The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle And The End Of America's Childhood (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
Fantastic biography of arguably the most iconic baseball player of the 1950s and early 60s. Leavy's story structure seems unconventional at first, introducing different sections of the book with excerpts from a 1983 article she wrote on Mantle in her early days as a sports reporter. She focuses on key dates in Mantle's life, but does not limit her storytelling to these specific events. Rather she highlights these milestones and uses them to branch off into the totality of Mantle's life in a more-or-less sequential format.The baseball stories are fantastic. I was particularly enthralled with the chapter on Mantle's legendary 565-foot home run out of Washington's Griffith Stadium, which features a very thorough investigation of the actual flight of the ball, how it was found, and how it was spun by the Yankees' PR machine. This section of the book is exceptional.The final section of the book, dealing with Mantle's eventual decision to get sober and push aside a lifetime of alcoholism and other self-destructive behavior, is extremely touching. Leavy does an outstanding job of conveying Mantle's self-transformation, and I found it impossible to walk away from the book without feeling great sympathy for Mantle and his family. After more than 60 years of killing himself he finally got the help he needed, and within a year he was dead. "The good Mick" was only allowed to walk the Earth for a short bit of time, but the testimony gathered by Leavy makes it clear that his transformation left an indelible mark on the friends and family he left behind.Highly recommended. I now have every intention of seeking out Leavy's biography on Sandy Koufax. First I felt as if this book was way to long. It had a lot of things that often had nothing to do with Mickey. I didn't really feel as if it gave the reader any idea of his accomplishments as a player. If you really want to learn about The Mick I suggest not reading this book. I read the whole thing and didn't learn all that much about him. It seems well researched, but there's no flow or reasoning behind half of the things that are included.
What do You think about The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle And The End Of America's Childhood (2010)?
Very good baseball novel and, of course, an ultimately sad story. But, this lady can write.
—qqhisoka
An interesting book. He lived a sad life, but is remembered as a hero by so many people.
—smh0203
For those who love baseball, an absorbing life review of one of it's greatest players.
—honorsman
Kind of disjointed but an interesting read nonetheless.
—robiian
