... casts one more light on the 1927 Yankees, considered by many to be the greatest team of all time. The columns have the feel of authenticity that many such columns ghosted from this period do not have ... The accounts of Gehrig’s life from early childhood through the ’27 World Series are a delight to read ... The second section of the book is less revealing, but, nonetheless, a useful addition to the book, especially for those not fully familiar with baseball, Lou Gehrig, and the world of baseball. There are no new revelations, but Gaff produces a smooth and basic narrative of Lou Gehrig’s life beyond the scope of the columns and through to his tragic death. The material on Eleanor Gehrig, Lou’s wife, are informative and helpful ... The treatment of Gehrig’s illness and long struggle with ALS is powerful.
... slim but distinctive ... doesn’t substantially alter our image of Gehrig, but it does offer a scoop ... Mr. Gaff discovered Gehrig’s columns while doing unrelated research; he fused them into a narrative and added a useful biographical essay ... This brief memoir, though syrupy in its paean to hard work and the cardinal virtues, may be read as an outsider’s early gratitude for having landed where he belonged.
Gaff astutely crafts a biography to accompany Gehrig's columns and focuses on details that parallel Gehrig's generosity of spirit ... Perhaps most movingly, Gaff revisits the Yankee great's post-baseball career.
The 'lost memoir' of Lou Gehrig is like a bowl of lukewarm oatmeal. It can fortify innocent youths, and it might soothe cranky dyspeptics. But it is bland mush ... Some of the worst baseball writing over the past century and a half has trafficked in such sentimentality, casting athletes as exemplars of character. Gehrig’s account is full of such goop ... In Gehrig’s defense, he was not writing for posterity ... Gaff’s discovery offers a glance at Gehrig as he burst into the American consciousness at the height of the Roaring Twenties ... But the memoir offers little insight into Gehrig ... Gehrig’s ghostwritten account stays at the surface, coating the sport in myth ... In his introduction and biographical essay, Gaff fails to probe how and why ghostwriting journalists crafted these popular columns. Instead he offers unsubstantiated reassurances about the authenticity of Gehrig’s tale ... That naive slushiness belongs in the 1920s, not the 2020s.
... this latest look at Gehrig does stand apart, not only putting his own words to page but serving as an example of how differently sports figures wrote and were written about 'back in the day' ... This 'memoir' is basically a collection of articles published serially rather than in one volume ... The last half of the book contains a brief biography by Alan D. Gaff, which I found quite interesting, offering tidbits of Gehrig’s life that I do not recall from previous works ... One gets the impression that Gehrig never said a discouraging word about anyone in his life...Compare that with more recent works from players who, as the saying goes, couldn’t carry his jock. Nowadays there is no detail too lurid to share, whether it involves sexual encounters, substance abuse, or anything else that would be considered out of bounds in Gehrig’s era. But that follows the norm over the past near-century as silent movies turn to talkies, black and white to color, actual stories into shoot-’em-ups with ever-increasing body counts and explosions. That’s one reason I believe Gaff’s contribution to the Gehrig oeuvre will do well, at least with a certain audience who appreciates those kinder, gentler times.
Forgive, dear reader, my skepticism, but what is this book supposed to accomplish? Gaff follows 'the lost memoir' with another 90 pages of biographical essay, which shows he is merely fulfilling Walsh’s dreams of telling mythological stories about people we want to be our heroes ... take Lou Gehrig: The Lost Memoir with a grain of salt. Enjoy the stories and the history without believing all of it. Fame has always been a mirage, but making money? Well, that’s a different story…
The memoir itself is typical of the era in which it was written: noncontroversial and a bit clichéd. But there are some revealing insights into Gehrig’s view of his role on the Yankees and his feelings about fame, the latter enriched by his perspective, having risen from a modest upbringing to the pinnacle of sports success. Gaff’s essay is notable for its focus on Gehrig’s life after disease forced his retirement from the game, especially his work on the New York City Parole Board. Baseball fans with an interest in the game’s history will find much to enjoy here.
Gaff’s biographical essay contains strong research and clear prose; his account of Gehrig’s rapid development as a talented slugger is especially inspiring ... Gaff also includes some material that will be a treat for Gehrig devotees...as well as Gehrig’s lifetime statistics and a roster of 'the careers of the many players in Lou’s narrative who are now largely unknown.' ... A simple gem for baseball fans.
In this surprising rediscovery, historian Gaff...presents the lost memoir of New York Yankee Gehrig ... Gaff follows up the memoir with a detailed look into Lou Gehrig’s life, discussing his career and the exuberant excesses of the Yankees’ hell-raising lifestyle (mainly Ruth’s), as well as Gehrig’s battle with ALS, with which he was diagnosed in 1939 ... Gaff’s volume is a fitting tribute to an inspiring baseball legend.
