In The Chicago Cubs: Story of a Curse, Rich Cohen investigates the cause of the famous "curse" that supposedly afflicted the Cubs for decades. Besides the famous curse of the billy goat, he also mentions possibilities going all the way back to Cap Anson, who was instrumental in the segregation of baseball in the late 19th century. Other theories he raises include the famous "Merkle's Boner" incident which allowed the Cubs to defeat the Giants for the 1908 NL pennant, poor management by P.K. Wrigley, and having to play in Wrigley Field. Cohen tries to understand how the team broke the curse in 2016. Interwoven into the various stories of Cubs' history is Cohen's own experiences as a Cubs fan.

I was not expecting as much Cubs history as he covers in this book. He tells the stories of several of the early Cubs, especially from the 1908 team. He also writes about Grover Cleveland Alexander, Hack Wilson, Ernie Banks, Leo Durocher and the 1969 Cubs, Bill Buckner, and the 1984 Cubs, among others.

I really enjoyed this book. It is well written and an easy read. All fans of baseball should enjoy it, though maybe not as much as a Cub fan would. But I highly recommend it for anyone who follows the Cubs. ( )

Should have been 50-100 pages longer and covered more. Otherwise, pretty terrific, but I'm biased. A non-Cub fan won't relish every story like I did. ( )

Fabulous ( )

As a Chicago Cubs fan since the mid-1960’s and who has read several hundred baseball books, I’m not often impressed by many new baseball books but this one was absolutely terrific.

Author Rich Cohen provides an interesting look at Cubs history but really starts to shine when he talks about the Cubs from that ill-fated year, 1969, and on, but especially when he talks about the magical 2016 championship year.

The book is filled with great stories from Ernie Banks and other Cub greats but I especially liked those stories he recounts from his own lifetime of Cubs fandom.

Very impressive and highly recommended!!

(I received a complimentary copy of this book from Net Galley.) ( )