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Changing Pitches
by
Steve Kluger (Goodreads Author)
Scotty Mackay is an American League pitcher who, at thirty-six, has to hit the comeback trail to save his all-star career, All goes well until he gets teamed up with a young catcher he detests: prettyboy Jason Cornell. Jason has lots of teeth, poses for underwear ads, and has blue eyes ... and Scotty's favorite color is blue. By August, Scotty's got a major-league problem...more
Paperback, 2nd Edition, 260 pages
Published
April 1st 1998
by Alyson Books
(first published May 1st 1984)
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Not as wonderful as Kluger's other, more recent books. I believe this is Kluger's first novel, and it shows. Characters don't seem quite as developed in this book as they are in his other books, though they are still likeable. I didn't laugh out loud or cry, I just turned each page waiting for the end. If I'd read this one before his other books, I'm not sure I would have read the others. I won't be buying this one, but I still suggest that if you like Kluger's books, you might as well read this...more
I'll never be able to work up to the rant that the Phoenix airport was graced with after I finished this book and called Katie to sympathize. That was a cathartic layover. But I'm sure I can come up with a few of the reasons this book is out of print. For starters, it's pretty much a fraud to call this a gay romance - it's not very romantic and is rather offensively not gay. I'm not sure I ever got a sense of what any of the characters looked like or why they liked each other. There's a lot of b...more
While not as fantastic as Almost Like Being in Love this still bears the Halmark of a Steve Kluger book. The narration of his characters is brilliant. The conversations are so realistic and funny.
I admit to feeling a little lost due to my complete lack of knowledge to any and all things baseball, but even so I was interested and amused enough to not really care.
Scotty is going through a kinda mid life crisis I guess you could say. Along the way we get to meet a few characters that are importan...more
I admit to feeling a little lost due to my complete lack of knowledge to any and all things baseball, but even so I was interested and amused enough to not really care.
Scotty is going through a kinda mid life crisis I guess you could say. Along the way we get to meet a few characters that are importan...more
Found this while working my way through Kluger's bibliography. I so loved "My Most Excellent Year," "Last Days of Summer," and "Almost Like Being in Love" that I had to see what else he wrote. "Changing Pitches" was his first novel and it shows. Kluger uses a similar narrative device of notes, newspaper clippings, letters, journal entries, etc. (no emails, online chats, faxes, yet!). While I still like the book, the characters weren't as well-developed and I couldn't connect with them as well. A...more
I confess I couldn't wait to read this book. Ostensibly-straight pro baseball player named Scotty starts crushing hard on his handsome teammate and ends up with, and I quote, "a major league problem on his hands"??? It sounded so bad that it HAD to be good. Tragically, it's just bad enough to be AWFUL, and not even in the you-secretly-kitschily-love-it way.
***Spoilers ahoy. But they're only things you should really, really know if you plan on reading this book. Don't worry, you never will, so go...more
***Spoilers ahoy. But they're only things you should really, really know if you plan on reading this book. Don't worry, you never will, so go...more
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Not sure what I was expecting from this book-- maybe a little more romance, as that's how it was described to me? It was still a really good read, stayed up late at night to finish it. My only quibble is that the ending was a little open and unresolved. Lead character had two roads and didn't really settle for either of them, but seems to be trying to have both. I loved all the baseball talk and the unique style of the book. Also it's nice to see a lead character who isn't a cookie-cutter hero,...more
Very entertaining read, although Kluger's later works are stronger.
3.5
notes, 4 years late: fictional 1980s "Ball Four" with a monogamous bisexual protagonist, in a universe where the Washington Senators never relocated to Arlington. Yes, I said the Bi Word. Book couldn't have ended any other way than how it did; this is mainstream fiction, not m/m romance. Sorry. Main problem is that I kept thinking of protagonist as Scott McGregor; welcome to 1980s Orioles fandom.
was not expecting the gay love story angle. after last days of summer (favorite book of all time) i found this to be less enjoyable. granted it was up against impossible odds and i will say that i still read it cover to cover. i didn't hate it but i do not sing its praises either.
Very good novel about a major league baseball pitcher who, at 36, is heading the last place team in the league as he slowly realizes he needs to make some changes in his personal and professional lives.
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Steve Kluger is an author and playwright, born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1952, who grew up with only two heroes: Tom Seaver and Ethel Merman. Few were able to grasp the concept. A veteran of "Casablanca" and a graduate of "The Graduate," he has written extensively on subjects as far ranging as World War II, rock and roll, and the Titanic, and as close to the heart as baseball and the Boston Red S...more
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“What do you mean Taurus? he frowns. I'm not a Taurus.
You were born on the cusp, I remind him. Jason merely shrugs.
Shows what you know, Scotty, I was born in Ohio.
I can take him anywhere but out.”
—
2 people liked it
More quotes…
You were born on the cusp, I remind him. Jason merely shrugs.
Shows what you know, Scotty, I was born in Ohio.
I can take him anywhere but out.”
