Customer Reviews

Jim Murray : The Last of the Best

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This book shows off Murray's greatest writings from the 1990's, something that previously had not been published. For anyone of the numerous Murray fans out there, this is a must buy. This collection of his columns will have you laughing, crying, and wishing for more. It shows completly what a great writer and artist that Murray really was. Even though it is sad to wake up, reach for your sports page, and not have Murray's column in it, you should at least wake up and read a couple out of this book. Even for those who have not read Murray their whole lives like myself, if you read this you will wish that you had. This is a chance to see what all your friends in Southern California were bragging about when the told you stories of how great a paper the LA Times is, Murray was a big reason for it. It includes some of his greatest lines and tributes that nobody else could ever write. You will not be sorry if you read this.

I regret that I did not research this book more carefully before buying it (one of the hazards of not being able to leaf through a book being sold on-line). The title of this book led me to assume that it would be a carefully-selected collection of Mr. Murray's best columns since his career began in 1961. Wrong. Except for one column from 1961, the book only has his columns from 1990 to 1998, columns he wrote after he received the Pulitzer Prize. Wouldn't a reader expect to see selected columns he wrote since the beginning of his career? After all, these are the ones which earned him his Pulitzer, not the ones after 1990! Some of Mr. Murray's most caustic columns were written early in his career. Sadly, this book does not provide them. The title of this book is misleading.

"THE LAST OF THE BEST" BY JIM MURRAY

He was not a columnist, he was a poet. He was to the written word what Stradivarius was to the violin, Patton to the tank, Aristotle to philosophy.

Jim Murray did not pen what he wrote, he conjured it up. No mere mortal could come up with the stuff he did.

He never met hyperbole he did not like.

USC, coming from behind against Notre Dame, was not just a football team. They were the Wehrmacht marching on Poland. Sherman burning Atlanta.

A big game was not just a big game, it was the Roman Legion vs. Hannibal, Grant taking Richmond.

Murray did not reserve this kind of bluster for only the mighty in the world of sport.

"Al Scates?!" he once exclaimed of UCLA's volleyball coach. "He is to volleyball what Napoleon was to artillery."

Every morning, Southern Californians woke up and were reminded of one of the very best reasons for living here. Jim Murray's column in the Los Angeles Times was that reason. Actually, Murray was syndicated, so it was not just Los Angelenos who enjoyed his work, but the fact that he belonged to us was a source of civic pride, like the Beach Boys, the film industry, or our coast line.

If you were a writer, you read him in awe, like an actor watching Olivier do Othelo, or a young pitcher checking out Randy Johnson. If you liked sports, or even if you did not, you just appreciated the guy.

When some friends of mine lived in Paris, I would send them care packages from home. Nothing was more valuable to them than Jim Murray's column.

When Jim passed away a few years ago, it was like seeing part of the Smithsonian lost to a fire. When the Times published a selection of his columns from 1990-98, it was like seeing the demolished portion of the great museum re-furbished. Or at least like a farewell exhibit.

He is gone, we will never see his likes again, but we can at least read and re-read "The Last of the Best", with a forward by Tommy Lasorda and an introduction by the Times venerable sports editor, Bill Dwyre.

Murray towers above his profession, like Grantland Rice and Red Smith, but as New York Times columnist Dave Anderson says, he is to be compared with the likes of Twain and Hemingway. A great American. His work: Literature.

Murray was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1990, and his response was "I never thought you could win a Pulitzer Prize just for quoting Tommy Lasorda correctly."

Lasorda was greatly honored that Murray thought of him during his great moment, and Tommy has it right. Like Vin Scully and very, very few others, Murray was a guy who towered above the athletes he covered. The ones with some brains and respect for history knew that. If they did not, Murray never let it bother him. Let the ignorant wallow in their stupidity!

Murray came to sportswriting after covering Hollywood. He once had a date with Marilyn Monroe, but she left him before the night was over for another guy.

Murray understood. The other guy was Joe DiMaggio.

Murray wrote with his heart. He had compassion. He also read like crazy. He was a man of great knowledge who never wrote down to his readers. Many chose to educate themselves on who some great violinist or ballet dancer was, simply because Murray would mention them in a column. He make erudition a very cool thing.

In so doing, he did for sportswriting what Clarence Darrow did for the legal profession, MacArthur for a career in the military. He made it important, something to be attained and worked for.

Sportswriters were like carnival barkers before Murray came along. Hacks who drank too much and wrote like high school dropouts, which most of them were.

Nowadays, they study guys like Murray and Jimmy Cannon at prestigious journalism schools.

Mostly, though, he entertained. He made you think, and he made you laugh. Read "The Last of the Best".

God bless Jim Murray.

This book is a must for any sports fan. No matter if you ever read Jim Murray or not. Regardless of what sport(s) that you follow. You will end up having a tough time putting this book down. Compiled by the editors of the Los Angeles Times, after Murray's death. It is a memorable read.

There is no way I can describe the brilliant, evocotive, grab you by the scruff, writing style of a Jim Murray column. He will 'put you in the seats' of that sporting event. You just have to read it personally. He was the greatest sports writer in my reading lifetime. Do yourself a favor, read this book. You will laugh and cry your way through, and at the conclusion, you will wish it were a lot thicker.

