 Al Stump is a famous sports-writer chosen by Ty Cobb to co-write his official, authorized  autobiography  before his death. Cobb, widely feared and despised, feels misunderstood and wants to set the record straight about  the greatest ball-player ever,  in his words. However, when Stump spends time with Cobb, interviewing him and beginning to write, he realizes that the general public opinion is largely correct. In Stump s presence, Cobb is angry, violent, racist, misogynistic, and incorrigibly abusive to everyone around him. Torn between printing the truth by plumbing the depths of Cobb s dark soul and grim childhood, and succumbing to Cobb s pressure for a whitewash of his character and a simple baseball tale of his greatness, Stump writes two different books. One book is for Cobb, the other for the public.