The Boys of Summer (book)
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The Boys of Summer is a widely-acclaimed book written by Roger Kahn. After recounting his childhood in Brooklyn, the author relates some history of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team up to their victory in the 1955 World Series. He then tracks the lives of the players over the subsequent years as they aged. The book takes its name from a verse by Dylan Thomas.
The first section describes the author's growing up in a remarkable Brooklyn family and his life as a young reporter on the New York Herald Tribune. He then recounts covering the Dodgers through two exciting seasons, made bittersweet by the death of the author's father.
The next section details the lives of the players from the glory days, but in middle age. Different chapters are devoted to different players (Clem Labine, George Shuba, Carl Erskine, Andy Pafko, Joe Black, Preacher Roe, Pee Wee Reese, Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges, Roy Campanella, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson and Billy Cox).
In 1983, the book was the basis for a documentary produced by VCA Programs and Thorn-EMI. The program was hosted by Sid Caesar, on location at the former site of Ebbets Field. The production featured interviews with many of the players listed above; given the production's date, neither Jackie Robinson nor Billy Cox appeared. The production was written and directed by Marty Bell, with Howard Blumenthal as Executive in Charge of Production and Alfred Markim as executive producer. Barry Rebo was director of photography.
Since its publication in 1972, The Boys of Summer has been through numerous editions and at least 90 printings. James Michener called it "America's finest book on sports." "What a very great book," wrote George Frazier in the Boston Globe. A Sports Illustrated panel recently selected The Boys of Summer as the greatest of all American books on baseball.
[edit] External links
- Article 26 years later
- Photos of the first edition of The Boys of Summer
- Photo from SPORT magazine of the Boys of Summer
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