"In this fictionalization of the life and times of New York Giants pitching star, Christy Mathewson, the author has written a richly detailed narrative." - "Library Journal". "The reconstructed accounts of Mathewson's most famous games reflect painstaking research and a colorful imagination." - "Booklist". "Greenberg splendidly evokes the essence of turn-of-the-century America by deftly mixing fact and fiction in the tradition of Ragtime." - "Kansas City Star". "A captivating novel." - "People". The first two decades of the twentieth century were a time of promise and innocence in America. Hardworking immigrants could achieve the American dream; heroes were truly heroic. Eric Rolfe Greenberg brilliantly and authentically chronicles the real-life saga of the first national baseball hero, Christy Mathewson, and the fictional story of a Jewish immigrant family of jewelers. In these pages, Mathewson and other great players like John McGraw, Honus Wagner, and Connie Mack discover the realities behind the shining illusions: the burdens of being a hero and the temptations that taint success.