I Never Had It Made. - book reviews

JACKIE Robinson's historic break-through in major league baseball did more than open the doors of professional sports to Black athletes, it also opened the eyes of the publishing industry which, in the ensuing years, saw gold in books by and about Black athletes.

From Robinson's 1972 autobiography I Never Had it made to basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain's controversial tell-all A View From Above (1991), Black athletes and their chroniclers have been making the best-seller list and providing insider views of life in pro sports.

The literary marketplace is now flooded with books charting the lives and careers of Black athletes. Here is a sampling of some of the fascinating works focusing on the world of Black athletes produced in the last 30 years:

I Never Had It Made (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1972), Jackie Robinson's candid and insightful autobiography, offers a personal account of the events that led to his historic breakthrough, as well as his impressions of what it was like to live in the eye of the hurricane of publicity and public frenzy that attended his ascent to the major leagues. This "as told to" autobiography, written by Alfred Duckett, is among the most deeply moving sports memoirs ever written. Even today, 20 years after it was first published, it remains a testament to the grace, class and talent that Jackie Robinson possessed.