The Last Boy

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The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood
The Last Boy -- Mickey Mantle.jpg
Author Jane Leavy
LanguageEnglish
Subject Mickey Mantle
Genre
Publisher HarperCollins
Publication date
2010 (2010)
Publication placeUnited States
ISBN 978-0-06-088352-2

The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood is a non-fiction book by sportswriter Jane Leavy. Published by HarperCollins in 2010, the book chronciles the personal struggles of Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle, who played his entire career with the New York Yankees, including his struggle with coming to terms with his stardom and his alcoholism as well as its effect on his career and family.

Contents

The book was highly received and became a New York Times best-seller. It was nominated for the CASEY Award and the Seymour Medal for the best baseball book of the year.

Background

For the book, Leavy interviewed Mantle's teammates and opponents, as well as his two surviving sons and wife, Merlyn Mantle. In total, she spoke to over 500 people. She wrote about Mantle's upbringing in Commerce, Oklahoma and the sexual abuse he endured at the hands of his older half-sister, his relationship with his domineering father, and his struggle with alcoholism and celebrity and his off-field activities as a player. Leavy also wrote about Mantle's extensive injuries and how he played through pain for majority of his career. [1]

Leavy, who was a fan of the Yankees and particularly of Mantle's, structured the book around a series of interviews she did with him in 1983, while she was a sportswriter for The Washington Post . [2] She notably wrote about Mantle inappropriately feeling up her leg before passing out drunk in her lap and then later apologizing and giving her his sweater during a cold morning while he was golfing. [3]

Reception

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References

  1. "Mickey Mantle, America's 'Last Boy'". NPR. November 24, 2010. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  2. Leavy, Jane (May 8, 1983). "Mickey Mantle". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on May 20, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  3. Sandomir, Richard (13 October 2010). "Mantle Biography Delves Into Traumas and Myths". The New York Times .
  4. 1 2 3 "The Last Boy". JaneLeavy.com. Retrieved September 24, 2024.