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manaledi's review
3.0
I had a stretch in middle school of being a baseball fanatic. I even wanted to be an umpire when I grew up. This book reminded me of those days. Above all, this book is about a love for baseball and the different ways that manifests.
alena7's review
3.0
I don’t know much about baseball so this was an odd pick for me. I enjoyed the different perspectives and the interconnectedness of it all. The little recalls to other characters who we had already met was engaging. However, not all the characters/perspectives held the same weight or interest in the story. The female characters were probably the worst written. Fell back on stereotypes that felt very limiting (for all I know could be true in the baseball universe). Personally, I like to see how different perspectives conflict on the same event so I was still able to enjoy. There were a lot of local Arizona call-outs which is fun for anyone familiar with the area.
jvillanueva8's review
4.0
This was fun! Some of the character studies were better than others, but the subtle thread of continuity was very nice. Ending with Jason was a nice touch, but perhaps a little overdone. That storyline was very light throughout and it felt like the cover was pulled back a bit too much.
stickerboi's review
4.0
For being a random grab from a library shelf, this book was surprisingly good. I don't really know anything about baseball, but the character studies throughout the novel definately compensate for that. The choice to structure the book along with the innings and various characters made it a great read with built in places to take a break. Definately would recommend
cocolbishop's review
5.0
Fun read! It helped to fill the baseball gap in my life right now. Characters dealing with real stuff. No real “good guy” or “bad guy”, which I love. Well done book!
julieanncordero's review
3.0
I listened to this book and it was just OK. I liked how it all tied together, but it wasn’t my favorite book I’ve ever read.
mhoffrob's review against another edition
5.0
Here we are at the 4th of July and still awaiting the start of the 2020 baseball season. I miss the games, and The Cactus League by Emily Nemens brought me behind the scenes of a typical year's spring training - into the lives of elderly hitting couches, star player, teenage rookies, and local "cleat chasers", squatters, and agents. An enjoyable read which intertwined the stories of all those individual lives and their losses, gains, failures, and redemptions.
schnaucl's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is a very well written book. Each chapter of the nine (naturally) chapters starts with a few pages written by a sports journalist who spent part of his career covering the (fictional) Lions baseball team. Those pages are usually a little philosophical and help set up the rest of the chapter, which is always from a different character's point of view. Each of the chapters serves as a character study of one or two characters that are in some way related to the Lions or connected to someone who is. As character studies it works well.
It took me a while to pin down why I wasn't enjoying the book despite the fact that it's well written. Nearly every character is miserable. Their bodies are failing them or they're getting old (nearly every adult woman is worried about aging and losing her looks, which of course, like the baseball players themselves means she's starting to be old in her 30s and 40s), or they have money problems. Many of the characters seem to only be able to think of other people as rivals (for a spot on the team or for attention or affection). There's almost no affection between any of the characters whether they're friends or lovers or teammates or spouses. Most of the spouses don't even seem to like each other all that much.
I read this book because I was trying to fulfill a reading challenge prompt for reading a book about a sport. I'm a lifelong baseball fan (I mostly follow my home team, the Seattle Mariners) and I picked up this book thinking I'd really want to go to Peoria and see Mariners Spring Training. I still do, but only because I wanted to before I started. If I didn't know anything about baseball this book would make the prospect seem bleak. Nothing about this book is going to make someone who wasn't already interested in baseball want to check it out. There's no joy here. Even the players who are in their first Spring Training in the major leagues are too worried about being cut to enjoy any of it. No one feels joy at hitting a home run or making a spectacular catch or pitching a scoreless inning or striking out a tough batter. No one seems at all excited about the opening of a new season. (It's a little hard to tell how good the Lions are supposed to be. They sort of strike me as about where the Mariners have been most of their existence. A middling team with one really good player). I get that for most the people in the novel it's a job, and who among us goes joyfully to work every day? But you can tell when the players are enjoying the game or at the very least have a sense of satisfaction.
I was hoping to feel even more excited about baseball and instead the whole thing seemed very depressing.
I wondered if the author was a fan of the Mariners since they seemed to turn up a little more than other teams, but I thought it was also possible that I just noticed it more when they were mentioned since they're my team, but the author's note does mention attending Mariner games.
