Had not a friend given this book to me, I'd probably not have read it. I'm not all that much a baseball fan; still more, I'm offended as hell at the idea of paying fifteen bucks retail for about 130 pages of well-spaced text. And not that long ago, King was proselytizing about mistrusting "fingernail paring"-sized books. Oh well; when you get that rich and famous, I guess you can break all the rules, and get only more rich and more famous.

This book consists of two stories -- by old-time definitions, they're short stories ("tales readable in a single sitting," once set at up to 20,000 words in length). The first tale, the title story, gets my particular nod as King has gone back to something he does very well: A first-person narrative. Dolores Claiborne was a good book in part for its plot and very much because of its narrator. (The reading by Frances Sternhagen remains one of my most cherished in my talking-books collection.) In this mode, King's work most closely resembles Ring Lardner's brilliant short story "Haircut." The entire plot, the carefully unfolded tale, is made that much richer by the personal asides of the narrating character. Even those not that much into baseball might enjoy this one.

The second tale, "Morality," makes me wonder if King had been enjoying re-watching the film "Se7en." It's not a copy, by any stretch, and to say more might provide spoilers. Let's just say that I'm so very glad that King's wife Tabitha didn't do/say the things that this story's Nora said to would-be writer husband Chad. The results would have been... serious.

Again without providing spoilers, I admit to being impressed at King's evident sense of what morality is, and how fragile are its supports and borders. If nothing else, this story should provide some lively conversations -- particularly between spouses.