Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Baseball at the turn of the century was a game for poor immigrants and high school dropouts..." (more)
Key Phrases: young first baseman, game that day, first inning, New York, World Series, Lou Gehrig (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Lou Gehrig started his professional baseball career at a time when players began to be seen as national celebrities. Though this suited charismatic men such as Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio, Gehrig avoided the spotlight and preferred to speak with his bat. Best known for playing in 2,130 consecutive games as well as his courage in battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (a disease that now bears his name), the Iron Horse that emerges from this book is surprisingly naïve and insecure. He would cry in the clubhouse after disappointing performances, was painfully shy around women (much to the amusement of some of his teammates), and particularly devoted to his German-immigrant mother all his life. Even after earning the league MVP award he still feared the Yankees would let him go. Against the advice of Ruth and others, he refused to negotiate aggressively and so earned less than he deserved for many seasons. Honest, humble, and notoriously frugal, his only vices were chewing gum and the occasional cigarette. And despite becoming one of the finest first basemen of all time, Jonathan Eig shows how Gehrig never seemed to conquer his self-doubt, only to manage it better.

Jonathan Eig's Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig offers a fascinating and well-rounded portrait of Gehrig, from his dugout rituals and historic games to his relationships with his mother, wife, coaches, and teammates. His complex friendship with Ruth, who was the polar opposite to Gehrig in nearly every respect, is given particularly vivid attention. Take this revealing description of how the two men began a barnstorming tour together following their 1927 World Series victory: "Ruth tipped the call girls and sent them on their way. Gehrig kissed his mother goodbye." Eig also shares some previously unknown details regarding his consecutive games streak and how he dealt with ALS during the final years of his life. Rich in anecdotes and based on hundreds of interviews and 200 pages of recently discovered letters, the book effectively shows why the Iron Horse remains an American icon to this day. --Shawn Carkonen --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Although his record of playing in 2,130 consecutive Major League baseball games (from 1925 to 1939) was eventually broken in 1995, Gehrig is still remembered as one of the sport's greatest figures. But Eig, a Wall Street Journal special correspondent, shows that the life of the"Iron Horse" wasn't quite as squeaky clean as Gary Cooper portrayed it to be in the 1943 film Pride of the Yankees. Still, the blemishes are strikingly minor in comparison to those of today's star athletes: the worst anyone can really say about Gehrig is that he didn't like spending money, or that sometimes he'd just barely appear in a game in order to continue his streak. This meticulous biography also tracks the Yankee first baseman's close family ties and the tensions between his German immigrant mother and his publicity-savvy wife, as well as Gehrig's friction with teammate Babe Ruth. There's a certain monotony to the seasons during Gehrig's peak years, but Eig manages to find lively anecdotes. Moreover, the final chapters, in which Gehrig slowly dies from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, present his story's medical aspects with powerful sensitivity. Holding its own against recent high-profile baseball bios (e.g., Richard Ben Cramer's portrait of Joe DiMaggio), Eig's book reminds readers that Gehrig's accomplishments are inseparable from the dignity of his character. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (March 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743268938
• ISBN-13: 978-0743268936
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (78 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #169,653 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great ballplayer, and a great person, March 24, 2005

By	Craig (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig (Hardcover)

If you're looking for an exhaustive biography of Gehrig, one of the best to ever grace a diamond, look no further. Eig has written a wonderful book that gives great insight into not only Gehrig the player, but also Gehrig the man.

It's obvious from the discussion of his upbringing that Gehrig was not a "typical" Yankee star, one who would enjoy the bright lights and fame. As a child, and continuing into his adult life, he was a shy, modest person who wanted only to work hard and do his best. His relationship, or lack thereof, with fellow superstar Babe Ruth, is given a lot of coverage, and is one of the more interesting aspects of the book. Given Gehrig's background and social anxieties, it's not really surprising that he and Ruth (along with other teammates) never seemed to mesh.

