Saturday, August 16, 2014

Mickey & Willie (Allen Barra)

"Mickey and Willie" by Allen Barra is a biography of two of the most famous men in baseball, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. This book is subtitled, "Mantle and Mays, the Parallel Lives of Baseball's Golden Age", and what Barra does is shine light on the personal and professional lives of both Mickey and Willie, and points out how similar the two men were, in many different aspects of their lives.

I appreciated that Barra took the time to research the pre-baseball lives of Mantle and Mays, and give the reader an understanding of their childhood and why they chose baseball. I think that this is as important of a detail as any, considering that both Mickey and Willie's fathers were employed in manual labor, and without the intervention of baseball, most likely would have followed in their footsteps.

Barra follows both Willie and Mickey in their professional careers, highlight both the ups and downs. I liked the fact that this book really details the personal side of these men, how they were feeling, the struggles they were facing, and the disappointments they had. I think that this book really humanizes these two men, who have become legends in the game.

I would highly recommend this book to any baseball lover. I thought it was a great read, full of interesting and entertaining stories about Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. I would give this book a 5/5, for sure. Easy to read, and Barra does a great job of telling the story of their lives without making it overcomplicated.

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received this book for free from Bloggingforbooks.org in exchange for an honest review.

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