Rating: 
Summary: disappointing
Review: Ever since my Little League-youth, when my grandfather used to regale us with tales of the Splendid Splinter, I've always considered Ted Williams my favorite of the Greats. So I was excited to see this book released but found it disappointing.Montville tries to be too artsy with his style: one-word sentences, one-word paragraphs, lots of repetition. For the most part, the prose is readable, but it clashes with the book's subject, who was many things, maybe even a bit of a rebel, but not artsy. Worse, for a book that approaches 500 pages of text, it is surprisingly superficial. Williams's World War II service gets a chapter, as does his more eventful Korean War experience; both chapters are thin and barely scratch the surface. Even the 1941 season (.406!!) gets lean treatment. I like the parallel he tries to draw with Joe DiMaggio (The Streak!!)--Montville writes, "Edge: DiMaggio" or "Edge: Williams"--but I wish he would have explored it more. Before the book is halfway through, Williams retires from playing (the chapter on his last game is probably the book's best; Montville nicely captures the atmosphere of The Kid's famous last at bat--and no tip of the hat), and the book then focuses on his marriages, his fishing, his work for Sears, as well as a fair amount of gossip-type stories. The main character of the second part is Ted's son John-Henry. At times, Ted drops out entirely as Montville recounts the life and despicable behavior of the son, who used his father as a money-making machine. I finished knowing more about John-Henry than Ted. Too often, Montville lets his sources speak for themselves rather than crafting a narrative from his interviews. The end result is a very distant portrait of Williams; we see him mostly and explicitly through other people's eyes. I'll stick with My Turn at Bat.
Rating: 
Summary: WILLIAMS IS NOT A GOD
Review: I always loved Ted Williams more than any other athlete. He truly was an American hero. However, some of his comments about Jesus Christ in this book are disturbing to me, and while I will always admire him, I admire him less because of what he said.
Rating: 
Summary: The Complete Biography
Review: I enjoyed the book and would buy it again. Having said that the book only rates 4 stars because the author spends too much time - in my opinion - on non baseball issues after Ted Williams had retired. Here is my rational. This is a detailed biography written by the former Boston Globe sports columnist Leigh Montville using a combination of many interviews and lots of background research. He puts it all together with a nice selection of photos to produce a detailed and comprehensive biography of Ted Williams. It is about 500 pages long and remarkably fair. Although the book is 500 pages long the author dedicates only about 175 pages or 1/3 to his actual playing career. The rest covers a lot of detail on some crazy subjects such as the "Refrigeration" and his other marriages or many fishing trips. I think the book would have been better with more baseball and less post baseball, but that is my opinion that it deserves just 4 stars for him as a player but maybe 5 stars as a "personal" biography covering his whole life. But I bought the book as a baseball fan so as a baseball book it gets 4 stars. I have read and posted reviews on other baseball books from David Cone to Pete Rose, Babe Ruth and DiMaggio, and on the Oakland A's, Cooperstown, and the Cal Ripkin's book on baseball skills recently published. This book is similar in quality and scope of the DiMaggio book "The Hero's Life" - a book that I thought was excellent and sparked controversy about DiMaggio's personal life - and interestingly covers the same time period including that famous 1941 season when Williams broke 400 in Boston while DiMaggio had the 56 game streak with the Yankees. The book is somewhat similar to the DiMaggio book - in that it gives a fairly well researched and informative picture on and off the field. There is much to discuss about the book such as his exhibition game with Babe Ruth, the 1946 world series, his days in the marines air corps, Korea, etc. But again, the book covers a lot more than baseball. It is 500 pages long and by page 260 the vote is in and he is on his way to Cooperstown, so it covers him to the end of his life in detail with about half on his post playing career. His actual MLB playing is covered in about one third of the book and for myself those sections where he is playing for Boston are the most interesting parts of the book, and I skipped a couple of late chapters, I had read enough, and did not need to read 35 pages on the "Refrigeration" episode at the end of the book and similar stories about fishing or other marriages. In comparing him to DiMaggio it is clear that Williams was more of a loner on the field than even the reserved DiMaggio, no matter what either did off the field. Williams has a complex and thin skinned personality. He takes time to help many young fans and sick children and for that he is loved and admired. He is bigger than life. Unfortunately, and even though in some ways Williams is likeable in the book, Williams reminds me of some modern players that are often surly around the press, sometimes poison in the dressing room, and seem more interested in their personal contract than the win loss record of their own team. We are told in the book that sometimes it was clear that team's winning came second to his personal performance in determining his post game mood in the clubhouse. But taking that to the next step and saying that is why they never won a World Series is not 100% clear since Boston did not seem to have the player roster depth of other teams like the Yankees, and Williams had an elbow injury during the 46 World Series - the best Boston shot of winning that championship when he played - and when he had his so called "choke". So it is impossible to make a definitive conclusion from the book. In any case, he is one of the best hitters to have ever played, and if he had been a Yankee I am sure he would have been on many winning teams. Quite good and I learned a lot about Ted Williams and baseball, but I skipped most of the last half, the personal trivia. Jack in Toronto
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic biography!!
Review: I enjoyed this book so much! I have always been a fan, but this book taught me about the man. Where are the Ted Williamss today?
Rating:
Summary: I Want Montville to Write My Biography
Review: I picked up this book shortly after the Red Sox improbable comeback against the Yankees and their World Series victory more our of curiosity than any great love of Ted Williams. After all, Williams played before I was born. What I had read before of him was interesting and being a fan of baseball I realized that there are few people who rank higher in baseball lore.
