Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top

I love this book. I was 10 in 1967 when I first joined "The Nation," and your summaries of games of the past is spot on, including things I remember and things I had completely forgotten about. Reading Feeding the Monster was like reading about your immediate family, with parts you want to relive and parts that are painful to think about. I read it through so quickly because I couldn't wait to find out what happened in every chapter, even though I obviously already knew the final results. Then I went back and read it more slowly and savored every page. I'm glad the book sets the record straight for a lot of us about what happened with the team historically, the sale of the team to John Henry, and what goes on now behind closed doors most of us could have never hoped to open. I've never read anything that had such amazing details about a team's makeup, about player negotiations, and about the pressures of playing (and working) in sports (or in Boston). I've also never read such poetic descriptions (and intimate details) about what goes on on the field and how the players do what they do. The chapters on David Ortiz are worth it in and of themselves. I'd recommend it not just to Red Sox fans but to baseball fans, people who want to learn about American business, and people interested in social history. Even Yankees fans will enjoy it.

After reading all of the hype about this book, I was prepared to be disappointed. Between all the reviews and articles, I thought I had read all of the revelations. I was totally wrong and I've never had a perspective like this one. I've read many, many books about the sport and have never read anything that combined management and ownership and players and the on-field aspect like this one. I think it's probably something I'll go back and read repeatedly as time goes on, like "9 Innings" and "Moneyball" and "Ball Four" combined into one. Because people are so passionate about the Red Sox and about baseball I suspect there will be lots of different reactions to the book. Already it seems to have angered those who think they're the only "true" fans. Take the review in the Globe, where the writer (a host of a sports show) said he would prefer to remain ignorant (his words, not mine) about what actually happens in the game, or one of the reviews here written by Bill Nowlin, who has written many, many books of his own about the Red Sox (eight since 2004 alone). He makes fun of the title but doesn't say he's good friends with Rob Neyer and took part in research for Neyer's book. He also says this book made a mistake by saying Kevin Youkilis was on the World Series roster, but Youkilis was indeed on the roster, replacing Ramiro Mendoza, who'd proven himself utterly worthless in the ALCS. I think that's to be expected when writing about baseball and the Red Sox. People feel very strongly about both, regardless of what else is going on in the world. I wasted many hours of my life reading all of the books that came out after the 2004 World Series, and this is one that finally looks at the whole history of the last six years while giving you the behind-the-scenes access and the beauty of the game. If you want to know anything about either baseball or the Red Sox this may be the best book produced in the past ten years, and may be one of the best baseball books ever.

I've followed the Red Sox and loved baseball for more than 30 years. I'm the reason publishers see fit to put out so many baseball books because I'll buy them all. I probably read 20 books after 2004, the Johnny Damon book, the Stephen King book, and a lot written by sportswriters. I also read the Herald and the Globe and their coverage of the Red Sox every morning online. I bought this almost feeling obligated but also thinking it would just be one more book I'd end up having read. Boy, was I wrong. I had no idea John Henry was the type of person he is, and I'll never get the picture of him with shaved eyebrows in a rock band out of my head. Even after probably spending a month of my life following what happened with "Theo and the Trio" last fall, I had no idea about what really happened until I read this. Same goes for "Manny being Manny" and what that really means, and the real deal with Pedro going to the Mets or "Idiot" Damon going to the Yankees. I loved "Moneyball" but I feel like this is more of a real story about a whole organization and about what it's like to run and play for and work for a baseball team in America. This is a book I will probably read again and will give to people so they can understand what is so fascinating about the game I've spent so much of my life watching and following!

As someone who has been reading baseball books for many years, I was blown away. This provides a better inside picture of what it's like than anything I've read -- it's like Ball Four, but with the real story on everything and not just the players. There are so many new details in here - the sale, the amazing details about the Nomar trade, the Ortiz signing, Manny. But maybe the best part is how it gives an amazing picture of what being a part of a ball team is like, and does it in a way that's like a novel and a history all at the same time. I can't remember the last time I read a book cover-to-cover without being able to put it down.

My husband brought this book home and I could not have been less excited: I'm a Cardinals fan (married to a Yankees fan, which is hard), and I didn't think I ever wanted to think (or read) about the 2004 World Series again. Then I started reading the introduction and felt this was the most amazing book about baseball ever written. It's poetic, gripping, and full of juicy information and so knowledgable and detailed at the same time. The two of us fought over it at night - and neither of us would have expected to read it (or enjoy it!) when we started. Some of the statistical information will seem common sense to fans (like explaining batting average) and some will seem obscure (like talking about "defensive metrics") but that's a tiny thing in a majestic book. I loved it!