The Given Day discussion

great book, but... dehane in his depiction of babe ruth in 1919 made a big error. he often refers to him as "fat". now in 1919 babe was 24 years old and in his physical prime. photos of him when he was with the red sox show a trim fit athlete. he was in fact listed as 6'2 215 lbs. it was not until the end of his career 1928-35 that the excesses of his lifestyle and bodyweight became issues. mr. lehane just did not research this aspect of his story thoroughly enough. i still enjoyed the book. it would make a good movie or mini-series.

the only lehane book i could not finish. usually his writing is clean and sharp, here it was staid and basicallt trying too hard. and the story - well it would have been nice if there had been one

i loved this book and can't wait for his next

Sandyboy wrote: "the only lehane book i could not finish. usually his writing is clean and sharp, here it was staid and basicallt trying too hard. and the story - well it would have been nice if there had been one"

I was disappointed, too. I've read everything Lehane wrote and liked everything before THE GIVEN DAY. Maybe if I hadn't liked the others so well, I would have liked this more?

Disappointed??! I thought this book was one of the greatest books ever written!!! It is so poignant!!! Events back then have come full circle and are still having an effect today, vividly written in a wonderful epic style I enjoyed this book but haven't read anything else he wrote....however, I did see the movie....

Totally different from his other books but was a great read. Loved the history.

Dimitri wrote: "great book, but... dehane in his depiction of babe ruth in 1919 made a big error. he often refers to him as "fat". now in 1919 babe was 24 years old and in his physical prime. photos of him when he..."

A good point. I'll never forget the day my father showed me a picture of the Bambino from his BoSox days. It was right about the time he almost vomited at the bio film with John Goodman as the lead.

I truly enjoyed the book (as I enjoy most of Lehane's writings) although I am sure he wasn't always on target with some of the details. But what do I know? I wasn't there at that time, either.