Fenway : A Biography in Words and Pictures - Hardcover

Shaughnessy, Dan; Grossfel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0395945569 ISBN 13: 9780395945568

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (T), 1999

Synopsis

A religious shrine or a giant pinball machine? A museum or an amusement park? The oldest ballpark in the major leagues, the last of the single-deck theaters, Fenway Park has inspired more lavish praise and outrageous comparison than any American sports arena in history. With its ominous Green Monster, the lone red seat that marks Ted Williams's record-setting longest home run, the hand-operated scoreboard at the base of the Wall, the fishbowl-style luxury "600 Club" with the press box perched high above, and the Hall of Fame faces, who could mistake Fenway Park for any other? Beautifully illustrated with Stan Grossfeld's prize-winning color photography, and written with an obvious love of the place, including interviews with an illustrious list of fans, players, coaches, and celebrities, FENWAY: A BIOGRAPHY IN WORDS AND PICTURES showcases the grand old park and memorializes it for generations of fans to come.

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Review

A religious shrine or a giant pinball machine? Museum or amusement park? Historical or hysterical? These are just some of the puzzlers posed by Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaugnessy in this lovely homage to the second oldest, single most complex ballpark in the majors. The answers are debatable. What remains absolute are the images Boston's Fenway Park has burned into the imaginations of the faithful and the faithless since the day it opened, a short week after the Titanic sank.

Shaugnessy and photographer Stan Grossfeld combine to offer an often-spectacular visual tribute that looks both back in time and into the heart of all the park's odd nooks, crannies, shadows, and hiding places. They go inside the hand-operated scoreboard on the fabled Green Monster. There's even a lovely picture of a pastoral Fenway covered in snow. Shaughnessy's text--"When they raze Fenway, it'll be like cutting down an old tree. Count the rings. There's one for each celebration and heartache suffered by Red Sox fans"--is affectionate and quite personal. He adds to it with a series of short, lyrical reminiscences from those who've mused about the field-- David Halberstam, Bob Costas, Stephen King, and Doris Kearns Goodwin--and those who've played on it: Don Zimmer, Bucky Dent, Dennis Eckersley, and Carl Yastrzemski. Fittingly, Ted Williams pens the foreward. The result of the amalgamation is an altogether splendid celebration of a landmark about to be pushed by progress into memory. --Jeff Silverman

About the Author

BOSTON GLOBE columnist Dan Shaughnessy is the author of the best-selling CURSE OF THE BAMBINO as well as AT FENWAY: DISPATCHES FROM RED SOX NATION and SEEING RED: THE RED AUERBACH STORY.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (T)
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0395945569
• ISBN 13: 9780395945568
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144
• Editor: Coffin Chris