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pelevolcana's review against another edition
4.0
I've never been in the least interested in baseball. So the fact that this book kept me, a non-fan, engaged and fascinated until the end is more than enough reason to give it four stars.
This book has a lot of layers to it. On one level it's a novel about having a career in a sport, as the main character does and how that effects your life and family. It's about the relationship between a star player and his manager. It's about Cuban immigrants. It's about a rape scandal, and how the characters deal with that situation (no detailed depictions of rape are in this book). It's also about baseball.
Having read this book I understand the baseball fan a bit better. I still think I'll never enjoy the game myself, but I understand some of the strategy and tactics that are used in the game, something that was completely opaque to me before.
I'd say that even if you don't like baseball (unless it's due to way too much exposure, in which case foggedaboutit) give this book a try. It might surprise you.
This book has a lot of layers to it. On one level it's a novel about having a career in a sport, as the main character does and how that effects your life and family. It's about the relationship between a star player and his manager. It's about Cuban immigrants. It's about a rape scandal, and how the characters deal with that situation (no detailed depictions of rape are in this book). It's also about baseball.
Having read this book I understand the baseball fan a bit better. I still think I'll never enjoy the game myself, but I understand some of the strategy and tactics that are used in the game, something that was completely opaque to me before.
I'd say that even if you don't like baseball (unless it's due to way too much exposure, in which case foggedaboutit) give this book a try. It might surprise you.
publiclyvisible's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
squidbag's review
4.0
As good a book about baseball (sort of) as you will ever read, with the one exception of Bart Gimatti's A Great and Glorious Game . The book's only kind of about baseball (you don't need a lot of prior baseball knowledge to enjoy it), and is more about the characters DeFord has created, woven from real people and also from assumptions we make about people we don't know. Throughout the book is this unspoken proposition that perhaps any culture dominated by men teeters on becoming an emotionally stunted rape culture, but...I don't know. The book left me disturbed at the end, which might be a good thing.
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