A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez

by Selena Roberts

Alex Rodriguez is the highest-paid player in the history of baseball, a once-in-a-generation talent poised to break many of the sport's most hallowed records. In 2007 he became the youngest player, at 32, ever to hit 500 home runs, solidifying his status as the greatest player in the modern game, and months later he signed a contract that would keep him with the Yankees through the end of his career. His reputation changed drastically in February 2009 when Selena Roberts broke the news in Sports Illustrated that A-Rod had used performance-enhancing drugs during his 2003 MVP season with the Texas Rangers. Her report prompted a contrite Rodriguez to admit illegal drug use during his 2001–2003 seasons with the Rangers, who had signed him to the most expensive contract in Major League Baseball history. Although he admitted to three seasons of steroid use, the man teammates call "A-Fraud" was still hiding the truth. In the first definitive biography of Alex Rodriguez, Roberts assembles the strands of a bizarre and extraordinary from his boyhood in New York and the Dominican Republic through his near-mythic high school career and fast track to the big leagues, the whole of A-Rod's career mirrors the rise and fall of the steroid generation. Roberts goes beyond the sensational headlines, probing A-Rod's childhood to reveal a man torn by obligation to his family and the pull of his insatiable hedonism, a conflict--epitomized by his relationship with Madonna and devotion to Kabbalah--that led to the end of his six-year marriage. Roberts sheds new light on A-Rod's abuse of performance-enhancing drugs, a practice he appears to have begun as early as high school and that extended into his Yankee years. She chronicles his secretive real estate deals, gets inside the negotiations for his latest record-breaking contract with the Yankees, and examines the insecurities that compel him to seek support from a motivational guru before every game. In A-Rod, Roberts captures baseball's greatest player as a tragic figure in the man once considered the clean exception of the steroid generation revealed as an unmistakable product of its greed and dissolution.

Genres: Sports, Baseball, Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir

272 pages, Hardcover

First published May 4, 2009

Reviews

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Selena Roberts is almost too classy for her own good. Though she includes some difficult-to-prove allegations about A-Rod's high school steroid use, for the most part Roberts finds compelling reasons to put an asterisk by pretty much everything he's ever achieved. As a Mariners fan since before Griffey (though honestly, not so much since Edgar Martinez retired), it's gratifying to learn exactly why someone with Rodriguez' stats contributes so little to his team. What a prick. Still, he's not quite enough of an asshole to put this book in the same league as, say, Juiced. Jose Canseco's Twitter feed is just the beginning--his full batshittery takes hundreds of thousands of characters to sink in.

[Chi Okare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok ima start doing reviews for these along w the rating. I am not a huge fan of this book. Liked it a lot more when i read it as a kid. For a couple different reasons i have a pretty different feel on it now. First of all, as more info has come out Re: the entire steroid era of baseball, you begin to realize damn near the majority of the league was on SOMETHING at the time and while guys were demonized at the time and treated as if they were committing crimes against humanity, their exploits on the diamond were helping keep the league afloat.

More importantly, i find that the author Selena Roberts seems to have an extreme vendetta against Alex Rodriguez which takes a book that could have been a much more objective view on the influences surrounding, timeline around, and poor decisionmaking leading to, his steroid use. Instead, she uses factors from his early life, such as growing up without a present father, to create a narrative painting him as starved for approval and uses this narrative to explain his decision.

I especially thought some of the jabs at his personal life and relationships with significant others were unnecessary and didn’t do much for the book overall. In a profession like sports where many athletes have similar issues, his relationships are dissected and picked apart to make him look bad more than is needed. Especially when a lot of the narratives around these relationships were stirred up by publications like the New York post.

Bottom line, when picking up this book again I was expecting to relive a fact driven story about Rodriguez’s upbringing, how he came to take steroids, and how things unfolded from there, but this book happens to be more of a set up and attack for, make no mistake, transgressions that Rodriguez is guilty of, but are and were very commonplace in his profession at the time.

[Kurt M · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm about half way through but not sure I can go on. I know how it ends. It was interesting reading about A-Rod's early life. The entire book reads like a long sport illustrated article, which I'm not a huge fan of that style. Shelving for now

[Sera · Rating 3 out of 5]

No doubt, I'm both a huge Yankee and baseball fan (even though football is my real passion) so I was really looking forward to reading this book on A-Rod. I have to give the author, Selena Roberts, credit in writing a very factually-based book, but even with all of the facts, I found the book to be lacking in any objectivity. I expected more from a Sports Illustrated writer. Instead, Roberts gets overly emotional and really grinds her axe against this guy.

