Philip Seib

Being a life-and-times constructed around the exploits of Mathewson, arguably baseball's greatest pitcher. The book rambles through America's ragtime era even more widely than do most books in the era; the only usable biographical detail concerns Mathewson's schooldays and excruciating last years. The other chapters begin by spotlighting a moment in Mathewson's life--often unrelated to baseball-- and then taking off on a ramble through the religion, politics, sociology, or literature of the day.Life-and-times derives a great deal of its charm from the author casting their net widely, but I felt at times that there was too much gravy and not enough meat here; fine for anyone who has read (and retained) a Mathewson biography, or, conversely, isn't interested in baseball, but perhaps lacking for others.… (mais)