Review by Booklist Review
The original edition of this collection was published in 1995 to critical acclaim. The 34 stories included in this revision include 8 new pieces, 5 of which were written after the original edition was published. Many of the authors are very well known, including Garrison Keillor, Zane Grey, James Thurber, Robert Penn Warren, and Frank Deford. Highlights include the clever juxtaposition of Ernest Thayer's original Casey at the Bat against Deford's satirical profile of Casey and the circumstances surrounding his famous whiff. George Plimpton's infamous Sports Illustrated April Fool's Day prank about Sidd Finch, a new phenom with a 150-mile-per-hour fastball, is as fun today as it was in 1985. Chet Williamson's fanciful account of a heretofore unreported 1933 visit to Yankee Stadium by Mohandas K. Gandhi, which ends with the offer of a contract, is, well, LOL. Each piece includes information about the author and some context on the story. A thoroughly enjoyable addition to any library, whether or not the original is still on the shelves.--Lukowsky, Wes Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
With the current malaise surrounding the sport, the time is ripe for this excellent collection chronicling more than a century of America's love affair with baseball. With an all-star cast of writers drawn from various eras and genres, Staudohar (Labor Relations in Professional Sports) demonstrates how thoroughly the game permeates American lifeits psychology, sense of drama, mythology and moral code provide archetypes familiar even to those who have never set foot in a ballpark. The tales dramatize the conflicts between youth and experience, pride and humility, skill and luck, team loyalty and personal ambition. Master storytellers like Ring Lardner (author of three entries here), Zane Grey, Damon Runyon, P.G. Wodehouse, Robert Penn Warren, James Thurber, Garrison Keillor and T. Coraghessan Boyle celebrate the national pastime in 27 memorable tales and one poem, some poignant, some uproarious, each introduced by a brief editor's note. Baseball and literary fans may debate whether these are indeed the ``best'' baseball stories (where's George Plimpton's ``The Curious Case of Sydd Finch''?). So many good writers have felt the need to write about baseball that compiling a good anthology of baseball fiction isn't the hardest of tasks. Still, even if this project is a bit of a hanging curveball, Staudohar has hit it out of the park. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
This expanded edition of a collection first released in 1995 adds eight stories to the original 26. From "Casey at the Bat" (granted, not a short story, but as necessary to any compilation of the literature of baseball as the national anthem is to a game) to "Alibi Ike" to the infamous Sports Illustrated April Fool's hoax, "The Curious Case of Sidd Finch," all the seminal pieces are here. Likewise, writers well known in the world of sports and beyond-Ring Lardner, George Plimpton, Zane Grey, Damon Runyon, Robert Penn Warren, and poet Richard Wilbur, to name a few-are represented. Baseball might or might not retain its status as our national pastime, but as shown by the presence of works by more contemporary authors such as Michael Chabon, T.C. Boyle, Tobias Wolff, and Garrison Keillor, it still continues to act as a muse and metaphor for life for our writing elite. Verdict Baseball fans and those who appreciate its cultural impact will welcome this. Highly recommended.-Jim Burns, Jacksonville P.L., FL (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
