A-Rod : the many lives of Alex Rodriguez

Alex Rodriguez is the highest-paid player in the history of baseball, a once-in-a-generation talent poised to break many of the sport's most hallowed records. In 2007 he became the youngest player, at 32, ever to hit 500 home runs, solidifying his status as the greatest player in the modern game, and months later he signed a contract that would keep him with the Yankees through the end of his career. His reputation changed drastically in February 2009 when Selena Roberts broke the news in Sports Illustrated that A-Rod had used performance-enhancing drugs during his 2003 MVP season with the Texas Rangers. Her report prompted a contrite Rodriguez to admit illegal drug use during his 2001–2003 seasons with the Rangers, who had signed him to the most expensive contract in Major League Baseball history. Although he admitted to three seasons of steroid use, the man teammates call "A-Fraud" was still hiding the truth. In the first definitive biography of Alex Rodriguez, Roberts assembles the strands of a bizarre and extraordinary life: from his boyhood in New York and the Dominican Republic through his near-mythic high school career and fast track to the big leagues, the whole of A-Rod's career mirrors the rise and fall of the steroid generation. Roberts goes beyond the sensational headlines, probing A-Rod's childhood to reveal a man torn by obligation to his family and the pull of his insatiable hedonism, a conflict--epitomized by his relationship with Madonna and devotion to Kabbalah--that led to the end of his six-year marriage. Roberts sheds new light on A-Rod's abuse of performance-enhancing drugs, a practice he appears to have begun as early as high school and that extended into his Yankee years. She chronicles his secretive real estate deals, gets inside the negotiations for his latest record-breaking contract with the Yankees, and examines the insecurities that compel him to seek support from a motivational guru before every game. In A-Rod, Roberts captures baseball's greatest player as a tragic figure in pinstripes: the man once considered the clean exception of the steroid generation revealed as an unmistakable product of its greed and dissolution. Through Exhaustive Reporting And Interviews, Roberts Details A-rod As A Plunge-in-progress, A Once-in-a-generation Baseball Talent Tortured By An Internal Struggle Between The Polished Family Man He Wants To Be And The Unabashed Hedonist He Has Become. Alex Rodriguez Is The Highest-paid Player In The History Of Baseball, A Once-in-a-generation Talent Poised To Break Many Of The Sport's Most Hallowed Records. In 2007 He Became The Youngest Player, At 32, Ever To Hit 500 Home Runs, Solidifying His Status As The Greatest Player In The Modern Game, And Months Later He Signed A Contract That Would Keep Him With The Yankees Through The End Of His Career. His Reputation Changed Drastically In February 2009 When Selena Roberts Broke The News In Sports Illustrated That A-rod Had Used Performance-enhancing Drugs During His 2003 Mvp Season With The Texas Rangers. Her Report Prompted A Contrite Rodriguez To Admit Illegal Drug Use During His 2001-2003 Seasons With The Rangers, Who Had Signed Him To The Most Expensive Contract In Major League Baseball History. Although He Admitted To Three Seasons Of Steroid Use, The Man Teammates Call A-fraud Was Still Hiding The Truth. In The First Definitive Biography Of Alex Rodriguez, Roberts Assembles The Strands Of A Bizarre And Extraordinary Life: From His Boyhood In New York And The Dominican Republic Through His Near-mythic High School Career And Fast Track To The Big Leagues, The Whole Of A-rod's Career Mirrors The Rise And Fall Of The Steroid Generation.--jacket. Prologue -- The Good Son -- The Phenom Of Westminster -- The Number One Hit -- Like A Virgin Client -- The Perfectionist -- Mr. Two-fifty-two -- The B-12 Code -- The Trophy Date -- The Risk Taker -- The Fuck You Tour -- The Dimaggio Wannabe -- Epilogue. Selena Roberts. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [251]-255).

the Highest-paid Player In The History Of Baseball And Widely Regarded As The Greatest In The Modern Game, The Yankees' Alex Rodriguez Ensured His Place In The Record Books In 2007 When, At Thirty-two, He Became The Youngest Player To Hit Five Hundred Home Runs. But His Reputation Changed Drastically Two Years Later, When Selena Roberts Broke The News In sports Illustrated That He Had Used Performance-enhancing Drugs While Playing For The Texas Rangers And Later With The Yankees.

in a-rod, Roberts Chronicles Rodriguez's Extraordinary Life, Going Beyond The Sensational Headlines To Reveal A Man Torn By Obligation To His Family And The Pull Of Insatiable Hedonism. Ultimately, Roberts Captures Rodriguez As A Tragic Figure In Pinstripes: The Man Once Considered The Clean Exception Of The Steroid Generation Revealed As An Unmistakable Product Of Its Greed And Dissolution.

the New York Times - Nicholas Dawidoff

ms. Roberts Is An Enterprising Investigator, And Her Hastily Constructed But Important Account Contains Enough Dispiriting Content To Make A Reader Grateful That a-rod Is Less A Full Biography Than A First-rate Magazine Profile…ms. Roberts's Merciless Portrait Of Rodriguez As A Needy, Phony, Preening, Petulant, Self-absorbed Narcissist…will Resonate With Readers Of the Yankee Years, The Recent Memoir By Joe Torre, Rodriguez's Former Manager, And Tom Verducci

Krip Voreland, interplanetary Free Trader, Maelen, sorceress of the Moon of Three Rings, and Farree, an orphan with iridescent wings, search for the mystery of Farree's ancestry, the secret of this race of winged people known as the Little People and their well-guarded treasure. "Through exhaustive reporting and interviews, Sports Illustrated writer Selena Roberts explores A-Rod's path to a self-destruction so profound it would rate as one of the most dramatic falls in major league history"-- Provided by publisher