Nelson W. Aldrich Jr. (1935–2022)

George Plimpton was an upper-class guy with a patrician accent who partied his way through life, never seeming to apply himself steadily to anything. Nevertheless, he ended up beloved by people of all classes, died famous, and left behind several good books of sports reportage (!) and a literary monument called the Paris Review. This oral biography lets the people who knew Plimpton paint his portrait through reminiscent chat. They all found him charming, even the ones who found him emotionally remote and thus infuriating (just ask his two wives). They marvel at his zest for life and capacity for wonder. He played for the Detroit Lions and Boston Bruins! He wrestled Bobby Kennedy's assassin to the ground! He could have married Jackie O! He went nightclubbing in his seventies! And so on. An oral biography suits this subject -- Plimpton adored parties, his whole life was in some sense a single endless soiree, and you can just see the 200 people quoted in this book mingling in a large penthouse apartment, swapping George stories and flirting over the fine Scotch he always kept on hand.… (mais)