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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Eh. I wanted a baseball book to get me in the spirit, but I had a lot of mixed feelings about this book. I felt like the descriptions of the games were too long - or maybe he just described too many games. And the romantic relationship, while sweet, felt oddly described to me as well. I was not at all pleased with the events at the end, especially the portrayal of someone with lower functioning becoming aggressive - such a stereotype.
It’s 1948, and Arthur Murphy, the manager of the old Milwaukee Brewers minor league baseball team, accidentally discovers pitching phenom Mickey Tussler, a 17 year-old farm boy. Mickey is throwing apples at a blazing speed when Murphy spots the kid’s talent, and quickly envisions the future of his pitching rotation. But Mickey has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism, and Murphy has to learn how to communicate with him. Of course the bigger obstacle is removing the kid from the clutches of his abusive father, not to mention convincing the owner of the Brewers to take a chance on Mickey. Then not only does Mickey actually have to learn how to pitch properly, he has to adjust to a new environment which includes some shady characters who don’t necessarily want him to succeed.
To me the novel is as much about the old-school, baseball lifer Murphy as it is about the young man with autism. Discovering Mickey gives Murphy a second wind, as it were, in his career, as he had been wondering if “he was getting to old for this,” the “this” being the thankless job of a minor league baseball manager in post-war America. Murphy eventually becomes a father figure to the boy, and their relationship is tested and eventually strengthened through some rough times during the season. The story is fleshed out with many rich characters, like Lefty Rogers the ace of the staff who doesn’t take too kindly to Mickey’s sudden arrival (not to mention success), the veteran catcher and leader of the team, Boxcar Miller, and Pee Wee McGinty, the shortstop who is tasked with watching out for Mickey.
But keep in mind and be aware that this is 1948, a time before political correctness and autism awareness. Some harsh words are thrown Mickey’s way from his father and other players. Nappi handles it well and doesn’t sugar-coat things; he shows the ignorance and meanness, especially considering the story takes place in the competitive nature of pro sports.
Note: I received a free copy of this novel through the Goodreads Giveaways program.
To me the novel is as much about the old-school, baseball lifer Murphy as it is about the young man with autism. Discovering Mickey gives Murphy a second wind, as it were, in his career, as he had been wondering if “he was getting to old for this,” the “this” being the thankless job of a minor league baseball manager in post-war America. Murphy eventually becomes a father figure to the boy, and their relationship is tested and eventually strengthened through some rough times during the season. The story is fleshed out with many rich characters, like Lefty Rogers the ace of the staff who doesn’t take too kindly to Mickey’s sudden arrival (not to mention success), the veteran catcher and leader of the team, Boxcar Miller, and Pee Wee McGinty, the shortstop who is tasked with watching out for Mickey.
But keep in mind and be aware that this is 1948, a time before political correctness and autism awareness. Some harsh words are thrown Mickey’s way from his father and other players. Nappi handles it well and doesn’t sugar-coat things; he shows the ignorance and meanness, especially considering the story takes place in the competitive nature of pro sports.
Note: I received a free copy of this novel through the Goodreads Giveaways program.
This review was first posted on Melissa's Midnight Musings. I'm also hosting a giveaway on my blog right now for a set of the two books in this series. You can enter for your chance to win here: http://midnight-orchids.blogspot.com/2012/07/double-review-and-giveaway-legend-of.html
The Legend of Mickey Tussler has a little bit of everything for everyone, which makes it enjoyable for a broad range of people. There's a little bit of romance, jealousy, rivalry, sportsmanship, friendship and the list could go on.
My experience with stories rooted in baseball has been more of a historical, fact based relationship rather than a fictional one. I like both styles, but reading The Legend of Mickey Tussler was more enjoyable because I got to experience so many different elements. The book really explores the inner workings of a baseball team and how the different personalities can come together to make the team work, (and how they clash.) The code of baseball was something new, or at least something that I noticed more in reading this novel. There are certain things you just don't do to your teammates, and if you do, expect consequences.
This book was thoroughly enjoyable. The flow of the story is absolutely perfect. To me, it was a perfect mimic of the flow of a baseball game. There were moments of suspense, when you'd be reading with bated breath to find out what the character's next move would be. This was particularly poignant in terms of Molly and Murphy's relationship. It's obvious right off the bat that they have feelings for one another. Nappi does an excellent job of building up their relationship slowly, making it so that you want to root for them, and you want them to be together, but it's not overdone. In fact, there were times when I wished the story would get back to focusing on them because I was so eager to see what would happen between them.
I also really appreciated Nappi's portrayal of Mickey. I have never read a portrayal of someone with autism that is quite so honest, and, I'm not quite sure how to say this, flows so easily and doesn't seem stiff or straightforward like they're just portraying the symptoms of autism based on the textbook definitions. I've also never read a historical fiction piece that portrays someone with autism, all the fictional accounts of characters with Autism that I've read have been contemporary pieces.
I could clearly see the story from Mickey's perspective, he was what pulled me into the story. He's such a good person, who wants to be part of something, and wants to help. He's a very strong character, especially for the fact of how his father treats him. It's horrible treatment, to say the very least, but Mickey tries not to dwell on it, he mainly focuses on the positive things in his life, which is a good thing for anyone who's experienced abuse like he has.
