Summary
"The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood" by Jane Leavy is a biography that delves into the life of Mickey Mantle, the legendary New York Yankees center fielder. More than just a sports biography, it explores Mantle's complex character, his struggles with fame, personal demons, and the burden of expectations placed upon him.
The book begins by setting the stage with Mantle’s early life in Commerce, Oklahoma, highlighting the influence of his father, Mutt, and the mining community's hardscrabble environment. It emphasizes how Mutt instilled a relentless drive in young Mickey, shaping him into a switch-hitting prodigy but also casting a long shadow over his life. Leavy explores the recurring theme of inherited mortality and the constant threat of injury, which profoundly affected Mantle’s outlook.
As Mantle rises to stardom with the Yankees, the biography examines the pressures of replacing Joe DiMaggio, his complicated relationship with manager Casey Stengel, and the challenges of navigating fame in the burgeoning media age. The book doesn't shy away from Mantle’s flaws, addressing his struggles with alcoholism, his womanizing, and his often-turbulent relationships with his family. It looks at how Mantle was viewed in the context of his two famous peers Willie Mays and Duke Snider, and how race played into the comparisons.
Leavy explores Mantle's tumultuous personal life, particularly his long-suffering wife, Merlyn, and their four sons, all of whom faced their own battles with addiction. As Mantle's career winds down, the book explores how Mantle became the focus of nostalgia, and how his legacy was shaped (and sometimes distorted) by the burgeoning memorabilia industry. The biography follows Mantle through his post-baseball years, marked by financial troubles, failed business ventures, and a growing awareness of his own mortality.
In his final years, Mantle grappled with liver cancer and ultimately received a liver transplant, a decision that ignited public controversy given his history of alcoholism. His death in 1995 marked the end of an era, prompting widespread reflection on his legacy as both a baseball icon and a flawed human being. Leavy's meticulous research, combined with her personal connection to Mantle, results in a biography that is both insightful and deeply moving, capturing the essence of a complex figure whose life embodied the triumphs and tragedies of the American dream.