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davygibbs's review
5.0
I was never particularly drawn to Mickey Mantle personally, but it's hard to argue what he means to the game. More than any other player of the Boomer era, he represents the sport -- there is something so undeniably American about his life and personality (in both the good and the regrettable ways). That's the reason I thought reading a biography of him might scratch the spring baseball itch this year and a little bit of research brought me to this title -- if not the consensus "best Mantle bio" then awfully close to it. And it's hard to argue. The Last Boy is certainly one of the very best baseball books I've ever read -- in the conversation for best, period -- one of the best biographies I've ever read too. Leavy writes with passion, talent, and nostalgia, and wide open eyes. It's hard to imagine the Mick's story being done more justice than it is here. Highly recommended.
citizen_noir's review
4.0
One of my favorite books as young boy was a biography about Mickey Mantle. I checked it out of the little town library we used to go to in Bridgewater, CT, and became utterly obsessed with the story, reading and re-reading it 15 times. I was always a Yankees fan growing up, but Mantle's final game was in 1968, when I was all of one-year-old, so it's not as if I ever saw him play. Still, Mantle's story transfixed me. Now after reading Jane Leavy's marvelous biography, THE LAST BOY: MICKEY MANTLE AND THE END OF AMERICA'S CHILDHOOD, I realize that what captivated me then about Mantle still captivates me today: the "What if?" aspect to his incredible life.
What if Mantle hadn't grown up the son of a demanding coal miner who decided early on that his son would be a baseball player? What if Mantle hadn't come from a legacy of men who died far too young? What if Mantle hadn't blown out his knee during the World Series in just his rookie year? What if Mantle hadn't been repeatedly sexually abused by a half-sister and a boy in the neighborhood while growing up? What if Mantle hadn't been a raging alcoholic through his adult life? What if Mantle hadn't treated women so poorly?
In the biography I read as a boy, the book only covered the first three aspects of the "What if?" to Mantle's story - a demanding and somewhat unloving father, a fatalism about how short he would live, and a terrible knee injury that caused him to play in pain through his entire career. Thankfully, Jane Leavy has provided the full story of Mantle - adding the non-heroic details of alcoholism, sexual abuse, and womanizing - that create a real picture of him.
Make no mistake, Leavy was a huge fan of Mantle's while growing up and remains one to this day. At times she seems reluctant to share these non-heroic details of her childhood hero. Many of these personal details come out when she recounts a weekend she spent with Mantle at a charity golf event in 1983 where she'd gone to interview him for a newspaper article. At the event, Leavy witnesses the good and bad of Mantle: from his generosity when he spots her shivering in the cold and gets her a sweater, to his heavy drinking, and eventually to his drunken pass at her late one evening, resulting in him falling asleep on her lap. As she recounts early on in the book:
In spite of all of these "What ifs?" Mantle had one of the most storied careers in Major League Baseball history. Perhaps no other player (including during the steroid era) has ever displayed the exceptional combination of power and speed. Before his knee injury, he was the fastest player ever recorded from home to first base. As a switch hitter, he slugged the ball so far it spawned the term "tape measure" home run.
Leavy is a remarkable journalist; her list of interviews for the Mantle book has to be in the hundreds of people, and she diligently tracks down the truth behind many famous Mantle moments. Leavy is coming out with a biography of Babe Ruth later this year. I'll be sure to reserve it as soon as DCPL lists it.
What if Mantle hadn't grown up the son of a demanding coal miner who decided early on that his son would be a baseball player? What if Mantle hadn't come from a legacy of men who died far too young? What if Mantle hadn't blown out his knee during the World Series in just his rookie year? What if Mantle hadn't been repeatedly sexually abused by a half-sister and a boy in the neighborhood while growing up? What if Mantle hadn't been a raging alcoholic through his adult life? What if Mantle hadn't treated women so poorly?
In the biography I read as a boy, the book only covered the first three aspects of the "What if?" to Mantle's story - a demanding and somewhat unloving father, a fatalism about how short he would live, and a terrible knee injury that caused him to play in pain through his entire career. Thankfully, Jane Leavy has provided the full story of Mantle - adding the non-heroic details of alcoholism, sexual abuse, and womanizing - that create a real picture of him.