There was only one part of this book that I was left wondering about in particular and that has to do with the fact that there wasn't a lot of detail given about what happened to Mickey after a particularly important event (don't want to spoil it for anyone). I would have liked to see more of an explanation of that part of the story.
*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
The Legend of Mickey Tussler has a little bit of everything for everyone, which makes it enjoyable for a broad range of people. There's a little bit of romance, jealousy, rivalry, sportsmanship, friendship and the list could go on.
My experience with stories rooted in baseball has been more of a historical, fact based relationship rather than a fictional one. I like both styles, but reading The Legend of Mickey Tussler was more enjoyable because I got to experience so many different elements. The book really explores the inner workings of a baseball team and how the different personalities can come together to make the team work, (and how they clash.) The code of baseball was something new, or at least something that I noticed more in reading this novel. There are certain things you just don't do to your teammates, and if you do, expect consequences.
This book was thoroughly enjoyable. The flow of the story is absolutely perfect. To me, it was a perfect mimic of the flow of a baseball game. There were moments of suspense, when you'd be reading with bated breath to find out what the character's next move would be. This was particularly poignant in terms of Molly and Murphy's relationship. It's obvious right off the bat that they have feelings for one another. Nappi does an excellent job of building up their relationship slowly, making it so that you want to root for them, and you want them to be together, but it's not overdone. In fact, there were times when I wished the story would get back to focusing on them because I was so eager to see what would happen between them.
I also really appreciated Nappi's portrayal of Mickey. I have never read a portrayal of someone with autism that is quite so honest, and, I'm not quite sure how to say this, flows so easily and doesn't seem stiff or straightforward like they're just portraying the symptoms of autism based on the textbook definitions. I've also never read a historical fiction piece that portrays someone with autism, all the fictional accounts of characters with Autism that I've read have been contemporary pieces.
I could clearly see the story from Mickey's perspective, he was what pulled me into the story. He's such a good person, who wants to be part of something, and wants to help. He's a very strong character, especially for the fact of how his father treats him. It's horrible treatment, to say the very least, but Mickey tries not to dwell on it, he mainly focuses on the positive things in his life, which is a good thing for anyone who's experienced abuse like he has.
There was only one part of this book that I was left wondering about in particular and that has to do with the fact that there wasn't a lot of detail given about what happened to Mickey after a particularly important event (don't want to spoil it for anyone). I would have liked to see more of an explanation of that part of the story.
*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
Another novel I really wanted to like. It's the story of an autistic kid that joins a minor league baseball team in the late 40's and helps turn the teams season around. It had nice likable characters but the writing was over reaching several times, a plot line concerning a jealous teammate was ludicrous and certain things were glossed over. Such as: you'd think if a hayseed, who had never played a game of baseball in his life joined a baseball team as a fireball throwing pitcher, he would need some intense coaching. How's he gonna learn to hold runners on first when he barely knows how the game works? That could have been a whole chapter. A chapter that would have helped the book a lot more than a plot by an opposing team to keep the big fella on the sidelines after his initial success.
Essentially, good characters caught in a silly story.
Essentially, good characters caught in a silly story.
http://louiser89.com/2015/01/19/review-frank-nappi-legend-mickey-tussler/
Launched with an intriguing premise (an autistic savant becomes a minor-league baseball pitching phenomenon), I wanted to like this book more, particularly given the many favorable reviews. But – in light of its execution – it could not rise above "OK to good" for me. I feel like I am being unduly harsh, because I liked the book. What I found most frustrating was that my list of gripes (some fair, some individualized, and down right quirky) drowned out what, otherwise, was a pretty fast, entertaining read. So take all of this with a grain of (grumpy) salt. First (and this is in no way fair to the author), I bought (and read) the book hoping that I could recommend it to my younger son (an avid baseball reader). [You would be stunned how hard it is to find engaging, youth-friendly sports literature.] It became immediately clear – between the language, sex, violence (OK, that's enough), this was not appropriate for the Little League and Babe Ruth reading group. Turning to the story, as for the non-protagonist central character, it seemed like overkill that the autistic savant - as if he did not face enough challenges in life or in becoming a professional baseball player – had to be abused (by family, teammates, opponents, and even the police – and not just some police, but all police he meets). I thought I'd picked up the latest volume of A Series of Unfortunate Events, but this book was not intended to be funny. My list of unanswered questions is endless, beginning with: OK, the story explains why the boy could throw, but how/when/where did he learn to catch a baseball? [Plenty of kids throw rocks, but they don't have to catch them!] Next, my sense was that a better editor could have tightened up the text, eliminating a couple thousand adjectives and adverbs, as well as dozens of extraneous and distracting paragraphs that a coach might suggest violate the basic rule that it is better to show than tell. Finally, I know that series writing increasingly plays a critical role in the publishing market, but, after 300 pages, is it asking too much for more of an ending than "to be continued"? Sorry, but the line: "as this most troubling chapter closed behind him" just doesn't do it for me. Still, I am glad I read it, but I don't see myself rushing back for the sequel (even though I'm intensely curious to learn what happens next).