first one that comes to mind is Agent Orange, and we all know the story behind that supposedly safe substance. 2-4-D may predate Agent Orange by several decades, but does that make it necessarily safer?

Since 2-4-D is the primary ingredient in weed-and-feed, I decided that I could learn to live with a a few dandelions. After all, Ira does like to eat them in the spring.

The lawn mower industry does not escape Steinberg’s notice in this book. The industry itself clearly does not have consumers’ interests anywhere near their hearts. Conveniently enough, Congress has been convinced (bribed) of the exact opposite. In fact, thousands of people lose fingers, toes, and sometimes their lives every year due to design and safety flaws present in both riding and push mowers. For isntance, one is 50 percent more likely to be injured or die while operating a riding mower than while operating a push mower. Most of this increased risk is due to the fact that there is no government standard at the state or Federal level that must be met by a riding mower before it can be sold to the public. Instead, there are some reasonably loose voluntary standards created by the industry that, conveniently enough, are not difficult or expensive to achieve.

American Green is an excellent book that everyone who cares for a lawn should read. You may not necessarily agree with everything Steinberg says (his section on the dangers of leaf blowers was a real reach), but you have to acknowledge the work that went in to the creation of this highly-footnoted, yet entertaining work.

By Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Columnist | September 20, 2006

There are unlikely success stories in baseball this year, and the Detroit Tigers would rank near the top of the list. But what about the Minnesota Twins? How many of us saw this coming? Yet again.
When will we learn? The Twins have a system. The fundamentals apply. They cultivate pitchers who throw strikes and fielders who catch the ball. They get runners on base, move them over, and drive them home. They play in the image of the people who live in the Twin Cities. They are honest and hard-working and they give you a lot for your money.

And they are going to the playoffs again with a payroll ($63 million going into the season) approximately half the size of the team they beat at Fenway Park last night.

Amazing. It is Sept. 20, and the Red Sox have been done for more than three weeks while the Twins are winning with rookie pitchers and talented faces with no names.

OK, so maybe you’d recognize Torii Hunter, Joe Mauer, and/or Johan Santana, but you could take the rest of the Twins, line ‘em up shoulder-to-shoulder in Quincy Market and challenge Hub pedestrians to identify them.

Hmmm. Let’s guess. The New England Revolution? The Dropkick Murphys? The Sons of Sam Horn?

No. These are the Minnesota Twins, owners of a 64-28 record since June 7, and a team nobody wants to face in October — particularly in a five-game series, which could mean facing Santana twice and playing two games in the pinball arcade known as the Metrodome. The Twins are 50-24 at home this year, including a 3-0 record vs. your Boston Red Sox. Counting spring training, the Twins are 8-1 overall against your Red Sox. Boston’s lone victory was a Grapefruit League contest, which was won only after the Twins had clinched the coveted Mayor’s Cup.

It’s startling to examine how the fortunes of these two teams have changed after the Sox arrived in the Twin Cities June 12. The Red Sox were a first-place team back then and no one in New England dared make any plans for October. Surely the Sons of Terry Francona were bound for their four straight playoff autumn. The Twins, meanwhile, were reeling, dumping players, and dodging the barbs and arrows of local fans and media. The big story in the Twin Cities was the announcement that the Minnesota Wild had hired some guy named Chris Snow.

Minnesota’s three-game sweep of the Sox triggered a four-month surge, and last night the Twins pulled within a half-game of the Tigers (even in the loss column). They lead the White Sox by 4 1/2 (five in the loss column) in the wild card chase. Detroit lost at Chicago, 7-0.

Citing the June sweep of the Sox, Minnesota GM Terry Ryan said, “That’s about the time everything started to fall into place, and we’ve been on a roll ever since."

Ryan is sort of the anti-Theo Epstein. He’s bald, he’s managed to stay out of the limelight, and he’s been on something of a hot streak when it comes to deal-making since giving up a tad early on a young David Ortiz after the 2002 season.

Originally brought into baseball by Oriole savant Frank Cashen, Ryan is the man who acquired closer Joe Nathan, starter Francisco Liriano, and starter Boof Bonser (young Mr. Bonser legally changed his name from John to Boof) for A.J. Pierzynski before the 2004 season. Ryan also got switch-hitting third baseman Nick Punto and pitcher Carlos Silva for the immortal Eric Milton.