This biography changed many of my opinions. It takes an exceptional writer to captivate the interest of a reader when the reader is somewhat ambivalent about the subject. After the reading the book, I can now say that I'm better informed about Williams (Both good and bad), understand the basis for his legend as a hitter, and am interested in reading more about him from other sources.
The bottom line is that I would recommend this book along with Montville's biography of Dale Earnhardt as well. Montville makes dull subjects interesting and interesting subjects fascinating.
My only quibble with the book is that he fails to mention a Sports Illustrated Article in the mid 1980's that Peter Gammons wrote about a meeting that Williams had with Wade Boggs and Don Mattingly. The article was a recounting of a night when the three great hitters talked about the science of hitting. I was only 12 or 13 years when I read that article, but it always stuck with me because at one point Williams claimed that on rare occaisons when you hit the ball perfectly, you can actually smell a burning or smoke smell from the bat. Until I read this book, it was the best thing I ever read about Ted Williams but Montville, a former Sports Illustrated writer never refers to it in the book.
Nevertheless, it's a great baseball book that makes great reading.
Rating:
Summary: Great book, Intriguing life, Interesting man, Tragic end
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have always been intrigued by Ted Williams. As a baseball fan, who can't? My college baseball coaches played for Williams when he was manager of the Washington Senators and Texas Rangers, which made this book all the more interesting to me. I am glad that Montville didn't spend the majority of the book on his baseball days, though, because other books have done that. Try "Hitter" if you want details of the baseball career. I was more interested in his post career life and since much of the book is about that and the writing style of Montville is so readable, I really enjoyed the book. In my opinion, Ted Williams is an American Hero, an icon. Very few people can ever boast of the accomplishments that Ted achieved. Yet to me, Ted is a tragic figure. With all his accomplishments, he was a bad father and a bad husband, but his giving to those in need helped so many people. He really didn't think very much of his mother, but I can't help compare ted's life to hers. Both gave themselves over completely to their own desires and passions while ignoring family. Ted hated his mother for this and yet he did the same thing, only the passions were different. To me, Ted's life was an enigma. I agree with the other reviewer who wrote about how disturbing Ted's views of Jesus were. As a Christian, they disturbed me too. But at the same time, I can understand why he was so angry. His mother basically was never around. Ted and his brother were practically abandoned because their mother spent SO much time doing God's work, that she had no time for her own kids. I can see where Ted viewed God as the enemy. I believe he felt unloved and neglected because of God. I believe the anger (especially toward God) began right then, as a child and carried all the way to the grave. To me, that is tragic! It grieves me that Ted presumably never found peace with God and I wish he had. As a ballplayer, I'd want him on my team. As a soldier, I'd want him on my side. As a fisherman, not many better. As a giver of his time and energy to the needy and the "small person", terrific. Most every other part of his life had warts, but who doesn't. This book covers it all and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get to know the life of Mr. Williams. I give high regards to Leigh Montville's work here. Therefore, 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Great look at the man
Review: If you love baseball and its players, you should buy this book. Raymond Austin
Television director of The Saint, The Avengers, Hawaii Five-O, Hart to Hart, Vegas, Quincy, Magnum, P.I., AirWolf, Spencer: For Hire, JAG and many others. And the author of, "The Eagle Heist" and "Dead Again" from the Beauford Sloan Mystery series.
Rating:
Summary: Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero
Review: In 1941, Ted Williams became the last major league baseball player to hit .400 for a season. Over his career, he hit for average (.344 lifetime). He hit for power (521 home runs, a figure that might have nudged close to Hank Aaron's all time record of 755 had he not lost significant time to service in two wars). And he hit with flair (6 for 8 in the final doubleheader of 1941 to wrap up his .406 season, a 1946 All Star Game home run off Rip Sewell's trick "eephus" pitch, and a home run in his last career trip to the plate in 1960). All the while, he feuded with demanding Boston sportswriters and fans. He fought with three wives and his three children, who in turn fought among themselves. After his death in 2002, he was the center of a public outcry and more family feuding over his son John-Henry's decision to have his body cryogenically preserved. With material like this, Sports Illustrated veteran Montville could hardly fail to produce this winner. Recommended for all public libraries.
Rating:
Summary: A Truly Great Baseball Biography
Review: It's all there- subtantial detail about all the good and bad of this tremendously talented, very famous, interesting and complex man. The book is well written and very entertaining. I couldn't put it down and finished it in 3-4 days. It covers all stages of Williams' life. I liked the fact that it covered a lot of his post-baseball life. I especially liked the interviews with and anecdotes from many of the players from Williams era, as well as his friends, ex-wives and associates. I grew up in the 50s, so I could relate to many of these players and their comments. The only negative is that it could have had less detail on the intracies of fishing- since I'm not a fisherman. The book is probably the best baseball biography I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: Leigh Montville digs deep into the life of Ted Williams to discover what it takes to become the best. As we find out Williams' case, it was at the expense of his family and Montville gives an honest portrayal of a true baseball icon. Ted Williams was larger than life -- but he was still human and Monville isn't afraid to show the flaws. Williams was a complicated man for people to understand and mostly because he wasn't going to conform to what he was 'supposed to do'. This book is a must if you're a sports fan and even if you're not its good story of success against the odds.
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