”The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic” (Hachette), by Richard Sandomir
The movie ”The Pride of the Yankees” is the kind of Hollywood hokum that makes us feel good. And there’s nothing wrong with that – as long as we know life is usually more complicated than a Gary Cooper movie.
Recommending a making-of-the-movie book as more interesting than the film it explores is a compliment to the author. And in the case of this 1942 biopic about baseball great Lou Gehrig, an acknowledgement that time can be cruel to our youthful favorites.