So ok, Alex Rodriquez is insecure, a phony, a cheat, a liar, etc. Yeah, he's not one of the good guys, but really, how many true good guys have there been in this sport throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s? I can't think of many, although Jeter automatically comes to mind. Most of the records that have been broken have not been earned squarely. Any baseball fan knows that. And yes, A-Rod will become the all time home run leader and that distinction will forever be tainted just as Barry Bond's breaking that same record has been and will continue to be until Rodriquez surpasses him. The game was on its way to ruin way before Alex Rodriquez came into the picture. He's no different than any of them; yet, Roberts singles him out. I'm not defending A-Rod's bad behavior and illegal use of steriods, but people wake up and realize that he plays a game -that's it. He's not curing any major diseases, he's not working on health care reform, and he's not painting the Mona Lisa. Alex Rodriquez is simply a cultural phenomenom who is part of our American pastime - he is an entertainer. He is not a hero so stop holding people to these standards. Take up your beef with baseball who turned a blind eye to this nonsense when McGwire and Sosa were neck in neck competititon for the most home runs in a season title. Take it up to the player's union who encouraged the illegal use of steriods because it strengthened their bargaining power with the owners. Just stop taking it out on a bunch of stupid players who like petulant children did what they did because they could away with it. There's saying, Roberts, "don't hate the player, hate the game."

Ok, I'm done.

No, one more thing, Jose Canseco is a douchebag.

[Jacob Rothstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is basically an biography on A-rod, thru Selena Robert's eyes. She really does not like A-Rod. That comes out-loud and clear in the book. She paints a superficial picture of A-Rod. Most of the stuff written about A-Rod in this book relates to his use of steriods. I dislike this book because the author did not do a good job on A-Rod's bibliography. She really did not like him. She should have never written this book.
The advice that I would give the author is that when she writes a bibliography on anyone she should try to not show how much she dislikes the person. She should write a bibliography about someone she likes.

[Gretchen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could only force myself to read half of the book. I think the author most have been turned down by A-Rod one too many times....a more appropriate title would have been "Scorned Woman Dishes Every Negative Detail She Can Find About A-Rod." Kudos to her though...I no longer like A-Rod! Really, A-Fraud, giving away Pudge's signals?

[Ashley Enderton]

As a full fledged Alex Rodriguez supporter, I wanted to see what the view was from a non-supporter of A.Rod.. and boy was it harsh at times. It's almost as if Roberts forgets that Alex is human, too.

[Mr. Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was definitely entertaining but who knows how much of it is true! I found the lack of proof by the author quite annoying.

[RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN · Rating 2 out of 5]

RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “A CLUBHOUSE ATTENDANT WAS REQUIRED TO PLACE TOOTHPASTE ON ALEX’S TOOTHBRUSH”
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I am not a Yankee fan… but I am a baseball fan who hates steroid abusers… *HOWEVER… ABOVE ALL*… I believe in fair… accurate… and non-biased reporting. The author Selena Roberts is a Sports Illustrated reporter who has written Alex Rodriguez’s life story. Since “INTEGRITY” is one of the most important character traits that I admire in my life… I feel it is only reasonable to judge her writing in the same manner she judges Alex. Time… after time… after time… the author describes and passes judgment on Rodriguez… with her self-imposed verdict of “GOOD-ALEX”… or “BAD-ALEX”… so I will give a brief overview of “GOOD-AUTHOR”… “BAD-AUTHOR”… on a few main subject matters in this book.

