Title: Mickey and Willie
Author: Allen Barra
Narrator: Andrew Garman
Genre: Nonfiction
Length: 16.25 Hours
Publisher: Recorded Books
Review: “Veteran sportswriter Barra (Rickwood Field: A Century in America’s Oldest Ballpark) chronicles the careers, personal lives, and legacies of two baseball legends. Bouncing back and forth between Mantle and Mays, this anecdotally constructed dual biography places their stories side by side for easy comparison, successfully showing how they shared painful pasts, wildly successful careers, and struggles with the exigencies of fame. Flamboyant and hard-living Yankee fan-favorite Mantle and the more reticent and anxiety-ridden Mays of the Giants and Mets were rivals on the field and close friends off it; their interactions from the minor leagues through the majors and into their sometimes rocky retirement years are the highlight of this engaging, well-written book that is heavy on statistics, game accounts, and insights and opinions from a variety of sportswriters and former teammates. The prolific Andrew Garman provides a pleasing narration. ¬VERDICT Recommended to baseball fans and historians. [“Part memoir, part baseball history, part biography, this book is sure to be a winner with multiple audiences: fans, historians, and nonspecialists alike. Highly recommended.”
Reviewer: Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia, Library Journal (September 1, 2013 Issue)
