Love them or hate them, the New York Yankees have been an American institution for nearly a century. With their rich history and colorful cast of characters, the Yankees never fail to inspire or provoke. In this exciting compendium, some of today's most acclaimed writers - including Pete Dexter, Colum McCann, Roy Blount, Jr., Dan Barry, Jane Leavy, Charles P. Pierce, J.R. Moehringer, Daniel Okrent, Frank Deford, Bill James, and many more - step up to the plate to take their cuts. The result is a collection of original essays as idiosyncratic and expansive as the team that has inspired them: ruminations on Babe Ruth's gravestone, Derek Jeter's swing, and the upper-deck vantage of the Oldest Living Yankee, dual allegiances, mortal rivalries; and every other subject that spans from the hilarious (the Yankee wife-swap of the '70s) to the sublime (the grace of Catfish Hunter).

Superbly written, deeply insightful, and full of both passion and humor, 'Damn Yankees' is a completely fresh look at baseball's most enduring franchise by a Murderers' Row of writers as stacked as that of the 1927 Yanks.

©2012 Rob Fleder (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers