The Last Folk Hero

The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson

By: Jeff Pearlman

Narrated by: JD Jackson

By the New York Times bestselling author of Showtime—the source for HBO’s Winning Time—the definitive biography of mythic multi-sport star Bo Jackson.

From the mid-1980s into the early 1990s, the greatest athlete of all time streaked across American sports and popular culture. Stadiums struggled to contain him. Clocks failed to capture his speed. His strength was legendary. His power unmatched. Video game makers turned him into an invincible character—and they were dead-on. He climbed (and walked across) walls, splintered baseball bats over his knee, turned oncoming tacklers into ground meat. He became the first person to simultaneously star in two major professional sports, and overtook Michael Jordan as America’s most recognizable pitchman. He was on our televisions, in our magazines, plastered across billboards. He was half man, half myth.

Then, almost overnight, he was gone.

He was Bo Jackson.

Drawing on an astonishing 720 original interviews, New York Times bestselling sportswriter Jeff Pearlman captures as never before the elusive truth about Jackson, Auburn University’s transcendent Heisman Trophy winner, superstar of both the NFL and Major League Baseball and ubiquitous “Bo Knows” Nike pitchman. Did Bo really jump over a parked Volkswagen? (Yes.) Did he actually run a 4.13 40? (Yes.) During the 1991 flight that nearly killed every member of the Chicago White Sox, was he in the cockpit trying to help? (Oddly, yes. Or no. Or … maybe.)

Bo Jackson isn’t Jim Thorpe.

He’s not Deion Sanders, either.

No, Bo Jackson is Paul Bunyan.

The Last Folk Hero is the true tale of Bo Jackson that only “master storyteller” (NPR.org) Jeff Pearlman could tell.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Amazing story telling…

I was a child in Alabama when Bo Jackson was a star at Auburn. I knew he was great, but this filled in all the blanks and made me feel like I finally know one of my childhood heroes. Thank you!

An ok book about a meteor

Bo Jackson was awesome, but this book made him seemingly more awesome. The author used way too many poorly worded metaphors which made him seem amateurish at times. Overall it’s a good listen and worth the price I paid for it.

Great bio

Bo Jackson is truly the last American Folk hero.
It seems he's from Krypton.

Bo knows

The narrator made it difficult to listen to. I wish it could have been anyone else.

Fantastic, couldn’t stop listening

Really good story of a guy I thought I knew well. He was a superhero,