Amazon.com: The Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City: Jonathan Mahler: Books

Review

"Ambitiously conceived, marvelously told . . . Mahler weaves several stories into one grand narrative of the city's death and rebirth. . . . It all comes back, in living color . . . a tour de force."--The New York Times

"Entertaining and illuminating . . . It should not be surprising then that Mahler . . . believed a layered account of a single year in the life of the city, 1977, could sustain a book--nor should it be surprising that he was right. . . . A nuanced portrait of this wild year."--The New York Times Book Review (front cover)

"A rich canvas . . . an excellent new book."--Sports Illustrated

"Compulsively readable . . . Mahler's innocently emblematic figures careen vividly through their historical moment."--The Wall Street Journal

Product Description

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

Scheduled for release in July 2007 as an ESPN original miniseries, starring John Turturro as Billy Martin, Oliver Platt as George Steinbrenner, and Daniel Sunjata as Reggie Jackson.

A kaleidoscopic portrait of New York City in 1977, The Bronx Is Burning is the story of two epic battles: the fight between Yankee Reggie Jackson and team manager Billy Martin, and the battle between Mario Cuomo and Ed Koch for the city's mayorship. Buried beneath these parallel conflicts--one for the soul of baseball, the other for the soul of the city--was the subtext of race.

Deftly intertwined by journalist Jonathan Mahler, these braided Big Apple narratives reverberate to reveal a year that also saw the opening of Studio 54, the acquisition of the New York Post by Rupert Murdoch, a murderer dubbed the "Son of Sam," the infamous blackout, and the evolution of punk rock. As Koch defeated Cuomo, and as Reggie Jackson rescued a team racked with dissension, 1977 became a year of survival--and also of hope.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

Paperback: 376 pages
Publisher: Picador (June 26, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312427026
ISBN-13: 978-0312427023
Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #65,686 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in these categories: (What's this?)
#27 in Books > History > United States > State & Local > Mid-Atlantic
#46 in Books > Sports > Baseball > History
#86 in Books > History > United States > State & Local > New York

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
ON the evening of July 3, 1976, some fifty thousand New Yorkers sat on blankets in Central Park's Sheep Meadow eating picnic dinners, drinking wine, waving red, white, and blue sparklers, and listening to Leonard Bernstein conduct the New York Philharmonic in a surging birthday concert for the United States of America. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
blackout looting, mimic board

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Reggie Jackson, Con Ed, Daily News, Forest Hills, Billy Martin, Son of Sam, City Hall, Red Sox, Mayor Beame, Mario Cuomo, Kansas City, South Bronx, American League, Upper East Side, Mayor Lindsay, Catfish Hunter, Long Island, Eight Three, Greenwich Village, New Jersey, Staten Island, Bella Abzug, George Steinbrenner, Los Angeles

New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats

Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning by Jonathan Mahler

Discusses:

The Future of Us All by Roger Sanjek

Discusses:

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	50% buy the item featured on this page: The Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City 4.7 out of 5 stars (6) $11.25
	24% buy Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City 4.4 out of 5 stars (50) $10.20
	18% buy The Bronx is Burning 4.6 out of 5 stars (29)
	5% buy The Bronx Zoo: The Astonishing Inside Story of the 1978 World Champion New York Yankees 4.5 out of 5 stars (20) $10.17

Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

new york city(6)

yankees(6)

baseball(4)

history(4)

billy martin(3)

new york yankees(3)

reggie(3)

blackout(2)

son of sam(2)

american history(1)

ed koch(1)

See all 15 tags...

Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search

No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Baseball and Blackouts, Circa 1977, December 4, 2007

By	D. B. Zukowski (Los Angeles, Ca) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Jonathan Mahler's book, "The Bronx is Burning", recalls that time in The City when the city was collapsing in crime and decay, visible for all the world to see on the evening news. Mahler, a writer for The New York Times Magazine, weaves together the story of the 1977 mayoral race, serial killer Son of Sam, the blackout and subsequent riots, and the fractious Yankees who had just signed Reggie Jackson and would go on to win their first World Series since 1962.

Born and raised in the Bronx, I remember that time and those events quite well. As a baseball fan, I was disillusioned by a Yankees team that hadn't won a championship in 15 years and seemed to expend most of its energy fighting with itself and with owner George Steinbrenner.

"The Bronx is Burning" - the title is taken from a Howard Cosell remark during the 1977 World Series broadcast as the aerial shot of Yankee Stadium revealed a nearby five-alarm fire - is a well-documented narrative of the New York City of the mid-1970s. Although the baseball story seems, at times, grafted on, and the subplot of Rupert Murdoch's takeover of the New York Post became more relevant in later years, the 67-chapter, 3-part, 339-page book accurately reflects the experience of most New Yorkers at the time. Those were our day-to-day concerns: crime, the mayor's race, and Steinbrenner's Yankees.

