Drawing on 720 original interviews, a New York Times best-selling sportswriter captures as never before the elusive truth about the greatest athlete of all time who took the world by storm from the mid-1980s into the early 1990s--and then, almost overnight, disappeared.

Introduction -- Prologue -- "The little rock chucker" -- A Black Bruce Jenner -- Emergence -- Don't mess with Bo Jackson -- The epitome of Superman -- Village on the plain -- Bus station -- Off base -- Greg Pratt -- Paydays -- A Baird man -- Senioritis -- Clutter -- Bucked up -- Memphis -- Royal -- Mixed royalties -- The different running back -- Monday night -- Icon -- The greatest year I -- The greatest year II -- Prime time -- Hip -- Reduced -- The return -- A hog's heart on a fence post -- The circus act -- Aftermath.