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Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero By Jeff Pearlman ( HarperCollins )
Release Date: 2006-04-18
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List Price: $25.95
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Product Description
No player in the history of baseball has left such an indelible mark on the game as San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds. In his twenty-year career, Bonds has amassed an unprecedented seven MVP awards, eight Gold Gloves, and more than seven hundred home runs, an impressive assortment of feats that has earned him consideration as one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. Equally deserved, however, is his reputation as an insufferable braggart, whose mythical home runs are rivaled only by his legendary ego. From his staggering ability and fabled pedigree (father Bobby played outfield for the Giants; cousin Reggie Jackson and godfather Willie Mays are both Hall of Famers) to his well-documented run-ins with teammates and the persistent allegations of steroid use, Bonds inspires a like amount of passion from both sides of the fence. For many, Bonds belongs beside Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron in baseball's holy trinity; for others, he embodies all that is wrong with the modern athlete: aloof; arrogant; alienated. In Love Me, Hate Me, author Jeff Pearlman offers a searing and insightful look into one of the most divisive athletes of our time. Drawing on more than five hundred interviews -- with former and current teammates, opponents, managers, trainers, friends, and outspoken critics and unapologetic supporters alike -- Pearlman reveals, for the first time, a wonderfully nuanced portrait of a prodigiously talented and immensely flawed American icon whose controversial run at baseball immortality forever changed the way we look at our sports heroes.
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 "I can't do this anymore" ( prince711 )
Once, 2 years before he quit playing, Bonds made the statement that all the strain of making 16 million a year for playing a game was just too much. I imagine Barry did have difficulty following in the paths of earlier family members who also played the sport. Bonds never diunderstood, like a few that play today, is that you cannot treat people like insignificants and expect them to like you. A book written by Gary Sheffield documents almost everything the author writes about Bonds. Barry is the kind of player, according to Perleman, that when something good happens--like hitting a home run- the world is just barely tolerable. Now, if a call strike occurs on Bonds, this only cements the belief. Bonds insists he did not take steroids, but the entire world (well almost) knows he did. In his contempt, Barry insisted that everything be his way or no way at all. There are just so many books written about this guy, but give credit. Forging this terrible attitude that Bonds must have, in part at least, was his baseball coach at Arizona State. He permitted Barry to be treated better than anyone, hence, the "I am perfect" mold began to form. Bonds did have a "few" bad moments in his career, as Perleman notes in his story of the World Series of the Angels and Giants in 2002 when Bonds literally falls on his face trying to field an outfield hit and ensuing error cost his team the game. What I beleive most will get out of this book is that Bonds had contempt for everyone from Babe Ruth to the worst rookie in pro ball. Bonds would have you believe he did not care about anything while playing the game or driving his car. He seems to possess disdain for a sport for racism ( but which paid him so much) as he when he referernced that a "black man" could not "get away" with the special previlegdes that Roger Clemens had with the Astros. But like all that he was I believe most of this was put on. What Barry Bonds was good at was tremendous eye hand coordination and the ability to pick what the opposing pitching was going to throw. In balls going 90-95mph or knowing a curve is coming beforehand trumps everything for a hitter. In one story, Perleman mentions how he teaches HOF manager Dusty Baker how well he 'reads a pitcher, predicting 6 consecutive pitches while Baker watches in amazement. Reading this book might remind you of a few guys who came before Barry: Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby just to name two. Tremendous talent with terrible attitudes. This book is much more than about baseball. Highly recommended because Perleman does such an excellent job of following a career which indeed must have been very difficult. guyairey
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Very interesting read ( naz2900 )
This is quite simply one of the best sports biographies I have ever read. It is written in a very readable and interesting manner. Very highly recommended.
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 A Different Perspective ( timothyjfrancis )
The author certainly did his homework by interviewing over 500 people who have had some interaction with Bonds over his life in order to write this book. What was grat about this book was that it wasn't written by Bonds or from the perspective of the author it was more other peoples true experiences about Bonds spun into a book. This was a fresh look at this guy and not written to drag him down or to glorify him, you are left to make your own opinion. I liked it.
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 Barry Bonds
I thought this would be a good book for a teen to read, however, there was much too much foul language.
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Excellent insight into Barry Bonds
Excellent book. Very entertaining. If you are a baseball fan this is a must have as it talks of Bonds throughout his baseball career. There are many quotes from his teammates on the Pirates and the Giants as well as items from his college days.
The book talks about his marriages and his relationship with his dad.
I finished this book in a week when it usually takes me a month or so to finish a book. I could not put it down.
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