7: The Mickey Mantle Novel

by Peter Golenbock

In Peter Golenbock’s shocking and revealing first novel, Mickey Mantle tells the hidden story of his life as a baseball hero and asks for forgiveness from his friends and family. If the revelations in Jim Bouton’s Ball Four were the first crack in the Mangle legend, then 7 smashes the myth to reveal the human being within.Bestselling sportswriter Peter Golenbock knew Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin, Jim Bouton, Joe Pepitone, and many of Mantle’s friends, family, and teammates. While Mickey was a good person at heart, he had a dark side that went far beyond his well-known alcoholism and infidelities. In this fictional portrait, Mickey—now in heaven—realizes that he’s carrying a huge weight on his shoulders, as he did throughout his life. He needs to unburden himself of all the horrible things he did and understand for himself why he did them. He wants to make amends to the people he hurt, especially those dear to him; to the fans he ignored and alienated; and to the public who made him into a hero. Mickey never felt he deserved the adulation, could never live up to it, and tried his damnedest to prove he was unworthy to everyone. The fact that he was human made the public love him that much more.This Mickey Mantle is revealed as a man who lived in fear—fear of failure, of success, of life beyond baseball, and of commitment. His was a life filled with sex, yet devoid of deeper satisfactions. From the alcohol-fueled good times and bad to the emptiness when the party was finally over, 7 has it all.Through the recounting of his exploits on and off the field, some of them side-splittingly hilarious, some disturbing, and others that will make your head shake in sympathy, Mickey comes clean in this novel in the way he never could in real life. 7: The Mickey Mantle Novel puts you inside the locker room and bedroom with an American icon every bit as flawed and human as we are.

Genres: Sports, Baseball, Fiction

309 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2007

About the author

Golenbock grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, and in 1963 graduated St. Luke's School in New Canaan, Connecticut. His heroes were Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. One day in the local library he discovered the book, The New York Yankees: An Informal History by Frank Graham ( G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1943) and it made a strong impression on him.''

Golenbock graduated from Dartmouth College in 1967 and the New York University School of Law in 1970.

He was a radio sports talk show host in 1980 on station WOR in New York City. He was the color broadcaster for the St. Petersburg Pelicans of the Senior Professional Baseball League in 1989-90 and has been a frequent guest on many of the top television and radio talk shows including "Biography on A&E," the "Fifty Greatest Athletes and the Dynasties on ESPN," "Good Morning America," "Larry King Live," "ESPN Classic," and the YES network.

Golenbock lives in St. Petersburg, Florida with his two basset hounds, Doris and Fred.

Reviews

[Nicolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read, I really enjoyed the parts detailing Mickey Mantle's career with the New York Yankees. But what made this different from other sports biographies is that this was writeen as a novel with Mantle narrating his story to a sports writer.
If even a third of his sex exploits here are true, I guess he'd rival Wilt Chamberlain for "scoring."

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an 'X' rated book that would make a sailor blush. And you may wonder why I read it? After searching for a biography of Mickey Mantle that wasn't just stats, I came across this one in a used book store. After paying $12 for the hardback I wasn't about to put it down after reading a few chapters. So call me cheap!

To give some credit however, this book was funny and the way it was written was extremely creative. Mickey Mantle, after death and in home in Heaven, has decided he would like a 'true' biography to be published. He searches out Lenny Shecter [the deceased sportswriter who helped Bouton with Ball Four:] to tell him his story. It basically covers Mickey's entire life and is taken from the interviews the author has had with Mantle, his friends, and other sports figures. How much is truth and how much is fiction? I wouldn't know, but according to the reviews of those in the know claim it's accurate. All I can say is Poor Mrs. Mantle!

[Bobby Panichella · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you were or are a fan of Mickey Mantle you should read this book.If your looking at this as a biography then look somewhere else,this book is more of a novel a work of fiction,some or most can be true he does tell all about his career,but he also tells of his off field antics which are very amusing,what’s true & whats not we will never really know for sure.But I really enjoyed reading it like I said it’s really not a bio but close to it.