“We like to have our guys play defense, we like to have our pitchers throw the ball over the plate, and we like guys with character," said Ryan. “I’m not sure I’d call it a `Twins way,’ but I think we stress those things as much as anybody. We’re certainly better than we were in April and May. Now we have more speed, range, and athleticism, and we don’t give up many outs."

Santana is going to win the Cy Young Award, but Minnesota lost Liriano last week when the 22-year-old lefthander reinjured his pitching elbow against Oakland. Liriano is done for the year, and Brad Radke (broken shoulder) most likely is, too. That leaves two rookies (Matt Garza, who started last night, and Bonser, who starts tonight) in the rotation — plus Scott Baker, who came into this season with nine big league starts under his belt.

“We know that’s going to be the way it is for us the rest of the way," said manager Ron Gardenhire, a direct descendant of Tom Kelly (a fundamental extremist who won World Series with the Twins in 1987 and ’91). “But we’ve got our sights set on winning the division."

Dennis Eckersley, who toiled in the AL West when the Twins were division rivals, remembered, “We used to say, `These guys play nine innings.’ They’d play so hard. And that’s how they play now."

It’s not just smoke and mirrors. The Twins came to Boston ranked first in the American League in hitting, second in pitching, and second in fielding. Justin Morneau and Mauer are legitimate MVP candidates (they’re also roommates who commute to work from Mauer’s house). The bullpen’s pretty good, too. Nathan has 33 saves and the Twins are 68-1 leading after seven, 76-0 leading after eight.

Oh, and they don’t have any Mannys being Manny, either. There were no fewer than 20 Twins on the Fenway lawn at 2 p.m. yesterday, and not one player was on the bus when it left the team hotel for the ballpark at 4 p.m. Everybody was already at the park.

“This organization is built around guys who work hard and do the little things," said backup catcher Mike Redmond. “We play hard, grind it out, and come in under the radar."

So there’s some strange symmetry for this three-game set. You’ve got a team bound for the playoffs — flying under the radar — against a team that’s been in free-fall since Labor Day. And after tomorrow night they won’t meet again until next spring, when they resume the joust for the coveted Mayor’s Cup.

Erik Larson’s latest book, The Devil In The White City is an attempt to tell two true, differing, but linked, stories in one book.The first, and more interesting, story is that of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition which was held in Chicago. The Exposition, also known as the Fair, was the United States’ answer to the previous World’s Fair held in 1889. Given the widely acknowledged success of the Paris Fair, the Chicago Fair had to be a stunning success in nearly all areas. And, since most of the money was being fronted by local businessmen, it also had to turn a profit.

It took time for the nation to settle on a site for the fair and the selection process didn’t finish until 1890 which gave the city just a bit over two years to transform a wind-swept grassland on the shores of Lake Michigan into the most compelling wonderland the world had ever seen. This seemingly impossible task was assigned to the architecture firm Burnham & Root, a Chicago firm of no small renown. Burnham & Root, in turn, recruited many of the top architects of the day to their cause. In addition, they managed to persuade noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead to design the grounds for the Exposition.

The trials and tribulations faced by the nation, the architects, the contractors, and the citizens of Chicago to make the Fair come to life were numerous and seemingly intractable, in many instances. And yet, through sheer force of will, the Exposition was created and judged a wild success by all who attended it and many who didn’t.

The second story that Larson tells is that of Dr. H. H. Holmes, an alias used a noted serial killer who operated out of Chicago during the years leading up to and the Exposition and during the Fair itself. Holmes killed an unknown number of people, but the guesses range from a figure in the low twenties to 200 or more. Holmes was a particularly deranged individual, but not much is known about him. Larson’s strict adherence to information gleaned from primary sources is laudable, but in telling the story of Holmes, it hurts him. Since so little is known about Holmes, his victims, his motivations, and his methods, the story of Holmes seems like so much gratuitous fluff shoe horned into the book to sell copies. Yes, Holmes was evil, but his connection to the Fair is tenuous at best.

