I Never Had It Made: An Autobiography of Jackie Robinson
By Jackie Robinson and Alfred Duckett
3.5/5
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About this ebook
The bestselling autobiography of American baseball and civil rights legend Jackie Robinson
Before Barry Bonds, before Reggie Jackson, before Hank Aaron, baseball's stars had one undeniable trait in common: they were all white. In 1947, Jackie Robinson broke that barrier, striking a crucial blow for racial equality and changing the world of sports forever. I Never Had It Made is Robinson's own candid, hard-hitting account of what it took to become the first black man in history to play in the major leagues.
I Never Had It Made recalls Robinson's early years and influences: his time at UCLA, where he became the school's first four-letter athlete; his army stint during World War II, when he challenged Jim Crow laws and narrowly escaped court martial; his years of frustration, on and off the field, with the Negro Leagues; and finally that fateful day when Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers proposed what became known as the "Noble Experiment"—Robinson would step up to bat to integrate and revolutionize baseball.
More than a baseball story, I Never Had It Made also reveals the highs and lows of Robinson's life after baseball. He recounts his political aspirations and civil rights activism; his friendships with Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, William Buckley, Jr., and Nelson Rockefeller; and his troubled relationship with his son, Jackie, Jr.
I Never Had It Made endures as an inspiring story of a man whose heroism extended well beyond the playing field.
Editor's Note
Smashing barriers…
This moving memoir from Jackie Robinson inspired the movie “42.” The baseball legend’s hard-hitting account reveals the struggles and obscene bigotry he faced as the first black player to bust open major league’s racial barrier. Baseball wouldn’t be the beautiful game we love today without the tenacious courage of Robinson.
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Reviews for I Never Had It Made
41 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wonderful read whether you're an avid baseball fan or (like me) completely uneducated on the baseball world. Jackie Robinson's voice comes through loud and clear in a tone of humility, pride, and dedication. Robinson was a hero in so many ways and affected the history of the US in more ways than I ever imagined.
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5"I Never Had It Made" is one of those "as told to" books in which another writer does the grunt work of actually getting the author's words onto a piece of paper in publishable form (in this case that man was Alfred Duckett). Despite this, one comes away from this combination autobiography/political screed with a sense that these are largely Jackie Robinson's words, that the book is very personal to Robinson and that this is precisely the way the man expressed himself in his day (this book was published in 1972).Baseball fans (by far, the primary audience for this book today)will be disappointed to find that only about one-third of the book is devoted to Robinson's baseball career And even that portion of the book, as it probably should, spends much more time on the racial aspect of Robinson breaking the baseball color barrier than it spends on his career itself. Jackie Robinson was a very proud black man, a man comfortable with his race and determined to get a fair shake from the white-dominated world in which he lived. He was also, at the end, a very bitter man because as it became more and more obvious that the civil rights games he longed for were not likely to be accomplished in his own lifetime. All of that comes across very strongly in the remaining two-thirds of the book, and considering the progress made after Robinson's death it, at times, makes for sad and tedious reading."I Never Had It Made" is a reflection of its times and the personal struggles that Robinson (and his fellow blacks) went through during those years. It is worth a read - but it is not about baseball. It is about the civil rights struggle in this country during the first six or seven decades of the twentieth century.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Interesting to hear Jackie's voice, but sadly disappointing in overall tone. The book is mostly about Robinson's racial struggles, rather than the major events and achievements of his life. The book is overwhelmingly bitter with few rests for positive moments along the way. His baseball career and achievements fly by with greater emphasis on later years and racial struggles. We're talking two pages about the '55 World Series. TWO PAGES! It's worth stepping into Jackie's shoes, but be prepared once you're in them.