How the weather was

by Roger Kahn

Robert Frost, Claudio Arrau, John Lardner, Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Leo Durocher, Bobby Thomson, Al Rosen, Jascha Heifetz, and other heroic figures in their years of glory, in their times of trial. This is a book about people to be remembered, and what it was like in America at a very special time.

Genres: Baseball, Sports

217 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1773

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Roger Kahn was best known for The Boys of Summer, about the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Reviews

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roger Kahn is well-celebrated for his book chronicling the Brooklyn Dodgers, The Boys of Summer. This book is a collection of his articles from "the late 1950s into the 1970s..." In his introduction, Kahn gives the reader a sense of what it was like to write for periodicals during that period: what authors aspired to and what editors wanted. Kahn isn't bashful about his talent or his struggles to fine friendly ports for his work. This collection (published in 2012) shows him off to great advantage.

I believe Kahn is right, that the reader needs to have a sense of the time and place when these pieces were written. Though they stand up well on their own, the context gives some depth to why Kahn chose to emphasize certain aspects of a subject's character. And, he writes of a number of characters, many of them not in sports.

For instance, his essay on Jascha Heifetz is titled, A Masque of Genius. It deals as much with the burden of early acclaim as it does with the somewhat tragic limitations of Heifetz away from his performances. Though careers in music can last much longer than careers in baseball, there are some parallels that the reader can draw. (Kahn does not choose to make them explicit.) The sports pieces include a great research piece on Babe Ruth, an appreciation of Willie Mays and a post-career study of Al Rosen. In other articles, he deals with crime and with the fine arts.

My favorite may be his encounters with Robert Frost. Kahn finds ways to let us know how literate he is, but his conversations with the great poet are a masterful example of how to ask the right questions in order to gain insight. That skill is the foundation for Kahn's craft and is the reason that this is so successful a collection. Whether he is reflecting on his encounters with Leo Durocher or Claudio Arrau, Kahn delivers riveting prose that informs and satisfies. His piece on the New York City "police riots" during the 1960s era Vietnam War protests at Columbia University's campus is a notable contribution to that era's history.

[Matt Moran · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays, many ranging well outside of baseball, his normal field.

[Maurice J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. I read it many years ago as part of my mission to read most of Roger Kahn. The essay I liked best was about Jascha Heifetz, arguably the greatest violinist ever.

Kahn makes the point that if a baseball player makes an out 7 out of 10 times, he will have a .300 batting average--a guarantee that he'll stay in the majors and get a good salary.

Then he talks about Heifetz, the ultimate musician, who would not allow himself ANY mistakes. He practiced and he practiced. Kahn made the point that what is good for baseball, 7 "mistakes" out of 10 tries, would make a musician unlistenable.

All of the essays are good reads. This was an earlier Kahn, not one of his later books which were not so good.

Read it a long time ago...

[Leonard]

A collection of stories of various greats Kahn interviewed during his carer. Not a total book about baseball.