House of Nails: A Memoir of Life on the Edge
3/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
"Tough, straight, upsetting, and strangely beautiful. One of the best sports autobiographies I've ever read. It comes from the heart." —Stephen King
Eclipsing the traditional sports memoir, House of Nails, by former world champion, multimillionaire entrepreneur, and imprisoned felon Lenny Dykstra, spins a tragicomic tale of Shakespearean proportions -- a relentlessly entertaining American epic that careens between the heights and the abyss.
Nicknamed "Nails" for his hustle and grit, Lenny approached the game of baseball -- and life -- with mythic intensity. During his decade in the majors as a center fielder for the legendary 1980s Mets and the 1990s Phillies, he was named to three All-Star teams and played in two of the most memorable World Series of the modern era. An overachiever known for his clutch hits, high on-base percentage, and aggressive defense, Lenny was later identified by his former minor-league roommate Billy Beane as the prototypical "Moneyball" player in Michael Lewis's bestseller. Tobacco-stained, steroid-powered, and booze-and-drug-fueled, Nails also defined a notorious era of excess in baseball.
Then came a second act no novelist could plausibly conjure: After retiring, Dykstra became a celebrated business mogul and investment guru. Touted as "one of the great ones" by CNBC's Jim Cramer, he became "baseball's most improbable post-career success story" (The New Yorker), purchasing a $17.5-million mansion and traveling the world by private jet. But when the economy imploded in 2008, Lenny lost everything. Then the feds moved in: convicted of bankruptcy fraud (unjustly, he contends), Lenny served two and a half harrowing years in prison, where he was the victim of a savage beating by prison guards that knocked out his front teeth.
The Daily Show's Jon Stewart, channeling the bewildered fascination of many observers, declared that Lenny's outrageous rise and spectactular fall was "the greatest story that I have ever seen in my lifetime."
Now, for the first time, Lenny tells all about his tumultuous career, from battling through crippling pain to steroid use and drug addiction, to a life of indulgence and excess, then, an epic plunge and the long road back to redemption. Was Lenny's hard-charging, risk-it-all nature responsible for his success in baseball and business and his precipitous fall from grace? What lessons, if any, has he learned now that he has had time to think and reflect?
Hilarious, unflinchingly honest, and irresistibly readable, House of Nails makes no apologies and leaves nothing left unsaid.
Lenny Dykstra
Lenny Dykstra manned center field for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies from 1985 to 1996. He was a three-time All-Star, and won a World Series with the Mets in 1986. Since his playing days ended, he has been active in a number of business ventures, including publishing a magazine geared toward professional athletes.
Related to House of Nails
Related ebooks
Planet of the Umps: A Baseball Life from Behind the Plate Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Champions: The Story of the First Two Oakland A's Dynasties—and the Building of the Third Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and the Battle to Save Baseball Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the making of an Antiher Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Raw: My 100% Grade-A, Unfiltered, Inside Look at Sports Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boys Will Be Boys: The Glory Days and Party Nights of the Dallas Cowboys Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Baseball Meat Market: The Stories Behind the Best and Worst Trades in History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5If These Walls Could Talk: Dallas Cowboys: Stories from the Dallas Cowboys Sideline, Locker Room, and Press Box Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Streak: Lou Gehrig, Cal Ripken Jr., and Baseball's Most Historic Record Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bleeding Blue: Giving My All for the Game Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Still Throwing Heat: Strikeouts, the Streets, and a Second Chance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Landry's Boys: An Oral History of a Team and an Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Yucks: Two Years in Tampa with the Losingest Team in NFL History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ron Wolf and the Green Bay Packers: Mike Holmgren, Brett Favre, Reggie White, and the Pack's Return to Glory in the 1990s Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDoc: The Life of Roy Halladay Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5DYNASTY Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings1996: A Biography — Reliving the Legend-Packed, Dynasty-Stacked, Most Iconic Sports Year Ever Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Captain & Me: On and Off the Field with Thurman Munson Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cleveland Rocked: The Personalities, Sluggers, and Magic of the 1995 Indians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babyfaces and Heels Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTommy Lasorda: My Way Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThis Book Has Balls: Sports Rants from the MVP of Talking Trash Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bowden: How Bobby Bowden Forged a Football Dynasty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPistol: A Biography of Pete Maravich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sack Exchange: The Definitive Oral History of the 1980s New York Jets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrowing Up Gronk: A Family's Story of Raising Champions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Sports Biographies For You
The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tiger Woods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Build a Car: The Autobiography of the World’s Greatest Formula 1 Designer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5MOX Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America's First All-Black High School Rowing Team Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dove Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Endure: How to Work Hard, Outlast, and Keep Hammering Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Slash Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the Hidden Power of Adversity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Horse God Built: The Untold Story of Secretariat, the World's Greatest Racehorse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Kobe Bryant's The Mamba Mentality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCoach Wooden's Pyramid of Success Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Sustained Peak Performance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dreamseller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis--Lessons from a Master Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Walter & Me: Standing in the Shadow of Sweetness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ball Four Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When Pride Still Mattered: A Life Of Vince Lombardi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike's Elite Running Team Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Baseball 100 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yes Please Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for House of Nails
5 ratings0 reviews