A fictional memoir inspired by the life of the iconic baseball star places a surprised late Mantle in heaven, where he confesses the truth about how he hurt his loved ones, alienated his fans, succumbed to alcoholism, and otherwise fell short of deserving the adulation directed toward him throughout his career.
Bestselling sportswriter Peter Golenbock knew Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin, Jim Bouton, Joe Pepitone, and many of Mantles friends, family, and teammates. While Mickey was a good person at heart, he had a dark side that went far beyond his well-known alcoholism and infidelities. In this fictional portrait, Mickey--now in heaven--realizes that hes carrying a huge weight on his shoulders, as he did throughout his life. He needs to unburden himself of all the horrible things he did and understand for himself why he did them. He wants to make amends to the people he hurt, especially those dear to him; the fans he ignored and alienated; and the public who made him into a hero. Mickey never felt he deserved the adulation, could never live up to it, and tried his damnedest to prove it to everyone. The fact that he was human made the public love him that much more.
Through the recounting of his exploits on and off the field, some of them side-splittingly hilarious, some disturbing, and others that will make your head shake in sympathy, Mickey comes clean in this novel in the way he never could in real life. 7: The Mickey Mantle Novel puts you inside the locker room and bedroom with an American Icon every bit as flawed and human as we are.
The novelan imaginative memoir, according to the authoris a fictional account of the late Yankees life, told in first person and packed with saucy tales, bawdy jokes, and celebrity-packed anecdotes from the life and career of this baseball great.