[Greg Henning · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you want a Mantle biography, this book isn’t for you. If you want a book about Mantle’s sexual exploits (in fairly graphic detail) from “his perspective” while he’s in heaven, this is book is for you. Me? I couldn’t finish the book. No thank you.

[Leo Mccarthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually sorry I read this. Destroyed a boy-hood hero's reputation.

[RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN · Rating 1 out of 5]

RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: HARD TO UNDERSTAND WHY SOMEONE WOULD WRITE THIS… LET ALONE PUBLISH IT!
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How’s this, for the way to start a review? I am far from being a prude, but I warn! I absolutely warn! 90% of the population not to buy this book, or you will be offended! The publisher of this book has a warning (Like the one on a cigarette package.) on the cover that says, and I quote: Mickey says: “If y’all don’t want to read about sex, don’t buy this book.” I say: “Reading about sex is one thing, but totally offending all women on the planet is another! In fact, this will offend any men who are polite and caring!” This is a book that didn’t really need to be written, and I can see why Mantle’s family was upset. Now, despite the author slyly hiding behind the word “novel” in the heading, he contradicts that mask, in his introduction, on page viii when he writes: “Mickey’s friends swear that the incidents in this book are true.” He also writes: “All I know is that Mickey’s friends who have read the manuscript say this is the closest you will ever get to the reality of Mickey’s life.” This book is demeaning garbage. You can barely go 2 paragraphs without Mickey making a derogatory comment about women with a well-used word that starts with “P”. (I’m trying to stay within decency restrictions.) And that word may not even be in the top 5 derogatory descriptions he uses throughout the book. This book not only tears Mickey down lower than you would think possible, but it also takes Billy Martin down beneath, even what his biggest detractor’s could imagine. Their alcoholic, misogynistic, lowlife, behavior, is totally offensive, to any respectable human being. There’s more filth I could describe, but it wouldn’t pass the decency levels on this web-site. P.S. The fact that this story is supposed to take place in heaven, is the biggest abomination of all!

[Camdencrystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

7: The Mickey Mantle Novel provides a unique look into the life of one of baseball's most mythical players by way of an amalgamation of stories through the lens of Mantle himself. The author does an exceptional job of painting the dark underbelly of professional sports at that time that the majority of the writers in that period did not want to speak of.

[Ellison · Rating 4 out of 5]

features mantle reflecting upon his life, his many conquests and those he spent time with.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

What in the h*ll did I just read?

[Claire Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently read “Seven, The Mickey Mantle Novel” by Peter Goldenbock. Peter’s best known as the author of a number of sports related oral histories, so a novel was a bit of a departure for him. I started the book with curiosity and a bit of trepidation, given the mixed reviews it received at the time it was published in 2007. If you trusted the advance coverage and some of the reviews, you might have concluded that “Seven” was going to be a non-stop tale of Mickey’s sexcapades. Yes, there’s sex in here—a lot of it. But there’s so much more.

Goldenbock grew up as a Yankee fan, got to know Mantle and many of his Yankee contemporaries, and saw his youthful hero worship evolve into a mature appreciation for the greatness and tragedy of the boy who rose from the depths of poverty in rural Oklahoma to become one of the most beloved athletes of the twentieth century. He amassed a wealth of knowledge about Mantle’s life and legend, but realized that the line between the two was so burry that conventional biography wouldn’t do The Mick justice. He said, “Mickey had been inside of me for a long, long time, and I just had to let him out.”

The result is an imaginary telling of Mantle’s life story in the afterlife. Shortly after his arrival in Heaven, Mantle meets up with Leonard Schecter, Jim Bouton’s collaborator on “Ball Four,” and decides he’s found the man who can help him unlock the keys to his behavior, which sadly was often so destructive to himself and those he loved. This is a book full of sorrow and pain, but it’s also full of joy, humor and redemption. I finished it with a large lump in my throat when I reached the final pages and saw that Mickey was able to achieve the kind of reconciliation we all no doubt hope to know one day.