Make no mistake, Leavy was a huge fan of Mantle's while growing up and remains one to this day. At times she seems reluctant to share these non-heroic details of her childhood hero. Many of these personal details come out when she recounts a weekend she spent with Mantle at a charity golf event in 1983 where she'd gone to interview him for a newspaper article. At the event, Leavy witnesses the good and bad of Mantle: from his generosity when he spots her shivering in the cold and gets her a sweater, to his heavy drinking, and eventually to his drunken pass at her late one evening, resulting in him falling asleep on her lap. As she recounts early on in the book:
I saw the best and worst of The Mick during the weekend I spent with him in Atlantic City but I wrote little of the latter in the piece that appeared in The Washington Post. In 1983, it would have been a firing offense to write what had really happened. Today it would be a firing offense not to write it - one measure of how much the landscape of public discourse has changed.
In spite of all of these "What ifs?" Mantle had one of the most storied careers in Major League Baseball history. Perhaps no other player (including during the steroid era) has ever displayed the exceptional combination of power and speed. Before his knee injury, he was the fastest player ever recorded from home to first base. As a switch hitter, he slugged the ball so far it spawned the term "tape measure" home run.
Leavy is a remarkable journalist; her list of interviews for the Mantle book has to be in the hundreds of people, and she diligently tracks down the truth behind many famous Mantle moments. Leavy is coming out with a biography of Babe Ruth later this year. I'll be sure to reserve it as soon as DCPL lists it.
jpbooks13's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
1.0
One of the worst books I’ve ever read. It’s pure Mantle hagiography posing as biography. Do not recommend. The title as makes no sense, and assumes that Mantle represents a fundamental era in the US, at a time when many Americans have never really even heard of him.
lgiegerich's review
4.0
Apparently this book tarnished my mother's probably completely idealized view of her childhood crush/hero. However, i thought it made me like him more. Sure it outlines his problems, and it doesn't shy away from showing the Mick's flaws. But it also emphasizes the odds he played against, and the redemption he sought later in life. Not to mention, it cemented my dislike of fuckin' joe dimaggio.
disasterchick's review
4.0
Mickey Mantle is a legend. He is even mentioned in Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire. This books doesn’t have the stats that I know some baseball fans are looking for. This seems to have more of the gossip or sensationalism that many do look for in biographies. It does go into the womanizing and the fact he even hit on the author. She does have a lot of research and even has an explanation for his rebellious behavior, alcoholism, and womanizing tendencies. Most of all it shows a legend is human. He was deeply flawed but had moments of being very kind and generous.
How I got this book: I saw Billy Crystal’s 61* and wanted to read more on Mantle. This one had been mentioned on IMDB in the trivia section of the movie and was available through my library.
How I got this book: I saw Billy Crystal’s 61* and wanted to read more on Mantle. This one had been mentioned on IMDB in the trivia section of the movie and was available through my library.
zzazazz's review
5.0
This is the second great baseball biography I have read by Jane Leavy. The first was her biography of Sandy Koufax.
Rather than tell a traditional biography Leavy decided to focus on twenty days in Mantle's life and use those days as way to give us a meandering and thematic look at his life. This is effective because we already know so much about Mickey. What she seems to be shooting for here is more of an understanding of Mickey Mantle the person. And it works. I already knew the numbers and the achievements and the mystique. Now I feel I know a lot more about the man.
Rather than tell a traditional biography Leavy decided to focus on twenty days in Mantle's life and use those days as way to give us a meandering and thematic look at his life. This is effective because we already know so much about Mickey. What she seems to be shooting for here is more of an understanding of Mickey Mantle the person. And it works. I already knew the numbers and the achievements and the mystique. Now I feel I know a lot more about the man.
ejbookbroad's review
3.0
We listened to the audiobook in the car. I missed bits here and there, but for a person generally not interested in sports, I still found this to be engaging and really heartbreaking at times. Bonus points for the narrator who sounded like Ted Danson.