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Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | 921 MANTLE | Searching... Unknown |
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Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
A poignant tribute to Mickey Mantle, the famed Yankee star who died of cancer last summer at age 64 following a failed liver transplant, this reminiscence presents alternating chapters by his widow and three of his sons; the fourth, 36-year-old Billy, died in 1994. The couple, both from the same small Oklahoma town, were married in 1951 and moved to New York City, a milieu that overwhelmed them. In due course they both developed serious drinking problems. The ballplayer was almost always on the road, either playing baseball or starring on the lecture circuit. He became an open womanizer, in two instances engaging in long-term affairs his wife was aware of. As the Mantle sons grew up, they became their father's drinking partners. All of them developed alcohol and/or drug addictions and were treated at the Betty Ford Clinic. Mickey is quoted here as saying he was a poor husband and father, an assessment readers will consider accurate, but his family expresses only love for him and recalls the qualities that endeared him to them. Photos not seen by PW. $85,000 ad/promo; simultaneous HarperAudio; author tour. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
What makes this already familiar account of drunkenness, infidelity, and remorse so startling is that it's by Mantle and members of his family. It also has some moving details of The Mick's courageous last days. With the aid of Herskowitz (The Quarterbacks, 1990), family members, including Mantle, recount, in alternating chapters, his life against the grim backdrop of their bouts with alcoholism. Mantle's contribution, written after he went to the Betty Ford Center in 1994 (as had his wife and three of their sons before him), discusses his career, his drinking, his marriage, and his regret at being, in his words, a lousy father. ``My view of the world,'' writes Mantle, ``was not much wider than the strike zone.'' He felt useless after retiring in 1969 from his illustrious career with the New York Yankees and was never comfortable with his fame. He became ``drinking buddies'' with his sons--a relationship he would regret as each of them slipped into a cycle of drunkenness and scrapes with the law. The most interesting recollections are those of Mantle's wife Merlyn, who recalls dating the young, handsome star, his enduring relationship with his beloved father, Mutt, and his innocent courtship of her (Mickey hadn't started drinking; they often went to soda fountains on their dates), and his glory years with the Yankees. Merlyn, David, and Danny each address the controversy surrounding Mantle's liver transplant, arguing that he did not receive special treatment because of his stature, that his condition was much worse than they'd revealed to the media. All agree that one beneficial effect of the publicity was that ``millions . . . were now aware of the organ donor program'' sponsored by the Mickey Mantle Foundation. A hard, sad tale, one which removes the varnish from an American legend and paints him in all-too-human colors. (16 pages photos) (Author tour)
Booklist Review
It only looked like the American Dream. When Commerce, Oklahoma, native Mickey Mantle, heir apparent to Joe DiMaggio, arrived in New York in 1951, Yankee manager Casey Stengel cautioned the press, "Go easy on the kid. He's never seen concrete." The press took Casey's advice, but the Mick didn't. Beginning with an introduction written by Mantle shortly before his death in 1995 and including contributions from Mantle's wife, Merlyn, and his three living sons, this memoir tells the whole sad story of an American hero's perpetual adolescence and the devastating effects it had on his family. Mickey's alcoholism--barely manageable in his playing years, out of control after--extended eventually to the entire family: Mick, Merlyn, and all four sons did time at the Betty Ford Center. We hear all the grisly details about the boozing and brawling and womanizing first from a contrite Mick and then from an ironic Merlyn and the shell-shocked boys. Somehow, though, this account never grates like a whiny talk-show confessional--Oprah Does the Mantles. What saves it is the stereotype-shattering voice of Merlyn, whose weary irony encompasses both love and anger. Her backstage voiceover, set against the dying Mick's genuine bafflement at how he could have screwed up something that looked so good, should echo in the ears of every American sports star. (Reviewed Sept. 1, 1996)0060183632Bill Ott
Library Journal Review
Mickey Mantle's wife and three sons recount the life and death of an American hero. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