It took me a while to pin down why I wasn't enjoying the book despite the fact that it's well written. Nearly every character is miserable. Their bodies are failing them or they're getting old (nearly every adult woman is worried about aging and losing her looks, which of course, like the baseball players themselves means she's starting to be old in her 30s and 40s), or they have money problems. Many of the characters seem to only be able to think of other people as rivals (for a spot on the team or for attention or affection). There's almost no affection between any of the characters whether they're friends or lovers or teammates or spouses. Most of the spouses don't even seem to like each other all that much.
I read this book because I was trying to fulfill a reading challenge prompt for reading a book about a sport. I'm a lifelong baseball fan (I mostly follow my home team, the Seattle Mariners) and I picked up this book thinking I'd really want to go to Peoria and see Mariners Spring Training. I still do, but only because I wanted to before I started. If I didn't know anything about baseball this book would make the prospect seem bleak. Nothing about this book is going to make someone who wasn't already interested in baseball want to check it out. There's no joy here. Even the players who are in their first Spring Training in the major leagues are too worried about being cut to enjoy any of it. No one feels joy at hitting a home run or making a spectacular catch or pitching a scoreless inning or striking out a tough batter. No one seems at all excited about the opening of a new season. (It's a little hard to tell how good the Lions are supposed to be. They sort of strike me as about where the Mariners have been most of their existence. A middling team with one really good player). I get that for most the people in the novel it's a job, and who among us goes joyfully to work every day? But you can tell when the players are enjoying the game or at the very least have a sense of satisfaction.
I was hoping to feel even more excited about baseball and instead the whole thing seemed very depressing.
I wondered if the author was a fan of the Mariners since they seemed to turn up a little more than other teams, but I thought it was also possible that I just noticed it more when they were mentioned since they're my team, but the author's note does mention attending Mariner games.
Content Warnings
Minor: Car accident, Addiction, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Drug use
cheye13's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This is not a book about baseball. This is a book about a network of people only tangentially related to each other through their vague proximity to a spring training stadium. It's about class and financial disparity, the bleakness of aging (especially when your profession is tied to your physical body), and Frank Lloyd Wright. More than any of this, it's simply about Scottsdale, Arizona. There is more geology in this book (confusingly written, ultimately pointless digressions) than there is baseball.
This is not a novel. It's a string of character studies passed off as short stories in a novel trenchcoat. I can explain the plot in a sentence:baseball star Jason Goodyear has a gambling addiction and is nearing rock bottom during spring training when he saves a young boy from an overheating car in the stadium parking lot.
I love ensemble casts, I love a lot of sports fiction, and I enjoy baseball, which is why I picked this up. The writing is beautiful. The characters are real, tangible, stand off the page. But there is no... point to reading this book about them. The subtleties are expertly crafted and conveyed, but ultimately remain too subtle; each and every character in this book has a story to tell, but the narrative dances around them. There is only ever a hint of something interesting happening in the background, in the past, under the surface.
My greatest annoyance with this work was the lack of passion. Sports are a fertile breeding ground for passion - in the stands, on the field, in the locker room. And this narrative stole none of the passion for itself. You're reading about a gambling addiction, a strain for a place on the team, a desperate cling to a fading physicality, a baseball kink - and it all reads as dry as a grocery list.
This is not a novel. It's a string of character studies passed off as short stories in a novel trenchcoat. I can explain the plot in a sentence:
I love ensemble casts, I love a lot of sports fiction, and I enjoy baseball, which is why I picked this up. The writing is beautiful. The characters are real, tangible, stand off the page. But there is no... point to reading this book about them. The subtleties are expertly crafted and conveyed, but ultimately remain too subtle; each and every character in this book has a story to tell, but the narrative dances around them. There is only ever a hint of something interesting happening in the background, in the past, under the surface.
My greatest annoyance with this work was the lack of passion. Sports are a fertile breeding ground for passion - in the stands, on the field, in the locker room. And this narrative stole none of the passion for itself. You're reading about a gambling addiction, a strain for a place on the team, a desperate cling to a fading physicality, a baseball kink - and it all reads as dry as a grocery list.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Sexism
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Child abuse, Infidelity, Body shaming, Sexism, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Sexual content
detailed depiction of discovering squatters after returning home from vacation and resulting fallout