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A review by wolfdreamer
Blockade Billy by Stephen King
3.0
I'm glad I checked this out from the library because, while a fun read, it is not worth its $25 cover price. This story (although it says it is a novella, don't be fooled) would have been better published in one of King's collections as opposed to a separate publication. Personally, I feel this is another ploy for the publisher's to make money off of Stephen King's name by slapping a hard cover on one of his stories, increasing the font, and marketing it as an "original, never-before-published novella," as if attempting to make it seem like a rare gem that all Stephen King fans must have.
The story is a good one, especially if you are a fan of the classic, nostalgic days of baseball. The story of Blockade Billy is written as if told to Stephen King by a former baseball coach of a team that has been erased from the record books, the New Jersey Titans. This gives the story a "realism" element that would be more believable if the narrator had created a more vivid picture of America in the 50's. Although I knew the story was taking place in the 50's, it rarely felt like it. The dialect was too modern and there were very few descriptions of the atmosphere and the people. The only place I really felt that was when the narrator was arguing with the umpire and says that a woman in the stands covered a boy's ears and gave him an "oh-you-nasty-man" look.
I was also disappointed because, although the book is about baseball, I did not feel like King treated it with the same kind of adulation as he did in [b:The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon|11564|The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon|Stephen King|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166480184s/11564.jpg|1836389]
It was worth the read, and I am a Stephen King fan. Too often, though, I feel as if he allows his publishers to exploit his name by approving all kinds of expensive publications like this one. If you're interested, check it out at the library or wait for a copy to show up in a used book store somewhere.
The story is a good one, especially if you are a fan of the classic, nostalgic days of baseball. The story of Blockade Billy is written as if told to Stephen King by a former baseball coach of a team that has been erased from the record books, the New Jersey Titans. This gives the story a "realism" element that would be more believable if the narrator had created a more vivid picture of America in the 50's. Although I knew the story was taking place in the 50's, it rarely felt like it. The dialect was too modern and there were very few descriptions of the atmosphere and the people. The only place I really felt that was when the narrator was arguing with the umpire and says that a woman in the stands covered a boy's ears and gave him an "oh-you-nasty-man" look.
I was also disappointed because, although the book is about baseball, I did not feel like King treated it with the same kind of adulation as he did in [b:The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon|11564|The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon|Stephen King|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166480184s/11564.jpg|1836389]
It was worth the read, and I am a Stephen King fan. Too often, though, I feel as if he allows his publishers to exploit his name by approving all kinds of expensive publications like this one. If you're interested, check it out at the library or wait for a copy to show up in a used book store somewhere.