Alex’s early life is described in detail in the Dominican Republic, New York and Florida. The dual depiction of Alex’s absolute love for his Father and baseball is heartwarming. Probably the biggest turning point in Alex’s life (along with his future decision to use steroids) was when his Father leaves his family to go back to New York for better business opportunities. *GOOD-AUTHOR*

For the rest of the book it seems that in the author’s opinion “every” single adult male becomes a substitute Father or surrogate Father. From youth level coaches… to high school coaches… to Mariners manager Lou Piniella… to Rangers owner Tom Hicks… to Jose Canseco… to every adult male… before… during or after. *BAD-AUTHOR*

From a purely journalistic point of view there are times when the author hits a homerun because her declarations are verified with solid evidence such as when she points out how Alex lies or “embellishes” the truth: “YEARS LATER ALEX WOULD FLUFF UP HIS HIGH SCHOOL LEGEND BY TELLING THIS TIDBIT ABOUT HOW METICULOUSLY HE HAD PREPARED FOR THE PROS: “I DECIDED TO USE A WOOD BAT IN HIGH SCHOOL INSTEAD OF THE MORE POWERFUL ALUMINUM SO I’D BE READY FOR PRO BASEBALL,” HE SAID. “YET IN GAME PHOTOS FROM HIS HIGH SCHOOL YEARS, HE IS SWINGING AN ALUMINUM BAT. THE OPENING SENTENCE OF AN ARTICLE FROM 1993 IN SPORTS ILLUSTRATED READS, “AS THE BALL LEFT ALEX RODRIGUEZ’S ALUMINUM BAT…” *GOOD-AUTHOR*

But there are just as many unverified statements such as: “HYPERAWARE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHERS RECORDING HIS EVERY MOVE, HE WOULD NOT MAKE AN UGLY SWING FOR A HIT OUT OF FEAR OF LOOKING AWKWARD. (HE IS KNOWN TO LISTEN FOR SHUTTER CLICKS WHILE AT THE PLATE, WHILE MOST HITTERS AUTOMATICALLY BLOCK OUT THE WHITE NOISE.)” *BAD-AUTHOR*

Then there are some proclamations that are just plain “mean-spirited”. “THE ABANDONED BOY WITHIN ALEX RODRIGUEZ MADE HIM PARTICULARLY GULLIBLE TO THE INFLUENCE OF SUCCESSFUL, AUTHORITATIVE MEN, SO IT WAS EASY FOR SCOTT BORAS TO MANIPULATE HIM LIKE A SOCK PUPPET.” *BAD-AUTHOR*

Perhaps the best… most professional journalism in the entire book is in the last fourteen-pages… the epilogue. Here’s where Selena legitimately pins Rodriguez to the wall with his own outright lies… which included among other falsehoods that 1) Rodriguez accused her of stalking him. 2) She was thrown out of the University Of Miami by police for trespassing. 3) She tried to break into his house. 4) Rodriguez lied about his age when he was using steroids as a Texas Ranger. These pages demonstrate good solid investigative reporting… unfortunately much of the rest of the book… despite having interesting topics… many of them are unsubstantiated… so they come off like a vendetta. Alex is an admitted steroid user… and liar… but that does not justify or excuse the wanton “piling-on” of additional baseless accusations.

[Tom Gase · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a little better than I thought it would be. It's really probably a 3.5 star book as the reporting is well done and the writing is OK. It's hard to like this book too much because the main person - Alex Rodriguez - is such a phony. Always wanting to be loved and so obsessed with what others think of him. He's also such a huge prima donna. I mean paying someone to have his toothbrush already have toothpaste on it when he arrives to the restroom at least four times a day? Someone doing that for you? Please, you're a grown man, do it yourself, that's ridiculous. How he treats women is ridiculous. Yes he's a good baseball player, but how good since he admitted to using steroids, which he denied and lied about for years. Selena Roberts does a good job reporting and while it seems she just doesn't like A-Rod, I trust her as a stellar reporter that she tried to keep her bias out of this. There is information about his career, but 50 percent of this book is his stuff off the field. Don't go in expecting a lot about crucial playoff games (he stunk in most of them anyways). His years are described, including his three MVP seasons, but they go by fast.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremely biased, she spent the book pushing her unfair opinions onto ARod, at times injecting her thoughts into his head. Many “facts” were opinions of others, and the story was not fluid. It bounced around too often, did not flow well. She must have felt dumb when they won the World Series that 2009 season. I’m a Yankee fan but was always a Jeter fan, didn’t have much love for A-Rod. After this, I think I have more for him because of how much I disliked her account of his early life.

[Sergio · Rating 4 out of 5]

A he did this and he did that. Followed by everyone and and always seemed displaced by very awkward moments as a professional baseball player. Perfection prompted by prolific amounts of money drove Alex to a cheater?

