Customer Reviews

7: The Mickey Mantle Novel

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

There is a major contradiction in this book before the first chapter begins. The copyright page contains a disclaimer that states that references to real people, places, etc. are used fictitiously, come from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Then, the second page of the Introduction states that Mickey's friends swear the incidents in the book are true. I personally know many of Mickey's teammates and I have not found one yet who claims any of the stories are real. STRIKE ONE.

The author claims to know Mickey well enough to psychoanalyze him yet he incorrectly states several important facts about Mickey's life and career such as his age at death, the number of world championship teams he was on and the name of Mickey's first son. STRIKE TWO.

Golenbock is a gifted writer who has authored many non-fiction baseball books. It is unfortunate, that at this stage in his successful career, he elected to write a trashy and degrading novel, from his own imagination, about one of American's greatest baseball icons. STRIKE THREE - HE'S OUT!

How's this, for the way to start a review? I am far from being a prude, but I warn! I absolutely warn! 90% of the population not to buy this book, or you will be offended! The publisher of this book has a warning (Like the one on a cigarette package.) on the cover that says, and I quote: Mickey says: "If y'all don't want to read about sex, don't buy this book." I say: "Reading about sex is one thing, but totally offending all women on the planet is another! In fact, this will offend any men who are polite and caring!" This is a book that didn't really need to be written, and I can see why Mantle's family was upset. Now, despite the author slyly hiding behind the word "novel" in the heading, he contradicts that mask, in his introduction, on page viii when he writes: "Mickey's friends swear that the incidents in this book are true." He also writes: "All I know is that Mickey's friends who have read the manuscript say this is the closest you will ever get to the reality of Mickey's life." This book is demeaning garbage. You can barely go 2 paragraphs without Mickey making a derogatory comment about women with a well-used word that starts with "P". (I'm trying to stay within Amazon's decency restrictions.) And that word may not even be in the top 5 derogatory descriptions he uses throughout the book. This book not only tears Mickey down lower than you would think possible, but it also takes Billy Martin down beneath, even what his biggest detractor's could imagine. Their alcoholic, misogynistic, lowlife, behavior, is totally offensive, to any respectable human being. There's more filth I could describe, but it wouldn't pass the decency levels on this web-site. P.S. The fact that this story is supposed to take place in heaven, is the biggest abomination of all!

I had read some of Peter Golenbock's previous works and this title looked interesting. This book was "R" rated. That didn't bother me. I was only looking for an entertaining read and this book certainly was. I have read several other books on Mickey Mantle and this one gave me a different look.
Baseball players are real people, they just have jobs that thrust them into the spotlight, and while this novel may have been based on facts..it is still fiction. Mickey was a great player, and a regular guy off the field.

Author Peter Golenbock had been in this situation before; ready to step up to the plate with bases juiced in the bottom of the ninth inning, only to have the pitcher leave the mound with the only baseball on the sandlot.

7: The Mickey Mantle Novel, was slated for release by HarperCollins through Regan Books (publisher Judith Regan). The project was shelved when Regan was fired over a number of issues, one reportedly was this book.

Years ago, Golenbock's expose of coach Jim Valvano and his North Carolina State men's basketball program, Personal Fouls, was shelved by a major publisher, but quickly released by a smaller press. The allegations in the book was a major factor in Valvano being fired by the university.

Just like with Personal Fouls, Golenbock found another publisher, Lyons Press, for his first novel. It is based on interviews and meetings Golenbock had with Mantle, interviews/conversations with former teammates and friends & the vast amount of material that has been published on the Yankee great.

It is written from Mantle's perspective as he reflects on his life while sitting in Heaven's dugout. And this isn't the myth of Mantle; it is a flesh and blood recollection of a life that included living in a fast lane that would make most male pop star's blush, incredible arrogance - sometimes brought on by heavy drinking - and seemingly a real appreciation of life only in the closing months of a terminal illness.

"My worst critics should understand that this book was written because I loved the guy," says Golenbock.

