Numerous interviews with Maris' friends and teammates reveal an honest and shy man who faced incredible pressure as he threatened and broke Babe Ruth's single-season home run record. The controversy concerning the difference in the length of their seasons is examined thoroughly. The book, which closely chronicles that famous season of 1961, will be particularly appealing to baseball fans of the late 1950s and on. It is written in reporters' style, but the ``real life'' quality of the interviews sustains interest, and readers become acquainted with that circle of friends who remained in contact with Maris until his death from cancer in 1985. Maris will remain somewhat of a mystery to readers even after all of the interviews. There is a general aura of sadness about his life of struggle with the pressures in 1961, the season-length controversy, and finally with cancer. An appendix of Maris' career playing record is included.