Hustle: The Myth, Life, and Lies of Pete Rose

by Michael Sokolove

Book Overview

This riveting book detailing the rise and fall of baseball legend Pete Rose is "a first-class work of sound reporting and inescapable conclusions" (Roger Angell).

Who is Pete Rose? Is he Charlie Hustle, the all-American kid who never grew up, who pushed and stretched himself to get the most out of his limited talent, who would do anything in his power to win and to be a part of the game he loved? Or is he the bloated ex-athlete who...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743284445
• ISBN13: 9780743284448
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Remarkably Evenhanded

I am no Reds fan and was only casually interested in Pete Rose before reading the book. I thought the author was remarkably evenhanded in writing about Rose. The book is soup-to-nuts, it talks about Rose's parents in great depth. The author did not have access to Rose's children, nor that many teammates from the Reds. But he spoke to just about everybody else. This book is NOT a hatchet job. Sokolove comes out strongly for Rose's enshrinement in Coopertwon, but wants him banned permanently from the game. He makes a convincing point that the "character" issue that gets cited by Rose's detractors is vague and meaningless and should NOT be used to keep Rose out of Cooperstown. He does not speculate why Rose seems so obsessed about Coopertwon, though. He also comes up with some great points that as a player, Rose was quite overrated. But he also gives Rose credit in many ways. Rose was friendly to most sportswriters for selfish purposes but also for other reasons. Bottom line, Rose comes across as a nuanced character in this book, not a sterotype. That is quite an accomplishment.

Amazing incite into Pete Rose: the man, the legend, the gambler.

A very well written book about Pete Rose. I had always been a fan of Pete's and wondered why people would critisize him so much for betting on baseball (when he would only bet for his team to win...), and now I understand. This book gives you a peek into Pete's life that no news reporter has ever been able to share with the public. I am always critical of reporters but Michael Sokolove's reporting will make you step back and take another look at Pete Rose the man, and will make you wonder if he really cares about anybody but himself. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to any baseball/sports fan. I loved it so much that I bought another copy for my father for christmas this year.

Charlie Hustle exposed

This book nicely represents the seedy side of Pete Rose - a man with no real friends and very few principles. Sokolove portrays Rose as being only out for himself, illustrated at its peek in his chase for Cobb's record. It was interesting to read how many of his contemporaries felt Rose looked foolish chasing the record with such diminished skills. What may be even sadder is how the Commissioners' office looked the other way for so many years as his gambling problem grew worse. Bowie Kuhn really does not come out looking really strong in his attempt to "clean up" baseball, especially after the drug scandals of the late 70s. Unfortunately, his office's refusal to seriously confront Rose in the 70s led Rose to believe that he was beyond the rules. And, as usually occurs, this led to the crash and destruction of a supposed American hero - finally exposed for his lies and selfishness. The truth must really hurt for his fans in Cincinnati, who praised and adored him for so many years. Somewhere, Ray Fosse is smiling right now.

An Excellent Study of the Enigmatic Pete Rose

Sokolove's book is truly an excellent read. Although the title gives the connotation that the book is going to be a hatchet job on Pete Rose, the book is actually carefully researched and well written. I have been a Pete Rose fan for most of my life. I admired his determination and ability to play each game as though it were the seventh game of the World Series. (If we only had players like that today . . .) Sokolove does a great job at capturing the qualities that made him one of baseball's greatest players. However, Pete Rose was also a shady character who loved having an entourage perform errands for him and tell him how great he was. Pete Rose, as a beloved baseball star, felt that he was above the rest of society and eventually this caught up to him in 1989-1990. Sokolove delves deeply into the character flaws of Rose that ultimately led to his exile from baseball and imprisonment for tax fraud. What is particularly interesting about Sokolove's book is how he deals with the careful way Rose constructed his own mythology by using the press to his advantage. In sum, this book is the story of a great player and flawed personality who learned (I hope) the hard way that even if you have 4256 hits in Major League Baseball, you can still end up like Oedipus in Colonus.

Very Well Balanced Informative Biography

This is a well written, thoroughly researched biography. A great many former teammates and friends of Pete Rose were interviewed for the book. He is portrayed in both his positive and negative aspects. The conclusions drawn at the end seem very solid and built on a good foundation. I would recommend this book to any base ball fan and especially and Cincinnati Reds fan. I learned a good amount not only about Pete Rose but also about baseball during the 1960's - 1980's and the social history of the city of Cincinnati. While the book may seem like an attack on Rose at first glance it really is probably one of the most well balanced biographys I've ever read. Probably the most realistic book about Rose available.