Bob Greene is hands down the best columnist working in America, and one of the only men I have sometimes wished I could step into his life. These are a collection of his earlier columns; all are interesting, some are fascinating, a handful are whimsically humorous and a few are the stuff to sting the eyes. Greene talks with people, famous and unknown, and writes about them, uncannily anticipating questions and reactions the reader would have. Of particular note and poignancy are "Thirty-five Years", "Baseball and the Facts of Life", "We Interrupt This Program...", "Michael Testifies", "Ira", "Twenty-Seven-Twenty-Two", "Fatal", "He Was No Bum" and "Bait". ( )