Home Run: The Story of Babe Ruth by Robert Burleigh
by AutoSurfRestarter on Oct 07, 2009
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When I first saw the cover painting by Mike Wimmer on "Home Run" I was not sure if it was supposed to be Babe Ruth. In his glory days the Bambino had a body like an inverted pyramid,
When I first saw the cover painting by Mike Wimmer on "Home Run" I was not sure if it was supposed to be Babe Ruth. In his glory days the Bambino had a body like an inverted pyramid, with those broad shoulders tapering down to those thin little ankles and tiny feet, and there are some paintings in "Home Run: The Story of Babe Ruth" that do not especially look like the Babe. However, those are few and far between. The text by Robert Burleigh comes in two parts. First, there is the book’s narrative, a sort of lyric ode to the Babe that combines his discovering his "pretty" swing as a boy with a home run he hits off of a Red Sox pitcher years later. Second, under the narrative text there is the back of a faux-baseball card (from "The World Champion" series), that has biographical and statistical details about Ruth. However, the centerpiece of this book is the time at bat that takes up the last half of the book. Earlier there is a striking painting of Ruth launching a pop-up; the view is from behind the catcher who has taken off his mask, all eyes turned to the sky and the small white ball rising into the sky. Wimmer offers several unique and compelling perspectives during the home run episode as well: the Red Sox first baseman craning his neck to follow the flight of the unseen ball, the eyes of Ruth watching it disappear into the stands, the Babe’s foot on first base as the pitcher stands dejectedly on the mound. There is a quote on the back-flap of the dust-jacket that says the "Chicago Sun-Times" described Wimmer’s illustrations as "reminiscent of some of Normal Rockwell’s best." Certainly there are strong similarities, especially in the painting of the fans reacting to Ruth’s homerun. But with his emphasis on key details to tell the story Wimmer offers a decidedly different perspective from Rockwell that I really liked. Ultimately, it is the artwork rather than the narrative that makes this a lyrical book.
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