House of Nails, Lenny Dykstra
House of Nails, Lenny Dykstra
14 Rating(s)
List: $23.99 | Sale: $16.79
Club: $11.99

House of Nails
A Memoir of Life on the Edge

Bestseller

Author: Lenny Dykstra

Narrator: Patrick Lawlor

Unabridged: 8 hr 31 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 06/28/2016


Synopsis

""Tough, straight, upsetting, and strangely beautiful. One of the best sports autobiographies I've ever read. It comes from the heart."" —Stephen KingEclipsing the traditional sports memoir, House of Nails, by former world champion, multimillionaire entrepreneur, and imprisoned felon Lenny Dykstra, spins a tragicomic tale of Shakespearean proportions -- a relentlessly entertaining American epic that careens between the heights and the abyss.Nicknamed ""Nails"" for his hustle and grit, Lenny approached the game of baseball -- and life -- with mythic intensity. During his decade in the majors as a center fielder for the legendary 1980s Mets and the 1990s Phillies, he was named to three All-Star teams and played in two of the most memorable World Series of the modern era. An overachiever known for his clutch hits, high on-base percentage, and aggressive defense, Lenny was later identified by his former minor-league roommate Billy Beane as the prototypical ""Moneyball"" player in Michael Lewis's bestseller. Tobacco-stained, steroid-powered, and booze-and-drug-fueled, Nails also defined a notorious era of excess in baseball.Then came a second act no novelist could plausibly conjure: After retiring, Dykstra became a celebrated business mogul and investment guru. Touted as ""one of the great ones"" by CNBC's Jim Cramer, he became ""baseball's most improbable post-career success story"" (The New Yorker), purchasing a $17.5-million mansion and traveling the world by private jet. But when the economy imploded in 2008, Lenny lost everything. Then the feds moved in: convicted of bankruptcy fraud (unjustly, he contends), Lenny served two and a half harrowing years in prison, where he was the victim of a savage beating by prison guards that knocked out his front teeth.The Daily Show's Jon Stewart, channeling the bewildered fascination of many observers, declared that Lenny's outrageous rise and spectacular fall was ""the greatest story that I have ever seen in my lifetime.""Now, for the first time, Lenny tells all about his tumultuous career, from battling through crippling pain to steroid use and drug addiction, to a life of indulgence and excess, then, an epic plunge and the long road back to redemption. Was Lenny's hard-charging, risk-it-all nature responsible for his success in baseball and business and his precipitous fall from grace? What lessons, if any, has he learned now that he has had time to think and reflect?Hilarious, unflinchingly honest, and irresistibly readable, House of Nails makes no apologies and leaves nothing left unsaid.

About Lenny Dykstra

Lenny Dykstra manned center field for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies from 1985 to 1996. He was a three-time All-Star, and won a World Series with the Mets in 1986. Since his playing days ended, he has been active in a number of business ventures, including publishing a magazine geared toward professional athletes.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lindsay on July 30, 2016

Things you will learn about Lenny Dykstra in this book: 1. That his uncle played on the Red Wings in the 1950s & helped win the Stanley Cups 2. How he (Lenny, not Uncle Tony) lost his virginity 3. That he is incapable of using any other word but "pussy" to describe women 4. He tried to get Charlie Sheen......more

Goodreads review by Mike on June 07, 2017

OK, I'm going to lead with the good. As a dedicated Mets fan up through the mid-90s and an obsessive baseball fan up until I became a dad a few years ago, it's great reading some insight into one of the most colorful characters around. I will give Lenny that. And the book is certainly entertaining i......more

Goodreads review by Lance on January 29, 2018

Nails nailed it...in more than one way! I've got to say that I loved Dykstra as a ball player. If all athletes gave it what he gave the games would be so much more entertaining. As a person though...😬 Cocky, arrogant, egotistical, brash, crass, lewd...and a handful of other not so flattering adjective......more

Goodreads review by Brett on July 28, 2016

Jeez, what an enormous asshole. I didn't expect much beyond bragging and self-absorption from former Mets and Phillies outfielder Lenny Dykstra, member of the 1986 World Champion Mets squad. And that's what I got. I hoped to learn a bit more about his post-baseball life as an entrepreneur and investi......more

Goodreads review by Matt on September 21, 2024

Dykstra is a psycho who you can tell wrote this book. A little vulgar and all over the place it was a wild read for sure!......more