Product Description

It was an epic downfall. In twenty-four seasons pitcher Roger Clemens put together one of the greatest careers baseball has ever seen. Seven Cy Young Awards, two World Series championships, and 354 victories made him a lock for the Hall of Fame. But on December 13, 2007, the Mitchell Report laid waste to all that. Accusations that Clemens relied on steroids and human growth hormone provided and administered by his former trainer, Brian McNamee, have put Clemens in the crosshairs of a Justice Department investigation.

Why did this happen? How did it happen? Who made the decisions that altered some lives and ruined others? How did a devastating culture of drugs, lies, sex, and cheating fester and grow throughout Major League Baseball's clubhouses? The answers are in these extraordinary pages.

American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime is about much more than the downfall of a superstar. While the fascinating portrait of Clemens is certainly at the center of the action, the book takes us outside the white lines and inside the lives and dealings of sports executives, trainers, congressmen, lawyers, drug dealers, groupies, a porn star, and even a murderer—all of whom have ties to this saga. Four superb investigative journalists have spent years uncovering the truth, and at the heart of their investigation is a behind-the-scenes portrait of the maneuvering and strategies in the legal war between Clemens and his accuser, McNamee.

This compelling story is the strongest examination yet of the rise of illegal drugs in America’s favorite sport, the gym-rat culture in Texas that has played such an important role in spreading those drugs, and the way Congress has dealt with the entire issue. Andy Pettitte, Jose Canseco, Alex Rodriguez, and Chuck Knoblauch are just a few of the other players whose moving and sometimes disturbing stories are illuminated here as well. The New York Daily News Sports Investigative Team has written the definitive book on corruption and the steroids era in Major League Baseball. In doing so, they have managed to dig beneath the disillusion and disappointment to give us a stirring look at heroes who all too often live unheroic shadow lives.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50904 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-12
• Released on: 2009-05-12
• Format: Deckle Edge
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 1.50" h x 6.50" w x 9.60" l, 1.63 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 464 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780307271808
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In a definitive examination of illegal drug use in America's pastime, "sports investigative team" Thompson, Vinton, O'Keeffe and Red (of New York's Daily News) focus on one-time Hall of Fame-bound pitcher Roger Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee, who accused Clemens of relying on steroids and human growth hormone to prolong his lucrative career. (Clemens, upon this book's publication, continued to deny the allegations.) Both men were featured prominently in 2007's 409-page Mitchell Report investigation; in this decade-spanning account, they're surrounded by a motley cast that includes sports execs, drug dealers, lawyers, mistresses, elected officials, and former and current players such as Jose Canseco, Andy Pettitte and Alex Rodriguez. Richly detailed, the muscular narrative often reads like a thriller, though numerous subplots don't always connect. Relying on hundreds of on- and off-the-record interviews and access to public and private documents, this is an intricate and compelling case in which there are no heroes, but a notable villain-the League itself-whose lax approach to the issue ensures baseball's steroids era isn't over.

Review
“A definitive examination of illegal drug use in America's pastime . . . Richly detailed, the muscular narrative often reads like a thriller . . . this is an intricate and compelling case in which there are no heroes, but a notable villain—the League itself—whose lax approach to the issue ensures baseball’s steroids era isn't over.” —Publishers Weekly (starred)

“Of all the books I’ve ever read about baseball, I’d say this is as thoroughly researched as can be and right now it stands as the definitive book about the steroid era.” —Mike Pesca, NPR: Morning Edition

“Gripping . . . nimble . . . the authors have turned the sprawling story of steroid-use into a sleek narrative that reads like an investigative thriller, peopled by a Dickensian cast of characters, from big-name ball players and their high-powered lawyers to small time bodybuilders and gym owners, from federal investigators and members of Congress to denizens of “the violent criminal underworld of muscle-building drug distribution. As in Bob Woodward’s inside-Washington books, the narrative of ‘American Icon’ draws upon lots of official documents—in this case sworn depositions, medical records, courtroom transcripts, records from criminal investigations, as well as the groundbreaking articles these reporters did for The Daily News, and hundreds of interviews, both on the record and off.” —Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

“Graphic . . . damning.” —David M. Shribman, Bloomberg

“The account often reads like a detective novel, with the authors revealing the underbelly of professional baseball—the furtive injections, “gravy trainers” (sports hangers on), secret mistresses, drug transactions, and smarmy agents that pervade the sport. Things turn ugly when federal authorities put the squeeze o...

