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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Ruth fascinates me for no other reason that he lived his life in such a way it would be a miracle for him to do anything, let alone play masterful baseball. His records took decades to break and they took a little help from steroids. Ruth was a complicated man with unbelievable talent.
I didn't love this book and I was annoyed the Montville took every chapter to remind me that Babe Ruth didn't really know his age. I got it, the first ten times you mentioned it. My memory is unbelievably good for at least 30 pages.
I didn't love this book and I was annoyed the Montville took every chapter to remind me that Babe Ruth didn't really know his age. I got it, the first ten times you mentioned it. My memory is unbelievably good for at least 30 pages.
The life of Babe Ruth was a perfect match for the Roaring 20's in which he found his stride: equal parts exciting but ultimately sad. I don't know that I've ever read a book about anyone who enjoyed life more than Babe Ruth, yet was so lost and alone at the end of the ride.
Following his humble beginnings, growing up in a Baltimore orphanage, he became a young man that was easy to root for. Although he knew his father, he never had a relationship with him until early adulthood, and it was fleeting even then. Baseball was his way out of obscurity. It was there that he found his passion, not only for sport, but for everything that sport made possible for him. His was a true rags to riches story and he became larger than the sport that gave him a chance for success.
With that in mind, it was easy for those around him, teammates and fans especially, to overlook his rambunctiousness and zeal for the city nights... to a point. It did cause some problems, though not on the playing field the next day.
It's hard to imagine a modern athlete dominating any sport the way that Babe Ruth was able to do in his prime. He was a pioneer of the home run and his legend lives on to this day.
This was a great read, although for the era and genre, I'd still put Jonathan Eig's "Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig" ahead of this one. I do wish that I had read both simultaneously, as many of the chapters in each book covered a single season, and it would have been more meaningful for both books to read about the same seasons at the same time from each work. Though Ruth's story is more legendary, Gehrig's story was more inspirational. Both are must-reads for baseball fans, and I always wonder if very many modern-day major leaguers even know who these men were.
I hope so.
Following his humble beginnings, growing up in a Baltimore orphanage, he became a young man that was easy to root for. Although he knew his father, he never had a relationship with him until early adulthood, and it was fleeting even then. Baseball was his way out of obscurity. It was there that he found his passion, not only for sport, but for everything that sport made possible for him. His was a true rags to riches story and he became larger than the sport that gave him a chance for success.
With that in mind, it was easy for those around him, teammates and fans especially, to overlook his rambunctiousness and zeal for the city nights... to a point. It did cause some problems, though not on the playing field the next day.
It's hard to imagine a modern athlete dominating any sport the way that Babe Ruth was able to do in his prime. He was a pioneer of the home run and his legend lives on to this day.
This was a great read, although for the era and genre, I'd still put Jonathan Eig's "Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig" ahead of this one. I do wish that I had read both simultaneously, as many of the chapters in each book covered a single season, and it would have been more meaningful for both books to read about the same seasons at the same time from each work. Though Ruth's story is more legendary, Gehrig's story was more inspirational. Both are must-reads for baseball fans, and I always wonder if very many modern-day major leaguers even know who these men were.
I hope so.
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
This might have happened, but it probably didn't... and this happened, but most say it probably wasn't true... and some say this happened but others say no way...
and that's this book summed up in a nutshell.
I gave up a little over halfway through and read his wikipedia page instead.
and that's this book summed up in a nutshell.
I gave up a little over halfway through and read his wikipedia page instead.
Read for the category of a biography of someone born in the 1800s.
I knew Babe Ruth was a massive celebrity, but I didn't really know the story of his life. And now I do. I guess that's the point of a biography, huh? But a theme of this book is that even a famous person is pretty much unknown. The celebrity of Ruth was created in news articles that embellished or completely fictionalized his activities. Almost nobody knew the truth, and very little of the reality of his life was recorded for posterity.
"This was the apogee in the age of new heroes. They were delivered to the front door now, these heroes, consumed like breakfast cereal. They weren't long-ago characters of mythology or simple words on paper; their voices could be heard on the radio, their pictures could be seen in the paper, in the news shorts at the theater. They were personal, exciting friends of every family. In 1927 A.D., America chewed up heroes, swallowed them whole."
I knew Babe Ruth was a massive celebrity, but I didn't really know the story of his life. And now I do. I guess that's the point of a biography, huh? But a theme of this book is that even a famous person is pretty much unknown. The celebrity of Ruth was created in news articles that embellished or completely fictionalized his activities. Almost nobody knew the truth, and very little of the reality of his life was recorded for posterity.
"This was the apogee in the age of new heroes. They were delivered to the front door now, these heroes, consumed like breakfast cereal. They weren't long-ago characters of mythology or simple words on paper; their voices could be heard on the radio, their pictures could be seen in the paper, in the news shorts at the theater. They were personal, exciting friends of every family. In 1927 A.D., America chewed up heroes, swallowed them whole."
Babe Ruth was really only good at one thing: baseball.
He spent his youth trying to find himself in an orphanage. He spent his baseball days partaking in the buffet of nightlife while booming towering homers in every ballpark his visited. He spent his days after baseball trying to stay relevant in the world of baseball.
He's admirable for one thing: he could kill a baseball.
And as a sports fan, that's what you want.
The mythical, Mt. Rushmore figures. The athlete who surpassed all the rest. The dominant force whose name struck awe in the minds of those who were lucky enough to be alive and know what it meant to have Babe Ruth come through your town on a "barnstorming" tour, showing off his mighty left-handed swing.
But Babe had more downfalls than most. He was a drunk. He was a cheater. He was, in many senses, a terrible father. He was rarely a decent teammate, never remembering a teammates' name. He wasn't always respectful of management or leadership. He gorged himself on the nightly vices offered him, never turning away a drink, a steak, or a woman. Off the field, he wasn't someone that anyone would strive to be.
But boy, could he obliterate a baseball.
And in a world of shock and awe, that's all anyone truly cared about.
Safe to say, Babe would do just fine in the 21st century.
He spent his youth trying to find himself in an orphanage. He spent his baseball days partaking in the buffet of nightlife while booming towering homers in every ballpark his visited. He spent his days after baseball trying to stay relevant in the world of baseball.
He's admirable for one thing: he could kill a baseball.
And as a sports fan, that's what you want.
The mythical, Mt. Rushmore figures. The athlete who surpassed all the rest. The dominant force whose name struck awe in the minds of those who were lucky enough to be alive and know what it meant to have Babe Ruth come through your town on a "barnstorming" tour, showing off his mighty left-handed swing.
But Babe had more downfalls than most. He was a drunk. He was a cheater. He was, in many senses, a terrible father. He was rarely a decent teammate, never remembering a teammates' name. He wasn't always respectful of management or leadership. He gorged himself on the nightly vices offered him, never turning away a drink, a steak, or a woman. Off the field, he wasn't someone that anyone would strive to be.
But boy, could he obliterate a baseball.
And in a world of shock and awe, that's all anyone truly cared about.
Safe to say, Babe would do just fine in the 21st century.