Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
Stephen King and baseball. What more could you ask for?
Blockade Billy is a short story, published in this small book, with a "bonus" story in the book, called "Morality."
I can't say much about "Blockade Billy" without spoiling it. Since it's so short, almost anything I say would be giving away important information, and I don't want to do that. But the story is set in the 50s when baseball was still a pretty rough game. The New Jersey Titans is the team, and their catchers (both of them) get injured in the space of 48 hours. So Billy Blakely is called up. Because of his performance as a catcher, he quickly earns the nickname "Blockade Billy."
The story is great fun, and is disturbing in the usual Stephen King way.
"Morality," the bonus story, is similar to the plot of that movie, "The Box." A wealthy, retired minister offers the lady who is taking care of him at his home a large sum of money to do something, well, immoral (as well as illegal). Will she do it? What will be the consequences? More good stuff by King.
Blockade Billy is a short story, published in this small book, with a "bonus" story in the book, called "Morality."
I can't say much about "Blockade Billy" without spoiling it. Since it's so short, almost anything I say would be giving away important information, and I don't want to do that. But the story is set in the 50s when baseball was still a pretty rough game. The New Jersey Titans is the team, and their catchers (both of them) get injured in the space of 48 hours. So Billy Blakely is called up. Because of his performance as a catcher, he quickly earns the nickname "Blockade Billy."
The story is great fun, and is disturbing in the usual Stephen King way.
"Morality," the bonus story, is similar to the plot of that movie, "The Box." A wealthy, retired minister offers the lady who is taking care of him at his home a large sum of money to do something, well, immoral (as well as illegal). Will she do it? What will be the consequences? More good stuff by King.
It was just ok. I kind of expected better from both stories. Felt as if there was no real resolution.
Stephen king did it again!
I love his short stories. This version of the book included the short story “Mortality” and I really enjoyed it as well.
I love his short stories. This version of the book included the short story “Mortality” and I really enjoyed it as well.
A lot of people seemed to enjoy this novella, yet it simply was not able to convince me of its ingenuity. I couldn't connect to any of the characters, wasn't invested in the plot, and my lack of knowledge and interest in baseball did not add to my enjoyment. Another one of my failures on my King quest.
I always enjoy an author's short stories. Generally, you can get a very good feel for common themes and threads an author favors in the pages of his shorter works. Blocakade Billy and Morality were excellent works with a fairly decent payoff at the end. I found Morality to be pretty disturbing, which I think King would feel is the proper response. I have only read one other book by King so this was a nice beginning.
Baseball and horror were my childhood, so I really enjoyed this tale. Like a bad pitch you can see this coming from a mile away, but it's short and sweet.
This is a story for a true baseball lover, which I'm not. However, I did enjoy the surprise ending because I didn't see it coming.
What a great one-two punch from Mr. King (pun intended)! A pair of short stories that are compelling, and with that trademark darkness that lingers afterwords.
The only King book I have read that I didn't like. I know it's about baseball but if you know nothing about it, it's a boring read. I was bored.