Dave Parker (3)

This is a wonderful book that takes the reader through the colorful life of Dave Parker. Reading it is like having a conversation with your cool uncle.

The book is very easy to read. Parker uses just the right amount of 70s slang to get his point acrossn without veering into parody. He describes the life of a superstar just as well as most other baseball books. But he takes it a step further than those books by having a self-awareness not found in most athlete memoirs. Dave Parker realizes he’s a flawed individual and doesn’t take himself too seriously. This attitude comes through in the book and adds a warmth and authenticity that’s very soothing.

Parker only alludes to his cocaine use. Whenever he’s talking about using drugs, he makes an innuendo and the phrase is in italics. In other hands, this could have become annoying. But it fits right in with the conversational and breezy tone of the rest of the book. After a while, I looked forward to the euphemisms that Parker would use.

This book is a great read for any baseball fan, not just people who watched baseball in the 1970s or Pittsburgh Pirates fans.… (más)