[Lisa K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably about what you’d guess, lots of steroid stuff but minus one star because there was no investigation of the oil paintings of A-Rod as a centaur!

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little simple but entertaining enough. Learned a bit but doesn't go into too much detail.

[Rich Larson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just OK

I was a bit surprised how revealing his book was in talking about his involvement with steroids. Depicted A-Rod as more of an A-Hole.

[Zach Marks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Characters-5: I have always loved baseball. So I really enjoyed reading this book and all of the characters in it. Alex Rodriguez is the main character in the book. Rodriguez is a major league baseball player for the New York Yankees. He is selfish and a cheater. Rodriguez admitted to taking steroids during the 2001-03 seasons and also tested positive to a test in 2003. "He had tested positive for steroids in 2003"(Roberts 234). He is one of the biggest liars known, and probably wont get inducted into the hall of fame because of his involvement with steroids. His father is a small, but important character. At the beginning of the book, he is introduced. Alex's father's name is Victor Rodriguez. Victor divorced his wife early in Alex's life And left the family when Alex was only 10. As Alex grew older, his dad and he drifted apart, especially as adults. "They were estranged for almost 20 years but reconciled in 2003---to a point"(Roberts 17). Cynthia, Alex's ex-wife played a big role in Alex's life. They divorced in 2008, ending two months of "mud slinging" from when the divorce was filed. Cynthia really helped Alex get through difficult times while they were together and after they separated. She helped him get through an interview in 2009 after the news of a positive drug test came out to the public. "'He doesn't know how lucky he is. One day, she wont be there'"(Roberts 236). And one day, she wasn't there.

Language-5: This book had a lot of baseball lingo that many people wouldn't understand. but since I've been around baseball for a long time, I could make those connections and pick up on the little things. "He was hitting .270 in mid-July even as New York was pulling away from Boston, up by 8 1/2 as the Yankees headed to Boston on July 23"(Roberts 171). Translation: A-Rod had a .270 batting average and they were 8 1/2 games ahead of the Red Sox in the standings. The book refers to steroids a lot, mainly because it is about how Rodriguez took steroids throughout his career.

Information-5: The topic of this book is about the events that occurred throughout the career of Alex Rodriguez. The information from the book heavily relies on the claims that A-Rod took steroids. And those claims were supported through a positive drug test in 2009. He is seen as an egotistical liar who only cares about fame, fortune and himself. "Only one thing scared Alex more than being called a cheater---being ignored"(Roberts 246).

Theme-4: The theme of the book is that you can never cheat throughout life without a downfall. Alex Rodriguez is a perfect example of this. He had all of the fame and fortune, everybody loved him, and then he cheats. He cheats and people find out. Now, he is one of the most hated athletes in all of sports. All because he cheated. And you can make the argument that the reason why he ever got anywhere was because of steroids, and that would be plausible. "His sophomore year, he could barely bench 100 pounds and then his Junior year he was benching 300 pounds? Thats an automatic red flag"(Roberts 46). This book could've been written as a story with a plot line. The plot could've been A-Rod's rise to fame and fortune and his plummet to humanity.

I really enjoyed this book. Since I love baseball so much, it really connected to me. i would recommend this book to somebody who really likes baseball. Somebody could get easily distracted while reading this book if not familiar with baseball.

[Ice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alex Rodriguez is the highest-paid player in the history of baseball, a once-in-a-generation talent poised to break many of the sport's most hallowed records. In 2007 he became the youngest player, at 32, ever to hit 500 home runs, solidifying his status as the greatest player in the modern game, and months later he signed a contract that would keep him with the Yankees through the end of his career.

His reputation changed drastically in February 2009 when Selena Roberts broke the news in Sports Illustrated that A-Rod had used performance-enhancing drugs during his 2003 MVP season with the Texas Rangers. Her report prompted a contrite Rodriguez to admit illegal drug use during his 2001–2003 seasons with the Rangers, who had signed him to the most expensive contract in Major League Baseball history.

Although he admitted to three seasons of steroid use, the man teammates call "A-Fraud" was still hiding the truth. In the first definitive biography of Alex Rodriguez, Roberts assembles the strands of a bizarre and extraordinary life: from his boyhood in New York and the Dominican Republic through his near-mythic high school career and fast track to the big leagues, the whole of A-Rod's career mirrors the rise and fall of the steroid generation.

