Full Swing: Hits, Runs and Errors in a Writer's Life (Hardcover)

by Ira Berkow (Author) "I WAS BORN in January, which meant that I must have been conceived the previous April, in the springtime of 1939..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Red Smith, Maxwell Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Berkow, sports columnist for the New York Times, begins his memoir with his spring 1939 conception ("It's difficult to picture one's parents in the throes of such private moments, but facts must be countenanced") and uses his ever-shrinking Baseball Writer's Association of America membership card number (his first card was "around no. 800 out of about eight hundred members," now it's 22) to underscore how long he is in the tooth. Despite his less than privileged childhood in Chicago, Berkow's entry into the sportswriting world is fairly conventional: in high school, he was inspired to write a poem when the Dodgers won the 1955 World Series, and he began his stint on the college newspaper by interviewing the tennis coach. With its enthusiasm for sports and literature, Berkow's story of climbing the social and professional ladders will appeal to his fans and aspiring sportswriters.
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From Booklist
Veteran New York Times sports columnist Berkow delivers an extra-base hit with this understated but thoroughly engaging memoir. Sports fans will savor the celebrity bits--revealing, behind-the-scenes anecdotes about encounters with Muhammad Ali, Joe DiMaggio, and countless others--but it is Berkow's own story that has the most lasting impact. His memories of growing up in a working-class Jewish family in Chicago vividly capture the texture of life on the city's West and North Sides in the 1940s and '50s: operating a stall, first with his father and then on his own, at the legendary Maxwell Street flea market; falling in love with sports, especially baseball and basketball, on neighborhood playgrounds and later at Sullivan High School. While he was a student reporter at Miami of Ohio, Berkow's encounter with Times icon Red Smith (whom Berkow would eventually replace) set the young English major on the road to becoming a sportswriter. As with so many memoirs of midcentury coming-of-age, Berkow's story is, above all, a tribute to his father, whose no-nonsense individualism continues to shape this writer's life. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher (April 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566636892
• ISBN-13: 978-1566636896
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,114,356 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A writer's open book, July 21, 2006

By	Kenneth A. Vatz (Winnetka, Illinois) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When you finish reading "Full Swing," including the funny and touching final two chapters of this conversational memoir, you will feel that you know Ira Berkow well. The author, a prolific writer (17 books and many articles) and a sports columnist for the New York Times for over 25 years, has produced an honest, seamless, conversational memoir which pulls the reader into the heart of a richly led life. Anecdotes abound, many about the sports, entertainment and political figures he has known and interviewed. Berkow pulls no punches in describing his own stuttering development as a writer, growing up on the West Side of Chicago, his early career as a reporter in Minneapolis, and his later move to New York City, where he worked first for a newspaper syndicate and later as the by-liner of the "Sports of the Times" column.

The book is a walk through Berkow's life, often retracing his steps, making frequent, leisurely stops to explore people, places, ideas, successes, regrets, loves both lost and found, yet managing in the course of his peregrination to tie it all together such that the reader comes to understand the inner self of this talented, introspective, honest and thoroughly unpretentious writer, and ultimately wishes he could spend more time with him.

The major press book reviews have cited anecdotes and quotes from various sources, including Red Smith, the sports writer whom Berkow succeeded at the Times, Richard Nixon, Groucho Marx, and numerous others such as Willie Mays, Eddie Waitkus, Hank Sauer, Al Kaline, Pete Rose, Phil Jackson and Mohammed Ali. But it is really the stories about the non-sports personalities from his past, including those in his own family, that best describe and define Berkow as a person. One such story about his cousin, a lawyer whose career ranged from a public defender to a federal judge, and who dealt with "the most monumental and noble of causes," is central to Berkow's exploration of the significance of one's own contributions, whether they are made in the public or private sphere.

"Full Swing" will appeal especially to those readers who, despite a slightly guilty conscience, always turn first to the sports pages.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lively survey of a literary life and many achievements, June 26, 2006

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Ira Berkow's FULL SWING could also have been featured in our Sports section - but it'd be a shame to limit its audience to sports enthusiasts alone. Berkow is a sports columnist and feature writer for the New York Times, but his journey to that point was long and hard - and is chronicled here in FULL SWING: HITS, RUNS, AND ERRORS IN A WRITER'S LIFE. From his early years as a poor student who flunked out of college in his first semester to his later passion for writing and determination to become a writer, FULL SWING charts a course through the literary and sports world which will engage and delight fans of Berkow. From his early inspirations to his tales of life at the Times, FULL SWING is a lively survey of a literary life and many achievements.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

5.0 out of 5 stars Not A Rehash of Old Stories in Other Books, March 17, 2007

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

This is a book that many high school students will be able to indentify with. Ira Berkow floundered as he tried to decide what to do with his life when he graduated from high school. He, like others, had people who helped him out in various ways. His father bought him a book entitled "30 Days to A Powerful Vocabulary" when he was in high school. This gift which was initially not readily appreciated became a powerful influence in expanding Ira's vocabulary when he became interested in writing. The noted sportswriter Red Smith took time to constructively criticize some of Ira's writing when requested. Most young people drift into a career, and Ira Berkow is a good example for those of high school and college age to read about whether they plan on becomming a writer or not. Another thing I liked about the book is the numerous anecdotes of people such as Muhammad Ali, Hank Sauer, Michael Jordan and others that I have not read in other books. Here is one I will pass on about our present President, George Bush. When Bush was part owner of the Texas Rangers he and his team partners threatened to move the team from the Dallas-Fort Worth area unless the residents of Texas paid for a new ballpark. A tax was set that was shared by both the rich and poor. Since there were more poor people in the area than rich, the tax was a burden mainly by those who couldn't afford to pay it. With this money, a new ballpark was built and the owners sold the team which was now worth more due to having a new stadium. When the team was sold Bush became rich with his share coming to $14 million. This from a conservative who supposedly tries to save taxpayers money. This book is a treat. It is not a rehash of stories found in other books. You will not be disappointed.