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Title details for The Last Hero by Howard Bryant - Wait list

The Last Hero

A Life of Henry Aaron

by Howard Bryant
Dominic Hoffman
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In the thirty-four years since his retirement, Henry Aaron’s reputation has only grown in magnitude: he broke existing records (rbis, total bases, extra-base hits) and set new ones (hitting at least thirty home runs per season fifteen times, becoming the first player in history to hammer five hundred home runs and three thousand hits). But his influence extends beyond statistics, and at long last here is the first definitive biography of one of baseball’s immortal figures.
 
Based on meticulous research and interviews with former teammates, family, two former presidents, and Aaron himself, The Last Hero chronicles Aaron’s childhood in segregated Alabama, his brief stardom in the Negro Leagues, his complicated relationship with celebrity, and his historic rivalry with Willie Mays—all culminating in the defining event of his life: his shattering of Babe Ruth’s all-time home-run record.
 
Bryant also examines Aaron’s more complex second act: his quest to become an important voice beyond the ball field when his playing days had ended, his rediscovery by a public disillusioned with today’s tainted heroes, and his disappointment that his career home-run record was finally broken by Barry Bonds during the steroid era, baseball’s greatest scandal.
 
Bryant reveals how Aaron navigated the upheavals of his time—fighting against racism while at the same time benefiting from racial progress—and how he achieved his goal of continuing Jackie Robinson’s mission to obtain full equality for African-Americans, both in baseball and society, while he lived uncomfortably in the public spotlight. Eloquently written, detailed and penetrating, this is a revelatory portrait of a complicated, private man who through sports became an enduring American icon.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 11, 2010

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780307736918
      • File size: 628871 KB
      • Duration: 21:50:08

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      In an era when steroids have made baseball home-run records suspect, Hank Aaron, who originally broke Babe Ruth's record in 1974, stands above the fray. He was a slugger who didn't play the hero's role easily, and for that he was called cold and aloof. This biography aims to set the record straight. Narrator Dominic Hoffman's voice almost exactly matches the tone and intent of the book. He is authoritative, respectful of his subject, and interesting without being flamboyant or showy. There are times when Hoffman could show more emotion, and there are a few mispronunciations, but, overall, those looking to lose themselves in a terrific book about human drama, history, and baseball will be richly rewarded. R.I.G. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 15, 2010
      This biography of the African-American baseball great doesn't amount to the epic it wants to be. ESPN reporter Bryant (Juicing the Game
      ) portrays Aaron's journey from Jim Crow Alabama to superstardom with the Milwaukee, then Atlanta Braves during the 1950s, '60s, and '70s as both a sports saga and a struggle against racism. (The Braves' spring training facilities stayed segregated into the 1960s, and Aaron's 1974 breaking of Babe Ruth's home run record was marred by racist death threats.) But while the author takes very seriously the sports commentator's traditional task of investing trivia with near-biblical portentousness—“And thus it came to pass that Henry Aaron became the first black majority owner of the first BMW franchise in the country”—he never quite succeeds at establishing Aaron's heroic stature. The slugger comes off as a superlatively skillful but unspectacular player whose civil rights activism is cautious and muted (though more outspoken later when he became a Braves executive). Throughout, he's a wary, reticent man given to rancor over slights, and the narrative can't help wandering toward more charismatic figures like Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson. Mightily as he swings, Bryant fails to knock Aaron's story out of the park. Photos.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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