Book Review: Memories Of A Summer

MEMORIES OF A SUMMER:When Baseball Was an Art, and Writing about It a Game
By Roger Kahn
279 pages

A young Roger Kahn dreamed of playing in the Major Leagues like any other boys before and after him. To put on a Brooklyn Dodgers outfit and play in Ebbetts Field would make most supporters hairs stand on end. “I knew other sports existed- football, tennis, basketball, swimming- but…no sport but baseball held my bonding heart.”

‘Memories of Summer’ reveals what growing up on the streets of Brooklyn was like; Kahn breathed baseball. The Dodgers were integral to his being. A shared interest, “I wanted to be like my father. I wanted to enter the world of men. Baseball became my magic portal.” And a lifelong friendship with a club, that would grant him access, and eventually friendship to the likes of Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. Not a small feat.

Kahn gives the reader insights into his relationships with many players, detailing conversations with them during and after their careers. Such candid interviews produce a portal into the past.

He describes the first time he saw Jackie Robinson play, “When you looked at the young black man...white cloth embracing the dark skin, you suddenly realised that every Major Leaguer you had ever seen in all your life had been a white man.”

The book is a web of autobiography, memoir, match reports, interviews and baseball encyclopaedia. It could be likened to Nick Hornby’s ‘Fever Pitch’, written in similar styles and perfect for the sport fanatics, detailing every feeling with vigour. The two show just how universal sport is in differing arenas.

Having been in the business for most of his life, Kahn’s writing on baseball is still fresh. The book is not only accessible to baseball fanatics, but offers much for those who are intrigued by how the media world functions and those unenthused by sport.

'Memories of Summer' follows the previous success of Kahn’s ‘The Boys Of Summer’ (1972). Kahn has succeeded in producing another gloriously open look into baseball, he’s not one to shy away from tough issues prevalent throughout his life such as war, bigotry, censorship of news writing and racism.

Kahn details times when the likes of Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson were subjected to racism, contextualising the book. He does not make the mistake of inserting a moral superiority on the subject though.

Baseball becomes a parallel to American life. The way black people were treated on the field mirrors that off. Talking of the Dodger’s team as opposed to the all white Yankee team, he says, “They were a vision of an integrated nation, an America still waiting to be born.”

Kahn seamlessly narrates his life. He dances between describing iconic games to his life in journalism, a journey that is at times hilarious and inspiring. He meticulously describes his life writing and his experiences with other renowned sports writers and players who have graced the fields.

Kahn’s flawless writing has been refined over the years, writing for such publications as the Herald Tribune, Saturday Evening Post, Newsweek and being involved in the establishment of Sports Illustrated. Kahn portrays the inception of Sport Illustrated, subtly hinting through wit and humour to the reader his distaste for the way it worked.

Kahn reminds the reader of how sports grow and change, how it was and how it is. “Today’s ballplayers exist no farther from us than a bedroom television screen between our toes…. soon, like nose hairs, their mortality begins to show, more vividly than one would wish.”

Kahn’s mother is a more subtle influence throughout the book than his father. Her influence of poetry and the arts is always on the surface of Kahn’s writing as he looks to the likes of Keats, Lardner and Wolfe. She plays the opposing force to baseball. ”Your mother feels there are many things more important than the World Series.” She becomes the voice of reason. Kahn mentions her at the beginning and end, in a moment, which creates beautiful circular structure.

The book is by no means a difficult read. Kahn does not use complex words when simple ones suffice. But Kahn’s ability to make the reader feel they are watching the many games he describes becomes a negative at times as he must tear the reader away from the scene, not quite giving enough of a taste of the action.

Kahn looks at the past like it was yesterday. He vividly depicts legends of the sport, not only drawing a clear picture of their game but also their different characters. A skill needed when he first started out as a journalist before TV and when sportswriters were expected to bring the game to life from the immobile page. The drama of the 1952 World Series and his first 3000 word front page article is especially thrilling.

You cannot smell the grass, hear the cheers or witness the home runs, but Kahn’s foray is as close as it gets. The sports fan is sure to leave the book with many snippets of information to drop into conversation.