First published 2011
In May 1941, Joe DiMaggio steps into the batter's box at Yankee Stadium and lines a single to left field. The hit begins baseball's most celebrated achievement: a 56-game hitting streak that will grip the nation for two months. As Nazi armies sweep across Europe and America edges toward war, the 26-year-old Yankees centerfielder faces mounting pressure with each at-bat. The streak reaches into American homes from Newark's Italian neighborhoods to Queens playgrounds, even touching President Roosevelt in the White House. DiMaggio battles his own demons as a demanding athlete and troubled husband to movie star Dorothy Arnold, who waits for their child in a Manhattan apartment. Each game brings new scrutiny and tension as the impossible streak continues. Kennedy follows DiMaggio through this transformative summer when a young ballplayer became an American icon, capturing the mathematical miracle and cultural phenomenon of 56 consecutive games with at least one hit.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, sports, biographical-fiction, baseball
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: based-on-true-story, celebrity, historical-figure
Setting: Yankee Stadium, Newark, Queens, Manhattan
Period: 1941, World War II
368 pages · Hardcover · Sports Illustrated