Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul...

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City | Jonathan Mahler | WHAT A GREAT READ

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Ladies and Gentlem...

	Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City Jonathan Mahler Picador, 2006 - 376 pages average customer review:based on 50 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

1977 NYC Truly Revealed

New York City of 1977 was a very different place from New York City today, and, as an entertainment business, Major League Baseball was in its infancy, although the game itself has changed only moderately. I was a 16-year old New Yorker that summer, and for those with my profile---bred in NYC, baseball fans, now of a certain age---this masterful book is an unceasing pleasure.

It is really two books: one, a social history of New York City in that year---featuring the blackout, Son of Sam and the mayoral election (Abzug, Beame, Cuomo, Kotch and more--an all-star cast from the past) as the main events around which the time and place are evoked. The other book is the story of the soap opera that was the 1977 Yankees, a.k.a., the Bronx Zoo.

Both books within this book (and the tale jumps back and forth between the two, with little integration) are honestly, accurately rendered. This is really what New York City was like that year (as well as the Yankees). In truth, it was not a happy time, and Mahler's rendition neither softens it with a nostalgic lens nor exaggerates its harrowing moments. It is just true. And, if you lived it, I think you will greatly enjoy this trip back.

Because the two aspects of the book--social history and baseball story--are so independent, I might not recommend this book to someone not interested in both. Nonbaseball fans will be bored with the Yankee machinations, and for those looking for a "baseball book," this aint it. A finally caveat is that the material is so much a part of my own experience, that I'm not sure how much I was filling in blanks or investing passages with emotion from my own mind. A friend of mine whom I would have expected to greatly enjoy the book rated it as O.K.---but my friend is from California.

For a recreation of that time and place, however, this book is superb. And make no mistake, New York City in 1977 was no ordinary time and place. I certainly wouldn't have the City go back to those days of muggings and head shops and disco, which was also the launch point for punk rock and, tragically, for AIDS in this country. But there was a certain grittiness and (dark) form of "aliveness" that no longer exists in the Starbucks world. So enjoy this guided tour through the not-so-distant past.

(This review was written days before the launch of ESPN's miniseries of the book and about a year after I read it. The advance reviews I've seen of the miniseries are ominous. It the series stinks, don't let that deter you from the book).

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WHAT A GREAT READ

I found this book facinating. First of all, I love New York and am sometimes sorry I relocated to the West Coast. But, back to the book. Who would have guessed that so many events occured in one city in one year? Mahler gives it his all from the Yankees, the mayor race, the blackout to the Son of Sam.It reads like a good novel. You hate to put it down. The book makes me want to subscribe to the New York Times.Whether you are a New Yorker or not, you'll enjoy this book. GO YANKEES.

1977

This book brought back memories from my youth growing up in New York city at that time. It also enlightened me in that I did not realize how big of a year 1977 was for New York. I felt at times using the Yankees was a stretch but being a huge Yankee fan then it did not bother me, but may bother others.

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1977 IN NEW YORK; A WILD YEAR

THIS BOOK CHRONICLED 1977 IN NEW YORK CITY. IT COVERED THE MAYORAL RACE, THE LOCAL NEWSPAPERS, THE YANKEES, THE SON OF SAM AND THE BLACKOUT. AS A YOUNG BOY GROWING UP IN NEW YORK CITY DURING 1977 I HAVE HAZY RECOLLECTIONS OF ALL OF THE TOPICS COVERED IN THIS BOOK. I REALLY ENJOYED GOING BACK 30 YEARS AND RELIVING THESE INCIDENTS. IT'S AMAZING THAT ALL OF THIS HAPPENED IN ONE YEAR IN ONE US CITY. THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK THAT COVERS SOME GREAT AND INFAMOUS EVENTS. I MOST ENJOYED THE SECTIONS ON THE BLACKOUT AND THE SON OF SAM. THE PARTS ON THE YANKEES GAVE AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE TURBULENT TIMES SURROUNDING REGGIE JACKSON AND BILLY MARTIN. IT IS AN EASY READ THAT I HAD TROUBLE PUTTING DOWN.

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Did most of what it set out to do

A year in the life of NYC, 1977 as the title tells us, and a pretty interesting year to observe. The social and political and economic unrest were at levels we have almost forgotten, and even more have we forgotten the cumulative sense that this was destiny. The rising murder rate, the Son of Sam in particular, the riots and social anarchy and growing crime and grime rate all seemed like an inexorable march to decay in 1977, and Mahler dissertates well on this.

Much like "The Devil in the White City", this book tries to tie several disparate topics together in somewhat unnatural ways, but overall the reader is able to follow and the stories flow well. I'm not a Yankees fan, but I was able to generate interest in the Reggie Jackson Billy Martin conflict that was a highlight, and microcosm, of the Yankees and New York in 1977.
Finally we had the story of the surprise win of Ed Koch in the mayoral election over Mario Cuomo. Koch is always an interesting figure, and more could've been spent on this and on Koch for my part, although he was just developing as a character in those days. And who other than a New Yorker would've remembered that Bella Abzug was a major player in those days. New York is definitely a different town than it was in 1977. I know it's a city, but it's also a hell of a town.

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