Las Vegas Dave

Not those of nationally syndicated columnists, like Rick Riley. You could have posted his column, but I think that credit was due to the man that wrote the article rather than appearing to have written this piece all by yourself.

As for Jim Murray, there never was anyone better. This is not a collection of his best, but I think that it might be the best collection avaialable. I would like a collection of some of his stories from earlier years.

I enjoy reading books of sportswriters whether it is Red Smith, Jimmy Cannon, Joe Falls, Thomas Boswell, Damon Runyon, Roger Kahn, Roger Angell, Shirley Povich, or any other scribe that has used the written word to tell us about sports. Jim Murray, however, late of the Los Angeles Times, is in a league of his own. Back in the 1960's I would wait for my great uncle's copy of the Milwaukee Sentinel to come in the mail so I could read Jim Murray's column. He has written several books that include his columns of past years. I have them all. This book include a number of his best articles from the 1990's. To show how much I enjoy his writing I even read the ones on tennis, golf, and horse racing. I couldn't care less about any of them, but Jim had a way with words that would make you laugh with a funny simile or anecdote. Here is a sample: Ben Hogan drove his ball off the tee, then looked at the ball and the green in the distance and asked his caddie, "What's the shot?" The caddie said, "Mr. Hogan, it's 146-147 yards." Hogan barked at the caddie, "Make up your mind!" Jim often didn't write in complete sentences, but he got his point across nonetheless. What a gifted writer! If you are familiar with his writing you owe it to yourself to buy this book and any of the others that may still be available. If you are not familiar with Jim Murray, but you enjoy sports, buy this book and enjoy the laughs. There are several on each page.

He was not a columnist, he was a poet. He was to the written word what Stradivarius was to the violin, Patton to the tank, Aristotle to philosophy.
Jim Murray did not pen what he wrote, he conjured it up. No mere mortal could come up with the stuff he did.
He never met hyperbole he did not like.
USC, coming from behind against Notre Dame, was not just a football team. They were the Wehrmacht marching on Poland. Sherman burning Atlanta.
A big game was not just a big game, it was the Roman Legion vs. Hannibal, Grant taking Richmond.
Murray did not reserve this kind of bluster for only the mighty in the world of sport.
"Al Scates?!" he once exclaimed of UCLA's volleyball coach. "He is to volleyball what Napoleon was to artillery."
Every morning, Southern Californians woke up and were reminded of one of the very best reasons for living here. Jim Murray's column in the Los Angeles Times was that reason. Actually, Murray was syndicated, so it was not just Los Angelenos who enjoyed his work, but the fact that he belonged to us was a source of civic pride, like the Beach Boys, the film industry, or our coast line.
If you were a writer, you read him in awe, like an actor watching Olivier do Othelo, or a young pitcher checking out Randy Johnson. If you liked sports, or even if you did not, you just appreciated the guy.
When some friends of mine lived in Paris, I would send them care packages from home. Nothing was more valuable to them than Jim Murray's column.
When Jim passed away a few years ago, it was like seeing part of the Smithsonian lost to a fire. When the Times published a selection of his columns from 1990-98, it was like seeing the demolished portion of the great museum re-furbished. Or at least like a farewell exhibit.
He is gone, we will never see his likes again, but we can at least read and re-read "The Last of the Best", with a forward by Tommy Lasorda and an introduction by the Times venerable sports editor, Bill Dwyre.
Murray towers above his profession, like Grantland Rice and Red Smith, but as New York Times columnist Dave Anderson says, he is to be compared with the likes of Twain and Hemingway. A great American. His work: Literature.
Murray was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1990, and his response was "I never thought you could win a Pulitzer Prize just for quoting Tommy Lasorda correctly."
Lasorda was greatly honored that Murray thought of him during his great moment, and Tommy has it right. Like Vin Scully and very, very few others, Murray was a guy who towered above the athletes he covered. The ones with some brains and respect for history knew that. If they did not, Murray never let it bother him. Let the ignorant wallow in their stupidity!
Murray came to sportswriting after covering Hollywood. He once had a date with Marilyn Monroe, but she left him before the night was over for another guy.
Murray understood. The other guy was Joe DiMaggio.
Murray wrote with his heart. He had compassion. He also read like crazy. He was a man of great knowledge who never wrote down to his readers. Many chose to educate themselves on who some great violinist or ballet dancer was, simply because Murray would mention them in a column. He make erudition a very cool thing.
In so doing, he did for sportswriting what Clarence Darrow did for the legal profession, MacArthur for a career in the military. He made it important, something to be attained and worked for.
Sportswriters were like carnival barkers before Murray came along. Hacks who drank too much and wrote like high school dropouts, which most of them were.
Nowadays, they study guys like Murray and Jimmy Cannon at prestigious journalism schools.
Mostly, though, he entertained. He made you think, and he made you laugh. Read "The Last of the Best".
God bless Jim Murray.

A well written book by perhaps one of best sports writers of all time. He holds your interest on every page. Sadly he passed away several years ago after a great career with the Los Angeles Times Sports Department.

Jim Murray combined sports insight with the ability to craft a sentence like none other. With Hollywood as a backdrop, he understood that professional sports are equal parts athleticism and entertainment. Personalities are often the focus of his writing and he entertains whether writing about superstars or journeymen.

If you are any type of baseball fan, then the tribute to Big D and Reggie's Hall of Fame induction are worth way more than the price of this book.