THE BIG BAM The Life and Times of Babe Ruth

With Barry Bonds having recently eclipsed Babe Ruth's career home run total, this biography of the great Yankee slugger is timely. While Ruth was an enormously public figure, some parts of his private life remain shadowy. Montville fills in a few pieces of these puzzles, and his account of the Babe's antics is funny, admiring, and skeptical--he sides with those who think the famous "called shot" homer in the 1932 World Series is a myth. Adam Grupper's narration is generally strong, despite a tendency to sound like a pitchman during some passages. In his defense, a share of the culpability lies with the text, which despite its virtues, is occasionally melodramatic. D.B. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 06]