Roberts goes beyond the sensational headlines, probing A-Rod's childhood to reveal a man torn by obligation to his family and the pull of his insatiable hedonism, a conflict--epitomized by his relationship with Madonna and devotion to Kabbalah--that led to the end of his six-year marriage. Roberts sheds new light on A-Rod's abuse of performance-enhancing drugs, a practice he appears to have begun as early as high school and that extended into his Yankee years. She chronicles his secretive real estate deals, gets inside the negotiations for his latest record-breaking contract with the Yankees, and examines the insecurities that compel him to seek support from a motivational guru before every game.

In A-Rod, Roberts captures baseball's greatest player as a tragic figure in pinstripes: the man once considered the clean exception of the steroid generation revealed as an unmistakable product of its greed and dissolution.

[Resonance · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a very well written book, and it is a little hard to determine from reading it how much of it is a depiction of an unpleasant subject (Alex Rodriguez) and how much of it is character assassination by a sensationalist journalist (Selena Roberts). But if only a quarter of it is accurate it's still a pretty damning indictment of A*Rod. About the only good characteristic he seems to have in this unauthorized biography is that he's eager to please. The rest of the book more or less suggests that he's a maladaptive, insecure and immature lost soul that has taken steroids since their junior year in high school, has undermined his teams by in some cases tipping off some opposing batters on what pitch was coming next (an alleged quid pro quo exchange), sleeps around like a two dollar gigolo and is generally as genuine as a three dollar bill. The book itself is weakened somewhat considerably in that the majority of the damning accusations the book contains aren't attributed, but are instead listed as coming from a friend, a former teammate, etc.

I gave it three stars instead of two due to the fact that despite how the book flirts with lurid mudslinging, I will admit to being entertained by it, and I finished it pretty quickly.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

well-written, chronologically organized takedown of A-Rod. Documents fairly well (evidence mostly circumstantial, some anonymous comments, but some on the record from teammates etc.) that he's been on steroids and/or human growth hormone as far back as high school.

Along the way, comprehensively (almost overkill at times) documents that he is a phony, insecure, entitled narcissist and philanderer and has been for a long time. As one of his former colleagues sums up in the epilogue, an "asshole".

I get that these guys (extremely successful team-sport athletes) are fawned over from a young age, have a tremendous amount of money, work strange hours under intense competitive pressure, and so on. It would take an unusually solid character not to become at least somewhat full of yourself, but some of the details in this book were funny, e.g., the fact that A-Rod has a personal assistant "pre-load" his toothbrush with toothpaste for him. I guess he can't afford to be wasting all that time squeezing the tube himself, given his busy schedule of going to strip clubs and the like.

[Gwen - Chew & Digest Books - · Rating 3 out of 5]

I need to read another book to get a different perspective because the A-Rod that Selena paints is a sniveling needy man-child that I can't believe that I cheered on for years.

Duped as I feel, it is important to know that I see the whole steroid thing that has happened a few times in baseball as part of our own fault as fans, the MBA, and all pro sports. We all want them to be gods and hit further, run faster, slide effortlessly, etc. While we aren't the ones that put the 'roids in their hand, we did and do expect too much from our sports figures. (stepping down from soap box)

So that isn't what bothered me about this portrait of Rodriguez. It was that he never took responsibility for anything. If he walked outside, it wasn't his fault. Also, his mom and siblings put their all into little Alex in hopes that he would propel them out of poverty. That is a huge burden for a kid and it seems that he never grew up.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book for a few years on my to read shelf and decided with recent events to give it a spin. As a matter of disclosure I am a life-long, die-hard Yankees fan. The book is a fast read with a mix of hearsay and actual research and ends with the 2009 preseason. The author has an axe to grind which is very evident in the tone used throughout the book. The majority of the revelations about A-Rod are most likely true especially in light of his current suspension which is under appeal. He will undoubtedly join the list of players who will not make it into the Hall of Fame. I have always been a Derek Jeter fan and could take or leave A-Rod. Based on the information in the book, that fact alone will increase his insecurities. I can't really recommend the book unless you are looking for some factual evidence of his early drug use.