[carl theaker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Found this one on the bargain rack for 99 cents, and still i paid too much!

Author Golenbock relays stories collected over the years of the athletic adventures
of Mickey Mantle and friends, be they drinking, sexual, or even occasionally on
the baseball diamond. The trouble is, he can't really verify their
authenticity, to one level or another, so he calls this an "inventive memoir"
and labels it fiction. Seems fair, at least he informs you.

The trouble is he spends a lot of this time putting words in others' mouths
for self-serving purposes, slamming other writers, politicians, or anyone
else who he just happens to recall a peeve against, most of which have
little to do with the subject.

Another item he likes to have the supposedly 'real' characters talk about
is how writing is hard work and only the best would have survived in the
profession this long. Of course this is thinly veiled heavy, back patting
of himself.

At times the various adventures roll right along, after all he is a sports
writer, and this book would be a fun read at the beach or if you were stuck in
an elevator, which may be one of the few places Mantle isn't described
having a sexual escapade.

[Bobbie Grob · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a terrible book. It is nothing more than a confusingly realistic (is it fiction or non-fiction? Even the author doesn't seem certain) ode to Mickey Mantle's huge black book. I am aware that there are plenty of women out there who are eager to sleep with a celebrity so Mickey Mantle didn't necessarily do anything wrong, but his disrespect and disregard for anyone but himself, especially women, is evident in his far too frequent use of the word "puss".

As a life-long baseball fan I was looking forward to a peek into The Mick's life, and all I got was a look into his own personal whore house. I walk away from this book having lost any respect or admiration for Mickey Mantle that I once had.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written as the oral autobiography of The Mick from a sports bar in Heaven (12 years after Mantle's death, because, let's face it, he had some purgatorial cleansing to do before his soul was heaven-worthy), this book is a fictionalized account of the Yankee legend's exploits off of the field...a great deal of sex and boozing in the book, but entertaining as hell! If The Mick and Billy Martin got away with half of the shit they're credited with in this novel, they were the Rolling Stones of baseball, plain and simple. Not what I'd call literature, but if you like baseball and dig reading about rockstars lifestyles, here's ya a good way to kill a rainy weekend.

[Debra · Rating 2 out of 5]

As Opening Day approaches, the urge to read baseball books returns. Found this novel in my library's Overdrive collection, so decided to give it a try.

(later) Golenbeck did give me a picture of the Mick as a person. It held my interest...although I rated it based on the overuse of his sexual exploits. Yeah we got the idea that he was a horndog. Which isn't exactly a revelation. So page after page was just overkill, and ultimately boring.

[Steven Nicolle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty awesome book on the Yankees during the 50's and 60's and all the stuff that happened. Quite a recount of what took place. I couldn't put it down and I learned a heck of a lot of Mickey who just retired around when I was 9 years old. He was some hitter and womanizer! Really enjoyed the book.

[JoAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really broke the myth of Mickey. Yeah everyone knows he was a womanizer and drank a lot, but wow, this book really shows it. The book is fiction, but there's a lot of truth to it. The way he wrote it was very cool, having a sportswriter interview him while at a bar in heaven!

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at The Mick. I the structure of the novel and how he is telling it from Heaven looking back on what was and what could of been. But if I never hear the word puss again I think I will be happy. Billy Martin Rocks!!!

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the baseball but the off-the-field parts left me cold. If this novel is close to the truth, Mick was a sad case.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, but the author took MANY liberties with this one.

[Dennis Madden · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too graphic and unrealistic. When did the mick have time to play baseball or according to this thesis it was not he most talented activity.

[Rebecca]

WOW!!!!! You want to know who Mickey really was, then read this book!

[Mike Salmans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!