Review
“A definitive examination of illegal drug use in America's pastime . . . Richly detailed, the muscular narrative often reads like a thriller . . . this is an intricate and compelling case in which there are no heroes, but a notable villain—the League itself—whose lax approach to the issue ensures baseball’s steroids era isn't over.” —Publishers Weekly (starred)

“Of all the books I’ve ever read about baseball, I’d say this is as thoroughly researched as can be and right now it stands as the definitive book about the steroid era.” —Mike Pesca, NPR: Morning Edition

“Gripping . . . nimble . . . the authors have turned the sprawling story of steroid-use into a sleek narrative that reads like an investigative thriller, peopled by a Dickensian cast of characters, from big-name ball players and their high-powered lawyers to small time bodybuilders and gym owners, from federal investigators and members of Congress to denizens of “the violent criminal underworld of muscle-building drug distribution. As in Bob Woodward’s inside-Washington books, the narrative of ‘American Icon’ draws upon lots of official documents—in this case sworn depositions, medical records, courtroom transcripts, records from criminal investigations, as well as the groundbreaking articles these reporters did for The Daily News, and hundreds of interviews, both on the record and off.” —Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

“Graphic . . . damning.” —David M. Shribman, Bloomberg

“The account often reads like a detective novel, with the authors revealing the underbelly of professional baseball—the furtive injections, “gravy trainers” (sports hangers on), secret mistresses, drug transactions, and smarmy agents that pervade the sport. Things turn ugly when federal authorities put the squeeze on McNamee, and Clemens self destructs by lashing out at McNamee and demanding a congressional hearing. The journalism demonstrated here hits the bar set by another baseball/steroids book, Game of Shadows (2006), and it builds a daunting case against Clemens.” —Jerry Eberle, Booklist (starred)

Customer Reviews

Completely Gripping
This is a splendid piece of work. The portrait of Clemens that emerges is itself captivating: the writers offer a detailed, patient, wonderfully human account of how the very things that made the man so indisputably great on the hill - willfulness, absolute indomitability - led to his spectacular public undoing. But what is to me even more gripping in the book is the legal and procedural story it unfolds, about precisely how steroids came to be the object of so much political and legal scrutiny in the first place. It's a story that spans more than a decade, criss-crosses the country, is filled astounding intricacy and intrigue, and features a series of vibrant, wonderfully-drawn characters. If you want to the richest backstory, not just on Clemens, but on the history and ongoing place of steroids in baseball, you must get hold of this book.

American Icon is Great!
I don't normally read baseball tell-all books, but I was drawn to this story because Clemens has insisted on maintaining his innocence despite the vast evidence, and I wanted to learn more. What a great decision! The book is excellent. Well written and thoroughly researched, I can't put it down. The characters (many of whom I only knew from media portrayals) really come alive. More than just a retelling of Clemens & McNamee's stories, the book portrays the entire steroid culture in baseball, from the points of view of the players (users and "clean"), suppliers, hangers-on, ownership, Congress, the media... it tells it all. Up there with MoneyBall and the Halberstam books, this is a must-read baseball book. I highly recommend it.

Compelling and Persuasive
To conclude that Roger Clemens took steroids and then lied about it does not take the combined talents of the Daily News' Investigative Team long. But the fascinating part of this book--why I kept reading the whole way through--is how exigently they connect the dots, using small details and lengthy court filings to slowly piece together a damning report. Lively writing makes this read like an easy feature magazine article, but the research is evident on each page.