Perfect: Don Larsen's Miraculous World Series Game and the Men Who Made it Happen

"Perfect captures our hearts as it carries us back to the golden age of baseball and the more innocent world of the 1950s."--Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning Author of The Bully Pulpit

On October 8, 1956, New York Yankees pitcher Don Larsen took the mound for game five of the World Series against the rival Brooklyn Dodgers. In an improbable performance that the New York Times called "the greatest moment in the history of the Fall Classic," Larsen, an otherwise mediocre journeyman pitcher, retired twenty-seven straight Dodger batters to clinch a perfect game and, to date, the only World Series no-hitter ever witnessed in major league baseball. Here, Lew Paper delivers a masterful pitch-by-pitch account of that fateful day and the extraordinary lives of the players on the field--seven of whom would later be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Meticulously researched and relying on dozens of interviews, Paper's gripping narrative recreates Larsen's feat in a pitching duel that featured legendary figures such as Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Yogi Berra, and Roy Campanella.

More than just the story of a single game, Perfect is a window into baseball's glorious past.

Author: Lew Paper
Publisher: Berkley Books
Published: 10/05/2010
Pages: 448
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.98lbs
Size: 8.85h x 6.04w x 0.95d
ISBN: 9780451231239

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 10/17/2010 pg. 28

About the Author
Lew Paper is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Harvard Law School and holds a master's degree in law from Georgetown University Law School. He has held a variety of positions in the public and private sectors, including a fellowship with Georgetown University Law School's Institute of Public Interest Representation, Legislative Counsel to Senator Gaylord Nelson in the United States Senate, and Associate General Counsel at the Federal Communications Commission. He is the author of John F. Kennedy: The Promise and The Performance; Brandeis: An Intimate Biography; Empire: William S. Paley and The making of CBS; and Deadly Risks. His articles and book reviews have appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, and The American Scholar. He currently practices law in Washington, DC.