The story of the Fair, a gleaming white city lost forever into the mists of time and memory, is far more compelling than that of a sad little sociopath. The Devil In The White City suffers from the inclusion of the second with the first. While the story of Holmes could not be told without the inclusion of the Fair, the Exposition itself was magnificent enough to stand on its own without the stain caused by the actions of one, unrelated, individual.

Now that the first official game of the 2006 Minnesota Vikings is in the books, here are my first impressions of the 2006 team.

• Why do we continue signing free agents on offense from the Baltimore Ravens?!? The Ravens are, year after year, among the worst teams in the league on the offensive side of the ball. Yes, the scheme itself may be broken, but it isn’t the offensive playbooks on the field, it’s the players. Wasn’t the team’s signing of Travis “Do Nothing” Taylor last year enough of a hint? Apparently not, because this year we’ve also got Chester “Who?” Taylor cluttering up the roster. Here’s a novel though: let’s try signing some of the defensive players from the Ravens; that’s the side of the ball where they excel.
• Keep Chester Taylor’s first game in perspective. Yes, he rushed for 88 yards, but he did that on 31 carries. That’s not even three yards per carry. Anything less than four yards per carry is considered below average in the NFL; below three yards per carry will get you booted off most teams during the pre-season. In addition, he did that while running behind a line that has three players earning more than $100 million over the course of their contracts.
• Troy Williamson is probably not the answer at wide receiver. He wasn’t the answer last year and he doesn’t look like the answer this year.
• Jermaine Wiggins will have a huge year. After all, who else will Johnson have to catch his passes? Marcus Robinson? Travis Taylor? One of the ball boys?
• It’s nice to see that the new regime hasn’t completely thrown out the worst aspects of the previous two regimes. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if the Vikes stopped throwing seven yard passes on third-and-twelves.
• Chris Kluwe has not recovered from the injury he sustained last year. Pre-injury, he was booming the ball downfield. This year, his punts are below league average, at best.
• Last year in Green Bay, Longwell blamed many of his struggles on problems created by his holder. It looks like he can trot out many of those same quotes again this year in Minnesota.
• Childress may be creating a culture of accountability, but the only culture I saw on Monday was on PBS. What sort of accountability sanctions an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty immediately after a big play. The result of that penalty? Washington has the ball on the seven yard line with a first down. The very next play they score. At one point in the first half, the Vikings had already been penalized six times for forty-two yards while the ‘Skins hadn’t been penalized once. Does a culture of accountability reach up into the upper levels of the coaching staff?
• Bryant McKinnie for $48 million?!? Why just give me the money? At least I won’t pretend that I can play tackle in the NFL.
• At this point, the Vikes just aren’t a very compelling story when set against the pennant/wild card race currently being run by the Twins, Tigers, and White Sox.

Danny Wallace, the founder of the Join Me movement, found himself at a juncture in his life. He could continue living his life the way he had been for quite some time, staying in at night and watching television. Or, he could embrace the word Yes, and see where it could take him. Yes Man is the story of just where Yes took him.Wallace makes a pact with himself to say “Yes” to most anything for a year. This doesn’t include obvious criminal questions like, “Will you rob that back over there?” or incredibly stupid questions like, “Will you give me all your money?” However, it does include questions like, “Would you like to come to my party on Thursday?” even if said party is three hours from his home and will most likely be populated with incredibly boring people. If you ask him if he’d like to go out for a curry on a rainy Friday night when he’d much rather be at home on the sofa, he’d say “Yes.”

This book explores both the power of Yes to take us where we haven’t gone before, but also the power of No to keep from going to those same places. Wallace discovers that Yes is a powerful word that can create change in his life whether or not he seeks it. Many of the changes in Wallace’s life are both positive, and long-lasting. While using Yes so indiscriminately Wallace’s personal and professional lives both take a turn towards the unexpected yet positive.

In the hands of a lesser author, this story would not have been nearly so amusing and interesting. Fortunately, Wallace is a gifted writer with a sharp sense of humor and a keen eye. If nothing else, the stories of his missteps and battles with a Nemesis will surely cause one to laugh out loud more than once over the course of the book.

Yes Man isn’t likely to make the anyone’s list of life-changing books. Nor is it likely to make any lists of great literature. However, it is an interesting, insightful, and amusing look at the choices that we all make everyday using the words “Yes” and “No”.