Chronicles a year in the life of New York City, gazing at the metropolis through the lens of the Yankees, exploring issues of race and crime and profiling Billy Martin, Reggie Jackson, Ed Koch, and Mario Cuomo, among others. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.
A kaleidoscopic portrait of New York City in 1977, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning is the story of two epic battles: the fight between Yankee slugger Reggie Jackson and team manager Billy Martin, and the battle between Mario Cuomo and Ed Koch for the city's mayorship. Buried beneath these parallel conflicts--one for the soul of baseball, the other for the soul of a city--was the subtext of race. The brash and confident Jackson took every black myth and threw it back in white America's face. Koch and Cuomo ran bitterly negative campaigns that played upon urbanites' growing fears. Surrounding this braided narrative was a prowling murderer dubbed the "Son of Sam," the acquisition of the New York Post by the unknown Rupert Murdoch, the opening of Studio 54, the infamous blackout, the evolution of punk rock, and the dawning of modern SoHo.
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
Scheduled for release in July 2007 as an ESPN original miniseries, starring John Turturro as Billy Martin, Oliver Platt as George Steinbrenner, and Daniel Sunjata as Reggie Jackson.
A kaleidoscopic portrait of New York City in 1977, The Bronx Is Burning is the story of two epic battles: the fight between Yankee Reggie Jackson and team manager Billy Martin, and the battle between Mario Cuomo and Ed Koch for the city's mayorship. Buried beneath these parallel conflicts--one for the soul of baseball, the other for the soul of the city--was the subtext of race.
Deftly intertwined by journalist Jonathan Mahler, these braided Big Apple narratives reverberate to reveal a year that also saw the opening of Studio 54, the acquisition of theNew York Post by Rupert Murdoch, a murderer dubbed the "Son of Sam," the infamous blackout, and the evolution of punk rock. As Koch defeated Cuomo, and as Reggie Jackson rescued a team racked with dissension, 1977 became a year of survival--and also of hope.
