The Last Boy

Award-winning sports writer Jane Leavy follows her New York Times runaway bestseller Sandy Koufax with the acclaimed, definitive sports biography of baseball icon Mickey Mantle. The legendary Hall-of-Fame outfielder was a national hero for a generation of baseball fans in mid-century America, a god in pinstripes during his record-setting career with the New York Yankees. But public revelations of alcoholism, infidelity, and family strife badly tarnished the ballplayer’s reputation in his latter years. In The Last Boy, Leavy plumbs the depths of this complex and flawed American hero, using hundreds of interviews and her own memories of the man to show why The Mick remains the most beloved and misunderstood Yankee slugger of all time. This masterful work of baseball history reveals: Definitive Baseball Biography: Go beyond the stats to uncover the complex man who defined a generation, from his hardscrabble Oklahoma childhood to the heights of fame in New York. The Man Behind the Myth: Through hundreds of interviews with family, friends, and teammates, Leavy separates fact from fable to explore the private struggles with alcohol and family that defined his later years. The Golden Age of the Yankees: Relive the glory days of a legendary dynasty through the eyes of its biggest star, from record-setting World Series moments to the intense clubhouse dynamics with icons like Joe DiMaggio and Casey Stengel. An American Icon: A powerful exploration of celebrity and heroism in mid-century America, this biography reveals why The Mick remains a potent and uniquely American figure.