It's Good to Be Alive

If Jackie Robinson was the heart of the Dodger teams of the late 1940s and early 1950s, Roy Campanella, the Brooklyn backstop, was its backbone. A powerful man with a powerful will, he won a trio of National League MVP honors in the 10 seasons before his Major League career, which began late because of his skin color, ended early as a result of a car crash. Campy's autobiography, originally published in 1959, is as gritty as the Hall of Famer was. It weaves its way from the Negro Leagues to the Majors, then digs in to detail the catcher's post-crash rehabilitation with honest inspiration.