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    The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron
    Unavailable
    The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron
    Unavailable
    The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron
    Audiobook (abridged)9 hours

    The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron

    Written by Howard Bryant

    Narrated by Dominic Hoffman

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In the thirty-four years since his retirement, Henry Aaron's reputation has only grown in magnitude: he broke existing records (rbis, total bases, extra-base hits) and set new ones (hitting at least thirty home runs per season fifteen times, becoming the first player in history to hammer five hundred home runs and three thousand hits). But his influence extends beyond statistics, and at long last here is the first definitive biography of one of baseball's immortal figures.

    Based on meticulous research and interviews with former teammates, family, two former presidents, and Aaron himself, The Last Hero chronicles Aaron's childhood in segregated Alabama, his brief stardom in the Negro Leagues, his complicated relationship with celebrity, and his historic rivalry with Willie Mays—all culminating in the defining event of his life: his shattering of Babe Ruth's all-time home-run record.

    Bryant also examines Aaron's more complex second act: his quest to become an important voice beyond the ball field when his playing days had ended, his rediscovery by a public disillusioned with today's tainted heroes, and his disappointment that his career home-run record was finally broken by Barry Bonds during the steroid era, baseball's greatest scandal.

    Bryant reveals how Aaron navigated the upheavals of his time—fighting against racism while at the same time benefiting from racial progress—and how he achieved his goal of continuing Jackie Robinson's mission to obtain full equality for African-Americans, both in baseball and society, while he lived uncomfortably in the public spotlight. Eloquently written, detailed and penetrating, this is a revelatory portrait of a complicated, private man who through sports became an enduring American icon.


    From the Hardcover edition.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 11, 2010
    ISBN9780307736895
    Unavailable
    The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron
    Author

    Howard Bryant

    HOWARD BRYANT is a senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine and appears regularly on ESPN programming, including SportsCenter and Outside the Lines. He has been the sports correspondent for NPR’s Weekend Edition since 2006 and is twice the winner of the Casey Award for the Best Baseball Book of the Year. He is the New York Times best-selling author of The Last Hero, Juicing the Game,Shut Out,The Heritage, and Full Dissidence. He served as guest editor of the 2017 edition of The Best American Sports Writing. His biography of Hank Aaron, The Last Hero, was named by Dwight Garner as “One of the Ten Best Books of the Year” in the New York Times.

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    Reviews for The Last Hero

    4/5

    28 ratings4 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A strong, if basic, biography of a great american athlete.At times the others goes a bit too far in rationalizing Aaron's difficult relationship with others. But, most important, explains how Henry Aaron's experiences with racism make it a a wonder he was not more angry, bitter and withdrawn. With a the final portion of the book devoted to a tainted drug user breaking the HR record, more than a single line needs to be devoted to amphetamine use in Henry's career.
    • 5/5
      Howard Bryant’s The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron digs deeply to get beyond just Aaron’s superlative on-field accomplishments and provides a fascinating insight into the reticent and sensitive persona of the man who suffered the indignities of racial discrimination, personal slights (some real and some largely imagined), and the fear associated with the rampant credible death threats as he approached Babe Ruth’s career home run record in the Deep South of Atlanta, Georgia. This is easily one of the finest baseball biographies.
    • 4/5
      I was kind of critical of the first few chapters of this book, perhaps because Bryant takes his time revealing the complexity of the life and achievements of Henry Aaron, but within 100 pages, he had me hooked and I read the book in great gulps of time stolen from household chores and writing thank-you notes. Aaron truly is a hero, and he's gotten a book as rich and admirable as the man himself.
    • 5/5
      Bryant is a superb writer, and this is one of the best and most perceptive baseball biographies I have read.