My harsh take: Loaded with speculation, life philosophy and apparent only-Wright-can-see-it symbolism, the piece hems a catwalk dress on mostly uninsightful quotes and mundane "of course" details that are tricked up to create a psuedo-pyschological profile of McGwire that may or may not be true.
Seriously. What gives a guy the latitude to write this:
"He smiles. She does, too, but her eyes are vacant. Paul Martin understands the past is gone for his wife, and he understands that all we are, in the end, is a collection of the things that happened to us."
Or:
"The best place to hide isn't in a cave or on an island. It's in the monotony of a daily routine."
Or:
"By rejecting his past and creating a new future, McGwire is altering the arc of his family. He is changing all of their futures, and the way they will all view their past. Instead of the Hall of Fame defining them, his disappearance will. These are the decisions that shape a family."
Let's not even dissect whether they're true or not, although the first two sound like Bill Murray lines in a Wes Anderson movie. What the heck are they doing in the story? Who called Mitch Albom? At least Albom copped to his tendency, said fork it, and created a fictional heaven. The story's about a reclusive former beefcake. It ain't about the meaning of life. Or, if it is, it ain't about this meaning. Oddly, several of Thompson seems to take on this feel. At some point, you wonder if you'll stumble across the line "and a river runs through it" in one of his pieces.
Thompson's a good writer. We know this. Of course, it's "good." But while he's not a "in this place, with those people, who did these things, in a time when they were young" word spender like Lupica, the article probably shouldn't be about all the people Mark McGwire hasn't talked to lately. There shouldn't be quotes from the guy who owned McGwire's house after his family left, or the son of the guy who used to be on McGwire's foundation. Some of it, obviously, works, like the USC material. But there's nothing particularly interesting or disinteresting about whether some old guy can find a plaque in a trophy case - and what the words say above the case in the new gym and how the sky looks and the wind smells...
Can't you smell modern-day purple prose when you read it?
McGwire's got family. Brothers. Where are they? Can we hear from them, maybe, or at least get a no comment, before we hear from the American Legion and Alaska league coaches? Has McGwire severed all ties with every former Cardinals teammate? Is that possible? Maybe. The guy never ventures outside the gates? Are we, I dunno, serious here? Does an editor not ask these questions? A news organization isn't the Iowa Writers Workshop.
The story is genius in the sense that gives off the scent of tremendous effort - <i> I noticed the freezer tape </i> - until you start thinking about how much sense it makes that McGwire hasn't talked to all these people Thompson interviews.
