Book Review: The Last Folk Hero

Bo Jackson hit a ball to the moon. Outran an IndyCar. Lifted an entire skyscraper on his shoulders. Threw a ball from the West Coast to the East Coast. Hiked the ball to himself, threw it 90 yards, and then caught it himself for a touchdown. Scaled a foul pole in a single leap to rob a home run.

None of these claims appear in The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson by Jeff Pearlman, but they could have--and that's the point. Jackson, a professional football and baseball star who also excelled at track and field in college, is the Paul Bunyan of our times, a mythical figure who exploded onto the American sports scene in the '80s and then quietly disappeared.

Pearlman's long and exhaustively researched account of the life and times of one of history's greatest athletes--and perhaps, in the estimation of many, the greatest athlete--tells the story of Jackson's humble beginnings, meteoric rise, and sudden retirement. He interviewed more than 700 people to write the comprehensive book that proves, while "Bo knows," you don't know Bo.

Image via Indianapolis Public Library

This is a long and engaging read detailing Jackson's storied pro sports career. The journey began at Alabama's McAdory High School, where Jackson starred in football, baseball, and track and field. Each sport allowed him to show off prodigious speed and power. He won state championships in decathlon despite skipping the 1,500 meter-run. He hit 20 home runs in 25 games during his senior year. He averaged nearly 10 yards a carry as a senior running back.

While many out-of-state colleges recruited him, Jackson wanted to stay in Alabama. He chose Auburn over Alabama, mostly because Auburn appeared invested in him while Alabama's recruitment effort felt perfunctory. At Auburn, the Tigers were national title contenders but never reached the mountaintop, although Jackson won the Heisman. He also dabbled in baseball, displaying prodigious power and speed, and competed in track and field.

The New York Yankees drafted Jackson, who decided to attend Auburn on a football scholarship to fulfill a promise to his mother to attend college. He turned down a signing bonus of $250,000, making this an extraordinary decision for a man whose family was dirt poor. After his college career ended, Jackson opted to sign with the Kansas City Royals instead of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Bucs chose Jackson in the NFL Draft, but Jackson believed the team misled him about whether a flight to team facilities was approved by the NCAA. The trip destroyed his remaining baseball eligibility, and Jackson vowed never to play for the ramshackle franchise.

Jackson would go on to star for the Royals and the Raiders. Kansas City constantly worried about a football injury affecting his baseball career while the Raiders had to live with the fact that the end of baseball season overlapped with the start of football season. Also, Raiders owner Al Davis started to seethe over Jackson's popularity, as Davis wanted to be the star of the show and the face of the franchise.

Jackson struggled with a stutter throughout his life, although his interviews improved somewhat as his career progressed. Nike managed to turn this into a positive with its "Bo Knows" ads, one of the most innovative commercial campaigns in history. The ads capitalized on Jackson's role as a two-sport star, putting him in additional sports with other stars.

On the football and baseball fields, Jackson performed feats of unparalleled athleticism--impossible throws, impossible homers, impossible touchdown runs. With his on-the-field performance and "Bo Knows" campaign, Jackson transformed into a megastar. 

But the story wouldn't have a happy ending. Jackson suffered a devastating hip injury in a playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals. It ended his football career, killed the hype, and led to hip replacement surgery. The Royals cut him and Jackson resurfaced with the Chicago White Sox as a shell of his former self. He played an additional season for the Angels before retiring (thanks, in no small part, to the baseball strike).

The fact that he even returned to baseball was a miracle, given the severity of his hip injury.

Bo Jackson was a man of contradictions. With the media, he was often surly and dismissive. Yet, he would complain about his treatment in the media and take it personally when reporters didn't cover some of the exceptional things he did in sports. He often treated teammates and clubhouse staff with cruelty, and few would call him a good teammate, especially in his early years.

