The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood
By Jane Leavy
You can view this book's Amazon detail page here.
Wow, this was a depressing book. I thought I was going to read a book filled with statistics and anecdotes about one of the greatest baseball players of all time and I ended up having to slog (and it was a grind) through the story of a public figure that abused himself emotionally and physically his entire life. The target reader of this book is more of a psychoanalyst than a baseball fan.
The author does divert from the painful drinking, womanizing and child neglect once in a while to cover the amazing stats and records held by Mantle and revisits the question of Mantle vs Mays frequently throughout the book, although mostly to reflect on Mantle’s emotional or financial state at the time.
It is thoroughly amazing to me (and this holds true for Babe Ruth as well) how a truly great athlete can drink and stay out all night long, then play baseball the next day scoring home runs and making great defensive plays. It makes any fan wonder just how incredible these guys could have been with a more sane lifestyle.
If you’re looking for a book about baseball or how one of it’s great players performed, rich with facts, figures and stats – this is not the book for you. The story isn’t even enjoyable for a baseball fan. Bottom line – unless you are a huge Mickey Mantle fan or are a baseball fan who has already read every other book on the sport, don’t waste your time here.
- Started reading:
- 25th December 2010
- Finished reading:
- 22nd January 2011