Those critics won't be appeased, though, and will view the novel as a slam against an icon who is conveniently not around to defend himself. But somehow I think Mantle is sitting in that dugout with Billy, Babe & Joe and - through that boyish grin - saying, "I'm glad someone is finally bringing my legend to life."

If you like novels loaded with vulgarity, sexist remarks, overused rants of profanity, with a bent on revisionist baseball history, then you will like "7: The Mickey Mantle Novel". Be warned though that this book is not for the masses nor the fans of the legendary Yankee. It reads more like a comic book than a novel and is filled with section after section of gratuitous references to the above topics. For this baseball fan (and fan of Mickey), I'd prefer to stick my memories of a great teammate and all-around player without reading this made-up garbage. Knowing more, (or at least the "more" as Mr. Golenbeck sees it) is not always best for this reader.

I bought my copy at a Barnes & Noble bargain bin for a buck-fifty, sold it on eBay for 99 cents, and consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.

I totally get this book and what it's trying to accomplish. Mickey was a storybook player, larger than life. This book takes that same legendary quality and transfers it to his private life, and in so doing creates a frightening portrait of hero worship and human frailty. Mickey's personal demons as exhibited in his sexual prowess are thus strong in inverse proportion to his prowess on the baseball field. And it's not a pretty picture.

Nothing in Mickey's upbringing prepared him for the expectations set for him by the public. A gullible but talented kid, he was easily led astray by his older buddies, by groupies, by big city lights. And then came to crave it himself, and finally to loathe himself. I don't think a writer could fairly present the trajectory of Mantle's life without wading into these darker waters, and necessarily it needs to be reimagined, but in a way that takes the reader along for the ride and in a sense makes the reader seek a kind of voyeuristic pleasure and share a visceral thrill with Mantle himself. It's a way of getting the reader to buy in to the intoxicating nature of sex and adoration and alcohol, and clearly it doesn't work for everyone.

Sure, some of the failure of this book commercially comes from the defiling of the Mantle persona. But I think a lot of it has to do with readers not getting the more subtle structure at work here. Another reviewer mentioned that the sex and craziness was in the first half, while the second part of the book is more about the spiral into hell. Despite the craven depictions of sex and women, this book in the end is highly moralistic and redemptive.

Mantle figures it out and brings the reader along with him. The redemption scene at the end is probably just as fictional in its staging as the tawdry sexual encounters earlier, but it carries the same weight of truth. Ultimately, our hero is redeemed and can safely be restored to the top of the mountain where he belongs.

I really enjoyed this book.
Having read many biographies and even one of Mick's own books there always seemed to be something "left out" of his story. This book seemed to enrage many of Mick's life long fans when it was released but I felt it was a fun, fictitious look at Mick off the field.
I recommend this book for anyone whoever fantasized about what it would be like to live the life of a legend.

I enjoyed this book immensely. It was a roller coaster of emotions and the the fact Mick was a tortured soul with addictions made it easier to overlook the graphic nature of the stories, which I beleive the author found necessary to drive home Mick's many personal flaws. It was how he lived. I believe that Mick finished his life strong in soberity trying to make amends by telling the world "Don't be like me"

I am an avid baseball fan who has read many biographies on Mickey Mantle. While most of these biographies gave me a glimpse into Mantle's life, 7 made me feel like I actually got to know him. There were times while I was reading this book where I felt as if I were sitting in a room listening to Mantle tell his story. His real story, unhindered by the fear of tarnishing his image. The fact that Golenbock was able to capture Mantle's mannerisms and vernacular so well in the pages of this book is a credit to the author's writing ability that could have been matched by few others. He succeeds in bringing Mickey back to life.

In reading some of the other reviews on this book, it became apparent that those who rated the book low were more disappointed that their hero wasn't perfect than they were with the book itself. The book is wildly entertaining and brilliantly written. It is as funny as it is revealing. While Golenbock needed to use his imagination to fill in some blanks, I have no doubt that the stories are accurate.

If you want to learn what Mickey Mantle was really like, then you should not miss this book.