Charlie Hustle

The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball

By: Keith O'Brien

Narrated by: Ellen Adair, Keith O'Brien

Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A captivating chronicle of the incredible story of one of America’s most iconic, charismatic, and still polarizing figures—baseball immortal Pete Rose—and an exquisite cultural history of baseball and America in the second half of the twentieth century • "Comprehensive, compulsively readable and wholly terrific."—The Wall Street Journal

"Long before the inquiry into Ohtani's ties to betting, there was Pete Rose....Charlie Hustle chronicles one of the most polarizing figures in sports."—NPR, All Things Considered

“Baseball biography at its best. With Charlie Hustle, Pete Rose finally gets the book he deserves, and baseball fans get the book we’ve been craving, a hard-hitting, beautifully-written tale that will stand for years to come as the definitive account of one of the most fascinating figures in American sports history.”—Jonathan Eig, New York Times bestselling author of King: A Life

Pete Rose is a legend. A baseball god. He compiled more hits than anyone in the history of baseball, a record he set decades ago that still stands today. He was a working-class white guy from Cincinnati who made it; less talented than tough, and rough around the edges. He was everything that America wanted and needed him to be, the American dream personified, until he wasn’t.

In the 1980s, Pete Rose came to be at the center of one of the biggest scandals in baseball history. He kept secrets, ran with bookies, took on massive gambling debts, and he was magnificently, publicly cast out for betting on baseball and lying about it. The revelations that followed ruined him, changed life in Cincinnati, and forever altered the game.

Charlie Hustle tells the full story of one of America’s most epic tragedies—the rise and fall of Pete Rose. Drawing on firsthand interviews with Rose himself and with his associates, as well as on investigators' reports, FBI and court records, archives, a mountain of press coverage, Keith O’Brien chronicles how Rose fell so far from being America’s “great white hope.” It is Pete Rose as we've never seen him before.

This is no ordinary sport biography, but cultural history at its finest. What O’Brien shows is that while Pete Rose didn’t change, America and baseball did. This is the story of that change.

©2024 Keith O'Brien (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"I’m not sure there’s ever been a book that does a better job of sketching out [Pete Rose] than Keith O’Brien’s...comprehensive, compulsively readable and wholly terrific."—Wall Street Journal

“Pete Rose remains one of baseball’s most infamous figures—both legend and pariah. Featuring extensive interviews with Rose himself, O’Brien’s definitive biography chronicles Rose’s extraordinary rise and his fall from grace.”—Esquire

“As much as many fans of the game want to forget this sordid tale, Keith O'Brien reminds us of its centrality to the story of our National Pastime. It's a dazzling, soaring accomplishment, a counterpoint to the tragic fall of one of the game's greatest, brought on entirely by his own hubris, arrogance and insolent disregard for baseball's stern code.”—Ken Burns

Really enjoyed the writers insight

I really enjoyed this story on Pete. Much has been written. But you always learn something new. The performer of this audio book was great as well. I enjoyed her voice and pace.

An important baseball story

Well-written and gloriously detailed, showing fine research, this shows every emotion in reviewing Rose’s career—admiration, compassion, sadness, disgust. Timely discussion of the role of gambling in sports, then and now. Stirring narration by Ellen Adair brings the great games of Rose’s career to life.

Same facts excellent context

Really enjoyed this book. I wouldn’t say I learned anything new about Pete but definitely well framed in a way that contexualized all the actions in an engrossing way.

Good overview

I have a feeling this makes a better reading book than an audiobook. The narrator has a nice voice and pace, but the book still kinda lost some credibility with the narrator choice. Early on in the book the pronunciation of Jack Nicklaus just kinda lost a bunch of the sports cred for the narrator and from there the book just needed a different voice to tell the story. The book itself gave an interesting overview of the Pete story, but it did tend to gloss over some fairly big subjects.

SOLID STORY OF HUSTLE, WINNING, AND A SAD ENDING NOT QUITE OVER!

As a lifelong fan of Pete Rose, I relived many of his triumphs, and many of his poor choices and failures. I come away with my mixture of feelings towards Pete - memories of admiration, anger, disgust, and - finally - pity and sadness.

Charlie Hustle, later known as the Hit King, had MLB itself as his biggest fan, and he lost that. Sadly, MLB and Baseball's Hall of Fame show little compassion today, and I don't see any change of heart for an increasingly frail old man who will turn 83 on 14 April.

Neither MLB or Cooperstown should waste time patting themselves on their collective backs over the nearly 34 years since that fateful year of 1989 - They have little to be proud of in several instances during their perspective Histories.

Rose will likely die outside the game he glorified with his hits, heart, and hustle - the game he still loves, sells, countless times, while setting many Major League and National League records along the way.

Charlie Hustle gambled away his game, and the Old Man now is all but out of time and forgiveness. That, to me, is particularly quite sad.

Well-written, and very fair. Good narration, too - A Solid Hit!

GRADE: A

Unflinching look at America through Baseball and Pete Rose

The book weaves together the joys and disturbances of Baseball and America. Pete Rose was born an inevitable American tragedy, someone who's strengths on the field were his tragic flaws off the field. O'Brien shows Rose in all of his arrogance, stubbornness, and seediness while also showing us why people loved and still love him. Ellen Adair's performance perfectly captures the mood and passion of the book. Highly recommend.

Outstanding book & Excellent Narrator

I was immediately involved in this audio book to the point that I finished listening over two days. Pete Rose was not one of my favorite players. However, a baseball fan I feel that now I know the complete story of what happened with him. Would definitely recommend to other baseball fans.

Boring and Redundant

Whether you love (I don't) or hate (I don't) Pete Rose, this story probably won't move the needle much. There's nothing new for baseball fans, and casual fans would be better off spending their time indulging a different baseball book. It feels like the author recently discovered the Rose saga and thought "I bet people will be interested in this!!". Really disappointing, as I was looking forward to this book for months. Won't recommend to my baseball friends or anyone else.