[Steve Callahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book they almost had to give away probably because no one wants to read about the dope [ pun intended]. A Rod was a great ball player but his personal life is all about him, not happy unless he's the center of attention and he believes he deserves it. Constantly whining and comparing himself to Derek Jeter, the Yankees captain; while Alex's stats are better, he's not a leader teammates look up to. Wanting to be the best ball player in history,he used steroids as an edge to try and get there. If it wasn't for his wife offering stability, who he left, he would have been even more of a mess.
Wanting to be the best and admired doesn't work if that's all your life is about. He needs to have some morals and truthfulness while considering concerns of other people in his life not see them as a tool to promote himself.

[EOB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best-written attack bio or most interesting subject matter to me, but it is compelling if only due to how deeply and earnestly Selena Roberts holds this guy in contempt. Most negative sports bios play like the UB40 version of "Here I Am"; this is the Al Green version. Realness.

And it's easy to understand when you see his greatest hits - the ones we knew about - laid back-to-back, and then add the apocryphal gems. It falls short of ever appearing petty or vindictive, but it feels a bit thin. Perhaps some of this is in the writing or editing, but I think you can attribute a lot of the subject matter: for a self-absorbed overachiever with massive resources, he manages to be one of the most boring humans I've ever read about.

[Davis Goicoechea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book about the life of Alex Rodriguez. I found it very interesting, not only because I'm a Yankees fan, but because it truly dhows all the views people had towards A-Rod. This book is verry easy to follow, since it is in chronological oreder. I think some people are too hard on the guy though. Roberts found many flaws and bad things about A-rod, but I don't think she sees the good in him. People don't understand what being the best at something or being really famous can do to someone. We all have decisions to make, and all of us make mistakes here and there. A-rod is a great baseball player who let his ego get the best of him, but sometimes it happens to all of us.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but any true fan of Rodriguez will hate it believing it is based on lies. An A-Rod hater will not care for it because it is not as negative as they had hoped. I liked that Roberts wrote the book the way they all should - starting with childhood and in order of events to current. I also appreciated it wasn't full of baseball stats that would only interest a few. My only opinion of A-Rod has been that he is an excellent player and an interesting character. That hasn't changed but at least now I have an understanding of what has made him controversial.

[Jack Waters · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good read about a great ballplayer fallen victim to many problems, self-inflicted or otherwise cast upon him from outside influences. The book gives enough of a glimpse for the reader to feel sorry for A-Rod, whose career has always been under a microscope with unbelievable expectations always prevalent in everything he does, from his statistics to his on-deck antics. I'm a fan of A-Rod and was thinking the book would be anti-A-Rod, but it humanized him without giving him any shortcuts that his PR-molded persona consistently tries to portray.

[Tom Fuchs]

I didn't see this as throwing A-Rod under the bus or crucifying him so much as showing his personality warts and all. I think it made him a much more interesting person than he tried to portray himself as in the media for many years. However, it's hard to take any of his stats too seriously knowing he was juiced during one MVP season for sure, and was more than likely using during others as well. Knowing that I fucking hated the guy beforehand, this actually worked at humanizing him on my part.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to be a huge A-Rod fan, but then he seemed to be a completely different man from the one that started in the big leagues and I could no longer stand him. This book was on sale at B&N so I figured why not. By the time I finished the book I didn't know if I hated him more or just felt bad for him for being so insecure in so many different things. I'm still not the biggest A-Rod fan, he's let me down on the field too many times, but as I person this book helped me see him for more of who he really is.

[Alex Curro · Rating 5 out of 5]

A-Rod by Selena Roberts is a great book about the life story of Alex Rodriguez. This book takes you through the life of A-Rod himself and his path to the majors. This book is fantastic for a baseball lover who likes to read biographies about their favorite players. It also takes you into what happened with the steroids and gives you insight from other players about other players. This book is great and i would recommend it to everyone wanting to learn the life story of perhaps one of the greatest players of all time.

[Edwin Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice read considering it was at Dollar Tree when I went Christmas shopping in 2015!

I have no other opinions about Alex Rodriguez to compare with this author's book, but it seems to be well documented with the facts she states. I'm sure another book written after the subject is long retired would have a better perspective. Good writing makes any sports book an easy 2 day read for me if I'm not working on something else full time.