The story of one of America's most charismatic and polarizing figures – baseball immortal Pete Rose – and a cultural history of baseball and America in the second half of the twentieth century.
O’Brien has crafted a sort of American tragedy about an undersized athlete raised to win at all costs ... O’Brien deftly builds suspense and narrative friction.
I’m not sure there’s ever been a book that does a better job of sketching out that man than Keith O’Brien’s ... The author approaches his project with an undeniable appreciation of Mr. Rose’s appeal and ability to connect with the common fan, but he is not afraid of digging into often unsettling truths ... Comprehensive, compulsively readable and wholly terrific.
O’Brien’s narrative is compelling, meticulously reported, and bolstered by interviews with many of the principals, including, for a while, Rose himself.