Beyond the Boys of Summer

Spanning half a century, the first comprehensive anthology of the great Roger Kahn's writing, for a new generation of sports fans Roger Kahn, author of 19 books including the modern classic The Boys of Summer, is arguably America's greatest sportswriter. Now, for the first time, Beyond the Boys of Summer presents a showcase of 50 years worth of Kahn's celebrated work. From a 1955 article on the incomparable Jackie Robinson to excerpts from his recent bestselling book on the controversial '78 Yankees, this unprecedented anthology spans an entire career to show off the grace, wit, and elegance of Roger Kahn's most memorable writing on sports, as well as his reporting beyond the world of baseball diamonds and boxing rings. Uniquely organized around life's stages, the book brings readers face to face with some of the greatest names in sport, including Muhammad Ali, Jack Dempsey, Reggie Jackson, and Pete Rose. Through Kahn's fly-on-the-wall style, readers will see Duke Snider in the avocado fields of California, Mickey Mantle in Texas taverns, and Joe DiMaggio watching his famous wife, Marilyn Monroe, flirt for the movie cameras. In the final segment, Kahn meets the 80-year-old poet Robert Frost, mourns the deaths of friends and heroes, and movingly writes about how sports stars--and even sportswriters--grow old, looking back on a long life well lived.