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interesting book about sports biggest jerk and cheat
“ Jeff Pearlman had written a good book which will shed light on what all baseball fans already know...Barry Bonds is the biggest jerk in sports history and everything he accomplished in his career is tainted from his obvious use of illegal, immoral supplements which enabled him to set every bogus record he set.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-10-21.
As a baseball fan for almost 50 years, I had almost forgotten what a bum Barry`s father Bobby was. This book helped me remember. Bobby Bonds was a marvelous talent with a despicable outlook on life. Bobby was shown to be a constant drunk which made him a lousy husband, father, man, and finally ruined his career.
Love Me, Hate Me, tells the story of how Barry Bonds head actually grew in his late thirties, sometning that can only occur two ways...have a medical problem that affects only a tiny percentage of the globe`s inhabitants (most famous victim was the late wrestler, Andre The Giant), or, by using human growth hormone. Barry does not suffer from the disease.
The book also touches on the fact, that while the entire rest of the world detested Barry Bonds, the San Fransisco Bay area absolutely loved him. The people there knew he was an insufferable pain in the rear, an ego-maniac and a blatant cheater, but, he was THEIR pain in the rear, THEIR ego-maniac and THEIR cheater and they just didn`t care how he accumulated his numbers.
As a charter member of the Bonds hater club, the book gives me something to be happy about. While this man has unfairly destroyed baseball`s record book with his steroid juiced up body, he is not stupid. He knows he has almost no friends in the world and that most people hate him, and therefore, he is shown to be a truly unhappy person with a miserable life. All I can say is...serves him right.” -
One of the best sports themed books out there!
“The author, Jeff Pearlman, did his homework on this tour-de-force. I'm a GIANTS FAN, so I take exception to jabs thrown at my hometown's hero. But this book is sooo well written, it's hard to not begin to see Barry in a different eye. But whatever. He's hell to handle, but dude was/is/forever will be a MONSTER HITTER and the greatest of this generation, steroids or not. The 'roids don't help you make contact.. if so, all those drug using ballplayers would have smashed records previously owned by the baseball immortals. But this book shows that Bonds is a catalytic force. His physical achievements will be forever challenged and his reputation did him more harm than good. But all in all, an excellent portrayal of a Bonds I never knew existed, and I've lived in San Francisco my entire life. Great great book.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-03-27.
Also, quick, the seller rocks. Sent it quick and in excellent condition. ” -
1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
"I can't do this anymore"
“Once, 2 years before he quit playing, Bonds made the statement that all the strain of making 16 million a year for playing a game was just too much. I imagine Barry did have difficulty following in the paths of earlier family members who also played the sport. Bonds never diunderstood, like a few that play today, is that you cannot treat people like insignificants and expect them to like you. A book written by Gary Sheffield documents almost everything the author writes about Bonds. Barry is the kind of player, according to Perleman, that when something good happens--like hitting a home run- the world is just barely tolerable. Now, if a call strike occurs on Bonds, this only cements the belief. Bonds insists he did not take steroids, but the entire world (well almost) knows he did. In his contempt, Barry insisted that everything be his way or no way at all. There are just so many books written about this guy, but give credit. Forging this terrible attitude that Bonds must have, in part at least, was his baseball coach at Arizona State. He permitted Barry to be treated better than anyone, hence, the "I am perfect" mold began to form. Bonds did have a "few" bad moments in his career, as Perleman notes in his story of the World Series of the Angels and Giants in 2002 when Bonds literally falls on his face trying to field an outfield hit and ensuing error cost his team the game. What I beleive most will get out of this book is that Bonds had contempt for everyone from Babe Ruth to the worst rookie in pro ball. Bonds would have you believe he did not care about anything while playing the game or driving his car. He seems to possess disdain for a sport for racism ( but which paid him so much) as he when he referernced that a "black man" could not "get away" with the special previlegdes that Roger Clemens had with the Astros. But like all that he was I believe most of this was put on. What Barry Bonds was good at was tremendous eye hand coordination and the ability to pick what the opposing pitching was going to throw. In balls going 90-95mph or knowing a curve is coming beforehand trumps everything for a hitter. In one story, Perleman mentions how he teaches HOF manager Dusty Baker how well he 'reads a pitcher, predicting 6 consecutive pitches while Baker watches in amazement. Reading this book might remind you of a few guys who came before Barry: Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby just to name two. Tremendous talent with terrible attitudes. This book is much more than about baseball. Highly recommended because Perleman does such an excellent job of following a career which indeed must have been very difficult. guyairey”
An amazon user wrote this on 2008-10-31. -
Very interesting read
“This is quite simply one of the best sports biographies I have ever read. It is written in a very readable and interesting manner. Very highly recommended.”
An amazon user wrote this on 2007-07-10. -
5 of 5 members found this review helpful.
A Different Perspective
“The author certainly did his homework by interviewing over 500 people who have had some interaction with Bonds over his life in order to write this book. What was grat about this book was that it wasn't written by Bonds or from the perspective of the author it was more other peoples true experiences about Bonds spun into a book. This was a fresh look at this guy and not written to drag him down or to glorify him, you are left to make your own opinion. I liked it.”
An amazon user wrote this on 2006-08-26.
