Mantle The best there ever was

Review by Choice Review

This book completes the author's trilogy on Mickey Mantle. It is filled with accounts by many people associated with "The Mick," and Castro exploits the book's subtitle throughout its 20 chapters, divided into three parts: "The Best There Was," "The Best There Is," and "The Best There Ever Will Be." In the epilogue, Castro continues making his case for Mantle being the best ballplayer ever. He recalls that in his last conversation with Merlyn Mantle, Mickey's widow, as they explored Mantle's mystique, they had remembered a 1981 Rolling Stone magazine cover of the late Jim Morrison (lead singer of the rock band The Doors), which proclaimed: "He's hot, he's sexy, and he's dead." Merlyn commented: "Oh, dear lord ... You know, Mickey being the way he was and that crazy sense of humor of his, that's something he would have loved on his gravestone" (p. 226). This book brings Mantle to life in all his complicated facets. From his greatness as an athlete and ballplayer--permanently marked by his injury in the 1951 World Series--to his raucous lifestyle in New York and later in Texas, Castro brings readers the highs and lows of Mantle's life, creating an intimate portrait and a fascinating look at an American hero. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Donald K. McKim, formerly, Memphis Theological Seminary

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

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Review by Booklist Review

Castro, a veteran journalist, has written extensively on baseball icon Mickey Mantle, and, through the years, he conducted hundreds of interviews with Mantle, his teammates, managers, family, and friends. This new biography is the product of 50 years of those interviews, including several with Mantle's wife, Merlyn, that Castro couldn't use until after her death in 2009. It's an extraordinary effort that can be read not only as a biography of a baseball legend but also as a chronicle of the dark side of fame. For baseball fans, the basic outline of Mantle's life is well known: the son of an overbearing father, Mantle became the foundation of the New York Yankees' incredible success from the early fifties through the mid-sixties. As good as he was, he suffered debilitating injuries that diminished his abilities, and his adult life, as Castro details, was also troubled by alcoholism, womanizing, the ongoing ramifications of his relationship with his father, and the sexual abuse he suffered as a child by a much older half-sister and her friends. Castro was Mantle's friend, and he uses that relationship to bring an intimacy to the book. Mantle's life story has been told many times, but it's never received as loving a treatment as this one.--Wes Lukowsky Copyright 2019 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Journalist Castro (Mickey Mantle: American Prodigal) expertly reveals the flawed yet glorious life of New York Yankee Mickey Mantle (1931-1995), one of baseball's greatest switch hitters. The shy Oklahoma country boy, raised by a domineering father, joined the Yankees in 1951, replacing an aging Joe DiMaggio. Castro chronicles the psychological wounds of Mantle's childhood (his grandmother whipped him, and he wet the bed until age 16) and a traumatic molestation by his half-sister, all of which, Castro argues, contributed to his womanizing and his troubled relationship with his wife, Merlyn Johnson. The writer also delves into Mantle's alcoholism, which led to cirrhosis later in life, and its effects on his family (Merlyn and three of their four sons were also treated for alcoholism). Nevertheless, by 1968-Mantle's last year before retiring as a Yankee-he had been a 20-time All Star, a seven-time World Series champion, and recipient of three MVP awards: "I may not have been the best goddamned ballplayer of all time, but if I wasn't, I'd like to see who was," he once said. Informative and entertaining, Castro's biography is certain to please Yankee and Mantle fans alike. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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