Let's Play Two: The Legend of Mr. Cub, the Life of Ernie Banks - Tapa dura

"One of the better sports biographies of the century."--National Review "Mr. Rapoport works diligently to penetrate the curtain of enthusiasm in which Banks wrapped himself.... [Let's Play Two] thoughtfully examines the role of race as it crossed Banks's life and career."--Wall Street Journal "Well told...an extensively researched portrayal of the public figure as well as the lesser-known, private Banks."--The Washington Post "Famed sportwriter Ron Rappaport's new biography, Let's Play Two, provides a lot of laugh, a few tears, and helps us better understand the great Ernie Banks."--WBEZ Chicago "[Banks's] era couldn't have been illustrated any better...Rapoport paints a sobering portrait of a man who was ebullient on the outside - "let's play two" - but suffering on the inside."--Forbes "Let's Play Two is a great baseball book, ranking with other outstanding contemporary baseball biographies."--Illinois Times "[An] excellent new biography of Banks."--The Hardball Times "Rapoport has outdone himself, artfully redefining the Banks most of us think we knew."--Rick Kogan, The Chicago Tribune "Rapoport, a 20-year veteran sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, delivers what is sure to be the definitive biography of Chicago Cubs baseball player Ernie Bank...This marvelous look at the life of a beloved athlete should be essential reading for baseball fan."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "This is the definitive biography of baseball's Mr. Sunshine, and Ron Rapoport is the one writer who knew him best and could tell it like it was -- including the 'other side of sunshine.'"--Bill Madden, author of Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball "Ernie Banks crossed the bridge from a segregated nation and national pastime to a better place, smiling all the way. Although his smile was real, so were the scarring experiences he smiled through. He was more complicated and interesting than the human sunbeam he chose to resemble. With a reporter's diligence and a historian's sensibility, Ron Rapoport tells Banks' story, and that of the different nations at the two ends of the bridge."--George F. Will "Hooray! Ernie Banks now has the Hall-of-Fame biography he deserves thanks to Ron Rapoport. This well-researched, beautifully written book is everything a baseball fan could want. Cubs fans, of course, will want to buy two."--Jonathan Eig, the author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig and Ali: A Life "This is a wonderful book worthy of all the energy and vitality Ernie Banks brought to his remarkable career. But it is also a revealing portrait of the often difficult life of a black ballplayer in America and the often lonely man imprisoned and isolated by his exuberant outer image."--Ken Burns "Growing up, every kid I knew wanted to be Ernie Banks, Chicago's 'Mr. Cub.' But there was much more to Ernie than his MVP seasons or his famously sunny outward demeanor. Let's Play Two captures the best of Banks' playing moments, but also delves deeply into a man who did not seem to want you to know more than you could see. Rapoport, a legendary Chicago sportswriter, has written a fascinating, readable, and impeccably researched book about a man who was a Hall of Famer, but also a decided creature of his times."--Scott Turow