Mickey Mantle, JFK and recent book reviews

Here's sneak peeks at some recent Amazon reviews.

First, Mickey Mantle:

"The Last Boy" is a borderline 4/5 star book in my estimation, and, could easily be bumped downward, were it not for all the 1- and 2-star reviews who can't seem to think of Mantle as anything short of God. I was going to 5-star it, but then moved back to 4 ...

Specifically, the one major new thing in this bio -- Mantle's childhood sexual abuse suffering -- is exactly what they most object to, and what I find one of the strengths of the book. That said, because Leavy chooses NOT to write a more traditional, fully chronological biography, we don't get this information until near the end of the book. Too close to the end, in my opinion; Leavy, without a chronological style, could still have introduced it near the start of Mantle's post-playing life, rather than when the book is 90 percent done. And then, she could have built on it more, more thoroughly interweaving it with his womanizing and his alcoholism.

Speaking of, that's her major sociological error. AA is NOT the only way to get support to quit drinking, and I hope that Ms. Leavy doesn't perpetuate that myth in another book about a hero with feet of clay. There are plenty of "secular" sobriety support groups out there. I suspect that AA influenced how Leavy viewed the sober Mantle in general.

On to environmental issues:

I've often thought of the tragedy of Marc Reisner dying fairly young. I have no doubt he would have written a third edition of Cadillac Desert, had he lived long enough to have the hard science on global warming issues that we're getting today.

Well, short of that, we have James Powell writing "Dead Pool," a worthy successor to both that and Donald Worster's "Rivers of Empire."

Finally, refuting JFK assassination conspiracy theories:

First, "The Kennedy Detail" doesn't claim to be a "tell-all."Nor does it claim to be historical in the sense of an exhaustive investigation.

That said, NOTHING, not even a voice from Sinai with two tablets in hand, will satisfy conspiracy theorist. And, Jerry Blaine, in discussing how the rise of the Camelot myth/story is part of what drives many conspiracy theorists - simply being unable to believe a lone gunman could topple Camelot - knows this.

What this book does give you is the most thorough, and most honest, in-depth discussion of the JFK assassination from multiple members of the Presidential Detail.

Jerry Blaine never specifically says he had this book put in the third-person to avoid putting too much spotlight on himself, but that may be part of why.

The "star" of the book is Clint Hill, talking in print in detail for the first time since the assassination. Hill, wracked for years by guilt at a high level even among the Secret Service, had been the chief agent for Jackie Kennedy, and the agent seen leaping, but just too late to save Jack, on the back of the presidential limousine.