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selketjewett's review
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
goddess1's review
3.0
An interesting read. I appreciate the different literary approach, although I doubt this book would appeal to many who were not fans of baseball and even then it falls a bit flat.
nmirra's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This story explores the people whose paths interconnect with that of a star baseball player during a year of spring training in Arizona. Each chapter is a different character, which lends an energy to the novel (always something new) but also keeps you from getting too attached to anyone in particular. Between each chapter is the voice of an old sportswriter who acts as an all-knowing, half-winking narrator; he makes a very long analogy between the native peoples of the Scottsdale, AZ area and a baseball team. In all, the book is well-written and if you find the world around baseball (not just the game inside the lines) interesting, you'll get something out of this book. But it wasn't particularly moving.
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction and Emotional abuse
drewsof's review
5.0
5+ out of 5.
I don't like baseball. Never found it terribly interesting to watch. So why, then, do I find it so compelling to read? Perhaps it is the structure, a hypothesis about which Robert Coover and now Emily Nemens might agree. More so than football or basketball or soccer or really any other sport, the structure and simplicity of baseball lends itself well to narrative storytelling. 3 outs, 4 bases, 9 innings: there is a structure here.
Nemens uses the 9-inning structure to tell a novel-in-stories, about a superstar baseball player crashing out over the course of spring training. The setting is Arizona and the novel crackles with the strange cold-heat of the desert in winter. We hear from Jason Goodyear's agent, one of the co-owners of the team, a woman he spends the night with after his divorce. Characters don't recur, exactly, in the manner of [b:A Visit from the Goon Squad|7331435|A Visit from the Goon Squad|Jennifer Egan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356844046l/7331435._SX50_.jpg|8975330] but there are moments of connection and return -- and there are also stories that start and end and we've barely caught a glimpse before they that go spinning off like a foul ball or (perhaps more accurately) a player being traded to another team.
I don't know that I loved the overarching narrator device. I don't know that I cared about one or two of the stories in the way I cared about the rest. But I was riveted by the titanic collapse of Jason Goodyear, in a way I never could care about a real baseballer. And that, friends, is true talent on Emily Nemens' part.
(Also, the book is just killer on the sentence level. Hot damn.)
I don't like baseball. Never found it terribly interesting to watch. So why, then, do I find it so compelling to read? Perhaps it is the structure, a hypothesis about which Robert Coover and now Emily Nemens might agree. More so than football or basketball or soccer or really any other sport, the structure and simplicity of baseball lends itself well to narrative storytelling. 3 outs, 4 bases, 9 innings: there is a structure here.
Nemens uses the 9-inning structure to tell a novel-in-stories, about a superstar baseball player crashing out over the course of spring training. The setting is Arizona and the novel crackles with the strange cold-heat of the desert in winter. We hear from Jason Goodyear's agent, one of the co-owners of the team, a woman he spends the night with after his divorce. Characters don't recur, exactly, in the manner of [b:A Visit from the Goon Squad|7331435|A Visit from the Goon Squad|Jennifer Egan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356844046l/7331435._SX50_.jpg|8975330] but there are moments of connection and return -- and there are also stories that start and end and we've barely caught a glimpse before they that go spinning off like a foul ball or (perhaps more accurately) a player being traded to another team.
I don't know that I loved the overarching narrator device. I don't know that I cared about one or two of the stories in the way I cared about the rest. But I was riveted by the titanic collapse of Jason Goodyear, in a way I never could care about a real baseballer. And that, friends, is true talent on Emily Nemens' part.
(Also, the book is just killer on the sentence level. Hot damn.)
coric's review against another edition
5.0
Perfect for someone who is missing out on spring training rn. I chose it more for the Arizona setting than the topic of baseball, but I quickly realized this was more complex than a book about sports and athletes. With nine “innings,” we are introduced to a wide-ranging cast of characters all subtly and intricately linked together through baseball and spring training. I’m discovering that I really enjoy the structure of a novel told through connected but stand-alone stories. As each story unfolds, more pieces of the puzzles click together in unexpected and imaginative ways. At heart, it is about the struggle to stay relevant and competitive in a challenging and constantly changing world.The already rich sense of place is creatively enhanced by the introductory commentary narrated before each inning by a washed up sports reporter who provides us with a fascinating geological and anthropological history of the Arizona desert peppered with baseball and sports references. Trust me. As weird as it sounds, it completely adds another layer of place and interest to this fascinating story.
larcher's review against another edition
4.0
What an amazing read. At first glance, I thought a book at baseball, probably not for me. However, after hearing more and more about it, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy. Even though this book centers around baseball there is actually very little baseball in this novel.
For my full review, please visit my blog at: http://obsessedbookaholic.com/2020/01/03/the-cactus-league-book-review/
Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
For my full review, please visit my blog at: http://obsessedbookaholic.com/2020/01/03/the-cactus-league-book-review/
Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
sjpbooks's review against another edition
2.0
Closer to 2.5 stars. The premise of spring training, and the way the story was told in nine innings through different characters perspectives' was interesting. However, it didn't feel like anything really happened. A character driven novel with too many characters that went undeveloped.
shlederman's review against another edition
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25