Howard Bryant does a great job chronicling the life of a true baseball icon. However, I still don’t feel like I know much more about the person Aaron is. You can argue that this is a pretty important component of a biography, but don’t be too quick to blame Bryant. The book is very well written and a great read, but I believe the issue is Aaron’s reclusive nature.
My personal highlights include Bryant’s account of Aaron’s pursuit of Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record and Aaron’s true feelings about Bonds breaking the record.
I discovered that the chase for Ruth’s record wasn’t as glorious and exciting as it would seem in an ideal world. Aaron dealt with death threats and hate mail during a time that wasn’t that long ago, yet vastly different from today. Aaron’s own disgust with Bonds was kept to himself during the chase in 2007, but his feelings were strong.
The book is a great read and a great insight on the life of a player that was second only to Jackie Robinson in terms of civil rights leaders in the game. Check it out if you want to glance inside the mysterious life of one of baseball’s all-time greats.
