First published 2016
Lenny Dykstra earned the nickname "Nails" for his relentless style on the baseball diamond. The center fielder carved out a decade-long career from 1985 to 1996, making three All-Star teams and competing in two unforgettable World Series. He celebrated a championship with the 1986 New York Mets and starred in the dramatic 1993 Fall Classic with the Philadelphia Phillies. Known for timely hitting and aggressive play, Dykstra embodied the excess of 1980s and early 1990s baseball culture. After retirement, he transformed into an unlikely business success, earning praise as an investment expert and launching ventures that made him wealthy. The New Yorker profiled his remarkable second career. Then everything collapsed when the real estate market crashed. Dykstra lost his fortune and served two and a half years in prison for bankruptcy fraud. His memoir reveals the complete story of this extraordinary rise and fall.
Genres: addiction, 20th-century, business, crime, autobiography, biography-memoir, baseball, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: rags-to-riches, rise-and-fall, true-story
Setting: New York, Philadelphia
Period: 1980s, 1990s, 2000s
340 pages · Hardcover · William Morrow
Content warnings: addiction