Reviews for Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig

The average rating for Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-12-28 00:00:00 Bobby W Baker Oh my...now that I've finally stopped crying, I guess I can try to do this book justice. As the title suggests the first half of this book deals with Lou Gehrig's life...and what a life it was. Growing up, I went to my fair share of baseball games and was happy to cheer on our local Philly team, but it wasn't until I had kids and was sucked into the word of little league and travel ball that I came to hold a true affection for the game. From March through the beginning of November, most of my weekends are spent sitting on the sidelines of some ball field cheering for one of my sons and their team. But who's complaining. I could think of worse ways to spend my time. Needless to say, baseball has become a bigger part of my life than I could ever have imagined. As a baseball fan, I loved learning about Gehrig's distinguished career, his work ethic, and his passion for the game. I also appreciated the mini-history lesson on baseball during the '20s-'40s and enjoyed (to my surprise) the play-by-play of key games. Lou Gehrig's baseball story is an inspiring one. The second half of the book deals with Gehrig's ALS and his death. As one might imagine, it was heartbreaking. Reading about this hero's deterioration on the field as a player, I could feel the humiliation he must have felt. I can only imagine how painful and frustrating it must have been for him to watch his body begin to fail him so quickly and for no obvious reason after so many years of excellent health, attracting the scrutiny and snide barbs of the fickle fans and media. Initially, once Gehrig was diagnosed with ALS, he seemed to derive a sense of relief if only because he finally had an explanation for his fading performance. He might not have been so relieved, however, if his doctors' had been more forthcoming about his prognosis. For whatever reason, they let him believe he might recover. A letter from his wife provided in the text suggested that she may have encouraged the deceit, hoping to keep his spirits high. If that wasn't bad enough, an overzealous neurologist who recruited him for participation in a experimental treatment gave him more mixed signals. Eventually, Gehrig deteriorated to such a point that he had no choice but to accept the fact that he would not recover. This book is so heart-wrenching it makes The Fault in Our Stars read like a romantic comedy. Really, this story has it all... a humble but talented athlete with the body of a Greek Adonis and the Hollywood good looks of a leading man a rag-to-riches rise to fame in which the son of two German immigrants succeeds thanks to an unbelievable work ethic that epitomizes what the US is supposed to be about a fairy-tale made-for-movie career (many of his records still stand, and had he not been stricken down during his peak, he would have set many others...not to mention his years with the Yankees were some of their best) a love story (a socially awkward Mama's boy who finds true love with a woman who never remarries after his death but instead spends her years building his legacy despite the fact that she was still fairly young) a man who is known for his incredible strength and commitment to fitness who, at the prime of his life and career, is stricken with a deadly disease that essentially leads to the wasting away of every muscle in his body until its victim can no longer swallow or breathe a professional athlete who exemplifies good sportsmanship, a love for his sport, and a level of humility and respect for the game that seems all but non-existent in today's day and age of celebrity athletes but was even rare for his time a speech that is one of the greatest sports speeches ever given Amazing story on every front.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-02-12 00:00:00 G. Kelly Excellent and very moving book about a life cut short. Would definitely recommend this.