A review by ssindc
The Legend of Mickey Tussler by Frank Nappi

3.0

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).