The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth

Zusatztext “A comprehensive look at a gargantuan life.” — People   “Montville is refreshingly nonjudgmental about his superstar subject.  First-rate biography.” — Los Angeles Times Book Review   “Crisp analogies and astute observations! combined with a fluid writing style! are Leigh Montville’s strengths in this definitive biography of the Splendid Splinter.  Montville’s writing is rich and full! like a Ted Williams swing.  He connects solidly. A raw! no-holds-barred view of [Williams’s] life.” — Tampa Tribune   “An engaging! fascinating read.” — San Diego Tribune “ Ted Williams is not only a first-rate sports biography! but also a first-rate biography! period.” — Baltimore Sun Informationen zum Autor Three-time  New York Times  bestselling author  Leigh Montville  is a former columnist at the  Boston Globe  and former senior writer at  Sports Illustrated . He is the author of  The Mysterious Montague ,  The Big Bam ,  Ted Williams ,  At the Altar of Speed ,  Manute , and  Why Not Us?  He lives in Boston. Klappentext National Bestseller He was the Sultan of Swat. The Caliph of Clout. The Wizard of Whack. The Bambino. And simply, to his teammates, the Big Bam. Babe Ruth was more than baseball's original superstar. For eighty-five years, he has remained the sport's reigning titan. He has been named Athlete of the Century . . . more than once. But who was this large, loud, enigmatic man? Why is so little known about his childhood, his private life, and his inner thoughts? In The Big Bam, Leigh Montville, whose recent New York Times bestselling biography of Ted Williams garnered glowing reviews and offered an exceptionally intimate look at Williams's life, brings his trademark touch to this groundbreaking, revelatory portrait of the Babe. From the award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller Ted Williams comes the thoroughly original, definitively ambitious, and exhilaratingly colorful biography of the largest legend ever to loom in baseball-and in the history of organized sports. Based on newly discovered documents and interviews-including pages from Ruth's personal scrapbooks -The Big Bam traces Ruth's life from his bleak childhood in Baltimore to his brash entrance into professional baseball, from Boston to New York and into the record books as the world's most explosive slugger and cultural luminary. Leseprobe Chapter One The little boy and the man get on the Wilkens Avenue trolley on the morning of June 13, 1902. It is a Friday. They are off on a trip of great dimensions. Details are important but do not seem to be available. There is so much we want to know. There is so much we never will. Is it really morning? Or maybe early afternoon? Probably not night. The man and the boy take seats in the second row. Or maybe they are all the way in the back. The boy is on the outside so he can see the streets of Baltimore pass. Or maybe he is on the inside. Maybe he is looking at his shoes. The jangle of nickels and pennies rolling through the conductor’s coin box is background noise. Wasn’t the coin box always background noise on a trolley? The ding-ding of the bell is heard when the trolley makes a stop. What is the weather? The Baltimore Sun predicted showers and cooler. Is it raining right now? Cool enough for a jacket? Don’t know. Can’t be sure. The man is sad or resolute or perhaps secretly happy. The boy is . . . does he even know where he is going? Is the packed little suitcase on the seat next to him a clue? Or is there no suitcase? He is dressed in the best clothes that he owns. Or are there no best clothes? The conversation is quiet, short sentences, the man’s mind lost somewhere in the business of the moment. Or perhaps there is no conversation, not a word. Or perhap...

Product details

• Authors: Leigh Montville
• Publisher: Anchor Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.05.2007
• EAN: 9780767919715
• ISBN: 978-0-7679-1971-5
• No. of pages: 416
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 210 mm x 23 mm
• Subject: Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Biographies, autobiographies