{"product_id":"the-first-all-star-game-babe-ruth-fdr-and-america-at-the-crossroads","title":"The First All-Star Game: Babe Ruth, FDR and America at the Crossroads","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eThe First All-Star Game: \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"This was more than a baseball game. [Sullivan] credibly positions it as a bracing, if momentary, restorative for a sport and a country that had endured more than three years of economic depression . . . The strongest element of this book is the colorful cast of characters who stride and sometimes stumble through its pages. Mr. Sullivan's portraits are judicious and sharp, and he makes good use of pungent quotes from the newspaper scribes of the day.\"--\u003cb\u003eBen Yagoda, \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"[A] splendid origin story . . . Throughout, Sullivan paints the vivid political and socioeconomic backdrop for the game and offers a concise play-by-play of the event. Ruth, of course, hit a home run. An excellent account that even diehard fans might not have realized they were missing.\"--\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A stellar matchup . . . With the first All-Star Game taking place in 1933 Chicago, [Sullivan] delivers a lively portrait of the city and nation, with an emphasis of crime, politics, and, of course, baseball . . . Some players in the book are familiar (Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Grove), but there are plenty of unknowns, revived here for new and old fans alike. A fine account of baseball's 'Game of the Century.'\"--\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for Randall Sullivan: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A master class in the difficult art of first-person, narrative nonfiction\"\u003cb\u003e--Clancy Martin, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review, \u003c\/i\u003e on \u003ci\u003eThe Devil's Best Trick\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A tour-de-force... Sullivan's reportage is extraordinary, his narrative enthralling.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eRolling Stone \u003c\/i\u003eon \u003ci\u003eThe Price of Experience\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Sullivan has done what every aspiring true-crime writer hopes to do: He has crossed the line from titillation into cultural history.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e on \u003ci\u003eThe Price of Experience\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A huge, mesmerizing book.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e on \u003ci\u003eThe Price of Experience\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The pages seem to turn themselves.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e on \u003ci\u003eThe Price of Experience\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Intensive, engaging investigative journalism.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e on \u003ci\u003eDead Wrong\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRandall Sullivan \u003c\/b\u003ewas a contributing editor to \u003ci\u003eRolling Stone\u003c\/i\u003e for over twenty years. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eGraveyard of the Pacific\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDead Wrong\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Price of Experience\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLAbyrinth\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Miracle Detective\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eUntouchable\u003c\/i\u003e. His work has been published in, among many other places, \u003ci\u003eWired\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOutside\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMen's Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, and the \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Oregon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAcclaimed journalist Randall Sullivan tells the story of baseball in America, from its rough-and-tumble origins through the first decades of the twentieth century and into the pivotal summer of 1933--when national crisis and a sport's fight for survival converged in baseball's first All-Star Game\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1933. America was still reeling from the crash. Breadlines stretched around city blocks, and shantytowns sprawled in the shadows of skyscrapers. American optimism was fading--and baseball was in trouble, too. Owners slashed budgets, fans stayed home, and even the mighty Babe Ruth seemed to have lost some of his magic. The election of Franklin D. Roosevelt offered hope, but just days before his inauguration, five shots rang out--missing the president-elect, killing the mayor of Chicago, and setting in motion a chain of events that would eventually bring together the world's best ballplayers for the first All-Star Game.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was a newspaperman's idea: \u003ci\u003eThe Game of the Century\u003c\/i\u003e. Put the world's best players on one field and let the public decide who belonged there. At a moment when some feared the national pastime would not survive the decade, Chicago would host the ballgame as the highlight of the 1933 World's Fair. The city hoped to shed its reputation as a haven for gamblers and gangsters and help restore America's standing on the world stage. But abroad, dark clouds were gathering. Hitler was Germany's new chancellor, and Mussolini had consolidated his power. As visitors strolled the fairgrounds, Italian warplanes flew overhead, and a zeppelin sent by the German delegation circled the city emblazoned with a swastika.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe First All-Star Game\u003c\/i\u003e is the story of a nation and a sport at a crossroads, and a sweeping look back at baseball's early history and the America that shaped it. Deeply researched and filled with remarkable characters--legendary players like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Lefty Grove rubbing shoulders with Bonnie and Clyde, Al Capone, and Charles Lindbergh--Randall Sullivan explores the history of an American obsession and captures the moment when both the sport and the nation found renewal in a single spectacle of hope.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eBooklist\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/01\/2026 (EAN 9780802167361, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 06\/15\/2026 (EAN 9780802167361, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Atlantic Monthly Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496208793878,"sku":"9780802167361","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9780802167361.jpg?v=1783057587","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/the-first-all-star-game-babe-ruth-fdr-and-america-at-the-crossroads","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}