While the coverage given to his seasons with the Yankees is comprehensive, it's the anecdotes and off-the-field stuff that really add to the existing knowledge we have of Gehrig. And even when we know towards the end of the book exactly what's going to happen, Eig still manages to present the onset of his illness and eventual death dramatically, without simply playing on emotions. I was surprised to learn that his ALS had begun its onset in '38, and not a year later when he was forced to call it quits.

Eig presents Gehrig well, without romanticizing him or turning his book into a hagiography. While I think any baseball fan will love this book, I don't think being a fan of the sport is a prerequisite to enjoyment. This is a great biography of a genuinely good man, one who always seemed unsure about being in the spotlight. Highly recommended.

72 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive Book on Lou Gehrig, April 5, 2005

By	C. W. Emblom "Bill Emblom" (Ishpeming, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig (Audio CD)

I have read other previous biographies on Lou Gehrig such as Ray Robinson's effort entitled "Iron Horse" and Frank Graham's book entitled "Lou Gehrig: A Quiet Hero". Both books are well done, but Jonathan Eig's book is the most in-depth effort on Gehrig to date. Gehrig had an over-bearing and protective mother and a passive insecure father. While Lou had great admiration and respect for his mother, her influence probably contributed to Lou's insecurities regarding himself. Lou's mother viewed his wife as a threat to her control over her son, and both mother and mother-in-law were in constant conflict over the son and husband. Even after Lou's death the wrangling continued over Lou's estate. The author provides ample coverage of Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day on July 4, 1939, when Gehrig delivered his Gettysburg Address speech at Yankee Stadium between games of a doubleheader between the Yankees and the Washington Senators. Significant coverage is also provided on ALS, the disease that now carries Gehrig's name. Gehrig always expressed his appreciation for the care he received at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and exchanged letters with physicians in charge of his care. He always looked for miniscule signs that may indicate the disease wasn't getting any worse, but by the spring of 1941 he knew it was just a matter of time before the inevitable took place. This book is also a rare treat in that it isn't laced with profanity. If you have a young reader around ten years old who is reading at an advanced level, feel free to give them this book as a gift. It will be one that will be appreciated for years to come.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful old-style baseball, a world away from steroids, March 26, 2005

By	MarcSteven - See all my reviews

This review is from: Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig (Hardcover)

I'm not as avid a sports fan as many of my friends, and I haven't read many sports bios. This book, though, surpasses the usual expectations for sports books. Reading it is like reading a vivid fictional book with many fascinating characters who seem bigger than life yet with imperfections and flaws, too.

I'm sure any baseball/Yankees fan who like to read would get a lot out of this book. Anyone who is curious about Lou Gehrig should obviously read it. But its appeal for me went beyond baseball because it just tells the story of a humble and great man who lived a short, brave life and struggled with a terrible illness he could not understand. These are all powerful themes in and of themselves, but Eig clearly uses the English language to make Gehrig's story even more inviting. I kept reading waiting to get to a dull sentence or a cliche, but did not...it's just page after page of lean, tight writing and colorful detail, like a really good New York Times feature story.

Eig tells an old story but in so many ways it is timely. It's pretty interesting to read about Gehrig and his baseball friends who played for the love of the game in much simpler times, for money that may have been big in their time but not hugely extravagant, the way sports contracts are today. They didn't complain about fans or the media. Baseball was starting to be a business, yes, but not Big Business. The players didn't take steroids or say that anything about their behavior was justified because they were just "entertainers." They were honest and hard-working athletes. They signed autographs and felt flattered to do it. It's just so refreshing to learn about how baseball used to be.

The final parts of the book, about his ALS, are grim and tragic but tell so much about the strength of Gehrig, and the author found a lot of material (like letters to Gehrig's doctor, talking about the disease). It's all fascinating, and makes you understand ALS and feel for its victims.

To sum up, I'm glad I bought this and think you would not be sorry to read it if you are excited by baseball, enjoy solid biographies, the history of the 1920s-1930s, books about heroic fights against illness, or if you just like colorful-but-true writing that's not at all difficult to read.