But New York's story doesn't end with Ed Koch as mayor and the Yankees as World Series champions. Mahler leaves the impression that these two outcomes would lead to the turnaround of the city's fortunes and that 1977 was the bottom of the inverted bell curve. Neither is true.

Crime would continue to rise. The murder rate peaked at 2,262 in 1992, a full 15 years later. The Yankees wouldn't win another World Series for 19 years, against the Atlanta Braves in 1996. Drug use continued to rise all through the 1980s. A 1989 U.S. News & World Report story listed New York as one of a dozen major U.S. cities ravaged by crime.

The nadir of New York City's recent history was not 1977, and the resurgence was not due to Ed Koch or Reggie Jackson. When I left New York in 1986, the city was still a dismal and depressing place. When I visit today, it is vibrant, clean, safe and more exciting than ever. A new Yankee Stadium is under construction. As long as readers of "The Bronx is Burning" understand what came after chapter 67, they can appreciate this very readable book.

For baseball fans, the ESPN adaptation of Mahler's book is well done and worth watching. As befits the network that aired it, the mini-series (now available on DVD The Bronx is Burning) leads with the Yankees story while moving the crime and decay to the background. And, as befits the medium, it tells the story through big personalities: Billy and Reggie and George, plus Son of Sam. Grab a beer and a hot dog and sit down to enjoy.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read, September 29, 2007

By	Benjamin Ashraf "Yankee Fan" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What can I say the book was a great read with a tremendous introspective in on some yankee legends. A great read not only for any baseball fan but also anyone who enjoys a great read. The product was in superb condition as well when I recieved it.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A slice of NYC life, August 1, 2007

By	Steve Sora (Easton, PA USA) - See all my reviews

A must read for anyone who grew up in the City. This was a low-point for NYC with race driven politics, a pair of losing ball teams, blackouts, riots and a brush with bankruptcy. Throw in the Son of Sam and disco, and anyone who could afford to was fleeing for the 'burbs. Mahler captures the mood along with the gallows humor and manages a happy ending.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 6 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bronx Is Burning inside and out of the Yankees
The Bronx Is Burning

Summer 1976. A mischievous killer is on the loose and the Yankees are trying to go from worst to first. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Kingham's Kids

5.0 out of 5 stars I like the book
I enjoyed the book very much!

Published 2 months ago by Debbie Hopkins

5.0 out of 5 stars In Search of a Hero
Jonathan Mahler has written an exceptionally well-crafted book about a single year (1977) in the history of New York City. Read more

Published 15 months ago by J. D. Best, author

› See all 6 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; }

Customer Discussions

Beta (What's this?)

New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.

This product's forum (0 discussions)

	Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
	No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Receive e-mail when new posts are made

Prompts for sign-in

[Cancel]

Guidelines

Active discussions in related forums

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
history An Islamic Reformation?	13	17 minutes ago
history Islam: the Facade and the Facts	620	20 minutes ago
history History of the Palestinian Nation?	783	1 hour ago
history What was the Worst Military Defeat in History?	148	1 hour ago
baseball Most ignored by media baseball team?	38	3 days ago
sports Authors, tell us about your sports novels	183	9 days ago
sports Great sports books on Amazon	22	12 days ago

The New York City community

Latest activity 1 hour ago

2,521 customers have contributed 3,780 products, 133 lists & guides and more...

› Explore the community

The Baseball community

Latest activity 11 hours ago

3,052 customers have contributed 2,530 products, 209 lists & guides and more...

› Explore the community

The History community

Latest activity 3 minutes ago

19,417 customers have contributed 25,577 products, 664 discussions and more...

› Explore the community

Explore more

› See all Customer Communities

› Your communities

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Be the first person to add an article about this item at Amapedia.com.

› See featured Amapedia.com articles

Listmania!

Fantastic Sports Books For Your Entire Family: A list by Mike Lansing "Health Professional"
New York, New York': A list by Philip W. Henry
Best Books about New York: A list by R. J. Marsella

Create a Listmania! list

So You'd Like to...

Impress your friends with Yankee trivia: A guide by E. F. Gilmour
Live Endless Summer - Baseball: America's Passtime: A guide by Theo Logos

Create a guide

Look for Similar Items by Category

Books > History > Americas > United States
Books > Sports > Baseball > History

Turn On the Savings

Shop for bathroom faucets in the Home Improvement Value Center, where the savings can flow as much as 50% off brand-name products.

›Shop the Value Center

Best Books of 2008

Find our top 100 editors' picks as well as customers' favorites in dozens of categories in our Best Books of 2008 Store.

Summer Reading for Kids & Teens

Discover everything from beach reads and board books to teen romance and action-adventure series in Summer Reading for Kids & Teens. And, check off the kids' required reading lists in our Summer School Reading Store.