Richard Sandomir - The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic

Packed with fascinating new detail, The Pride of the Yankees will be the delight of baseball fans and movie buffs. Think of it as a triple play: great ballplayer, great movie, great book.

Jonathan Eig, New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig

You must read Richard Sandomirs book Youll be doneand ready to watch the movie all over again.

New York Post

The brave, tragic story of Lou Gehrig, the great baseball player, was a script waiting to be written. With affection and reportorial savvy, Richard Sandomir describes how one myth begat another to produce the legendary baseball movie that still can make people cry. The Pride of the Yankees recalls a lost world, when Hollywood had the power to create dreams that people wanted to believe.

Julie Salamon, New York Times bestselling author of The Devils Candy and Wendy and the Lost Boys

New York Times sports columnist Richard Sandomir reveals for the first time the full story behind the pioneering, seminal movie. Filled with larger-than-life characters and unexpected facts, the book shows us how Samuel Goldwyn had no desire to make a baseball film but he was persuaded to make a quick deal with Lous widow, Eleanor, not long after Gehrig had passed. A great book if you want to know, in the immortal words of the late Paul Harvey, the rest of the story.

Forbes.com

If youre a baseball fan, if youre a sports fan, or if youre just a fan of good books, this is the one to get.

Michael Kay, TV commentator for the Yankees

There are very few great movies about sports, but after more than seventy years The Pride of the Yankees remains at the top of the roster because it focuses on the pride and grace that sports, at their best, display. As Richard Sandomirs fascinating book shows, this beautiful movie emerged simply because Samuel Goldwyn needed a vehicle for Gary Cooper, whose gift for quiet anguish made Lou Gehrig immortal. Its an irresistible story.

Scott Eyman, New York Times bestselling author of John Wayne: Life and Legend

Sandomir spotlights a significant moment in baseball history and solidifies Gehrig for a new generation of Yankees fans.

ESPN.com

Richard Sandomir was as well cast to write this book as Gary Cooper was to play the great Gehrig. Baseball fans and movie lovers will devour this book.

David Maraniss, New York Times bestselling author of When Pride Still Mattered and Clemente

An authoritative take on whats factual (not that much), whats fanciful (a whole lot), and whats a bit of both fans of film and baseball will appreciate Sandomirs book.

Associated Press

How was Lou Gehrigs timeless story brought to the big screen? Richard Sandomir answers that question with deft precision and warmth.

Tim McCarver, legendary baseball analyst and winner of the Baseball Hall of Fames Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting

In this emotional and fascinating tale, Sandomir brilliantly captures the spirit of the film and Gehrigs life. Film lovers and baseball fans will enjoy.

Library Journal

When it comes to the confluence of sports, business, and culture, nobody hits and fields like Richard Sandomir, an all-star, maybe even an Iron Horse.

Robert Lipsyte, author of An Accidental Sportswriter

Sandomir has written a great book about a movie and a man who has inspired millions. Timed to the seventy-fifth anniversary of the films release, it would make an excellent Fathers Day gift.

Sporting News

More than the story of a movie or even an era of baseball, Richard Sandomirs brilliantly reported book transports us back to an age of real heroes who had both grit and elegance. In doing so, he issues a valuable challenge to todays stars: character matters.

James Andrew Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN

Sandomir does a fine job telling the story not only of a classic sports film but a pioneering one in a genre that barely existed before Its all in the book.

Newsday

An affectionate look at the making of the 1942 baseball biopic, The Pride of the Yankees, the rarest of moviesan American icon played by an American icon.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A fabulous new book meticulously researched and well written.

Ed Randall, host on MLB Radio

Think you know all there is to know about Lou Gehrig and the movie that so movingly tells his tragic story? Think again. In this fascinating new book, the great Richard Sandomir takes us inside the making of The Pride of the Yankees while also delivering rich new detail about Gehrigs short life. Its a clich to say this book is a home run, but its true.

Christine Brennan, USA Today sports columnist and commentator at ABC News, CNN, and NPR

Terrific.

Jeremy Schaap, ESPN correspondent

To Griffin, my beautiful love