On the other hand, Jackson was capable of incredible empathy. He would buy suits for rookie ballplayers, visit sick children in the hospital, and give generously to charities. Since he grew up poor, he had a soft spot for kids, especially those facing financial difficulties and terminal illnesses. Later in his career, colleagues would consider him the best teammate they ever had.

He was a complicated man, shy and reflective in his personal life--traits that often came off as cold and disinterested to those who didn't know him. He also possessed a Steve Jobsian "Reality Distortion Field"--the ability to believe something completely absurd and convince others of the same thing.

While Jackson didn't want to be interviewed for the book, he gave Pearlman his blessing to tell his story. 

I consider this a must-read for any sports fan. Jackson isn't the most likeable person alive, but he remains, without a doubt, a fascinating figure and our last great folk hero.

Book Review: Western Lane

Chetna Maroo's Western Lane is a relatively short, quiet coming-of-age novel.

Set in 1980s London, it follows a family in turmoil after the death of their mother. Gopi emerges as a particularly talented squash player, and trains under the watchful eye of her hollowed-out father. As her on-court skills become apparent, she devotes more time to the sport, and begins to distance herself from her two sisters.

Image via Indianapolis Public Library

This is a "quiet" book with lean prose that seldom hits the reader over the head. As I'm not well versed in the sport of squash or the '80s squash scene (that Jahangir Khan, referenced many times in the book, was quite the player!), some of the references required context clues and the occasional Google search for me to understand.

The dynamics of grief and coping, however, require no Google searches. This is where the book excels, with Gopi, who narrates from a first-person perspective, doing all the heavy lifting. While a short read, there is a heaviness to this book, the pervasive sense that things aren't right and may never be right again.

As she navigates grief and loss, she also diligently practices on the court. Her squash abilities, practiced with precision at Western Lane, the local sports complex, grow and it's clear she's the best among her three sisters. Her father oversees her constant training, and the two watch old tapes of professional matches to sharpen her skills and understanding.

She also meets Ged, another talented squash player whose mother works at Western Lane. The two train together and Gopi clearly develops an affection for him. As this is a coming-of-age tale, she's not entirely sure how to proceed, nor does she completely understand the breadth of her feelings.

The book culminates in an out-of-town squash tournament. Gopi makes it to the final. Will a victory signal her triumph over grief or leave her unsatisfied?

The book explores themes of grief, coping, family pressure, adolescence, and heartbreak. I give it a recommendation for its unique cultural perspective (a Pakistani family living in '80s London) and restrained, often beautiful writing.

Book Review: Home Is Where the Bodies Are

This one had nothing to do with comp titles or finding something similar to my work in progress, making it (like Batman Revolution) a pure pleasure read.

Jeneva Rose's Home Is Where the Bodies Are is page-turning thriller with a simple enough setup. The family matriarch is dead, and three estranged siblings gather in their Wisconsin hometown to take care of funeral arrangements and sift through her belongings.

Their father disappeared years ago, splitting the family apart. We experience the story through the differing perspectives of the three siblings. Beth, the oldest, never left home and cared for their mother; Nicole, the middle child, struggled with addiction throughout her adult life; and Michael, the youngest, left home and went on to have a lucrative career in the tech space.

Image via Indianapolis Public Library

They don't get along at all, and old hurts quickly go from a simmer to a boil. They fight about their pasts, opportunities unfilled, their strained relationship with their parents and each other, money, and all the other things families tend to bicker about over the course of their lives.

While going through their mother's belongings, they come across a videotape that appears to implicate their parents in the case of a little girl whose death became a high-profile blight on the town. In the video, their father is covered in blood and their mother agrees to help him hide the body.

Is their father a killer? Is that why he disappeared years ago and was later presumed dead? What possible justification could their parents have for trying to cover up a little girl's death?

Slowly but surely, the siblings follow the clues and tease out new bits of information. Expect shocking revelations and some twists that may require the slightest suspension of disbelief in order to swallow. 

I'm sure frequent mystery readers will have it figured out less than midway through, but I found it to be a generally absorbing read.