Lilias's review

Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season
by Stewart O'Nan

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32694.Faithful_Two_Diehard_Boston_Red_Sox_Fans_Chronicle_the_Historic_2004_Season?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168392291m/32694.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32694.Faithful_Two_Diehard_Boston_Red_Sox_Fans_Chronicle_the_Historic_2004_Season?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18341.Stewart_O_Nan">Stewart O'Nan</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8394686?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 3 of 5 stars It's a great cover.
 
 To make things simple in conversation, I have often fallen back on telling people I am not a sports fan. So it was a suprise for a few friends of mine when I was going ca-razy during the post-season Red Sox games this year. The way I see it, being a fan of the Red Sox, or of baseball really, doesn't necessarily mean you're a fan of sports; you could just be a fan of history. Baseball, to me, is all about history. And, while I couldn't care less about any other sports team on the planet (except for Italy's national soccer/football/calcio... team, but that's another review), I love the Red Sox. I grew up watching them. Then I let college and grad school stop me. And that's really why I read this book.
 
 So, yes, about the book. There were some moments I really loved, and they usually came from my fellow Mainer Stephen King. Those moments were the ones when he broke away from the play-by-play recounting of each game and shared with the reader what it means to be a Red Sox fan. An example because I am procrastinating and it's worth it: 
 
 "There is a very real streak of dour pessimism in the New England character, and it runs right down into the bedrock. We buy new cars expecting them to be lemons. We put in new heating systems and suspect them not just to go tits-up but to do it stealthily, thereby suffocating the kiddies in their beds (but leaving us, their parents, to grieve and blame ourselves for at least fifty years). We understand we're never going to win the lottery, we know we'll get that unpassable and exquisitely painful gallstone on a hunting or snowmobiling trip far from medical help, and that Robert Frost was fucking-A right when he said that good fences make good neighbors. We expect the snow to turn into freezing rain, rich relatives to die leaving us nothing, and the kids (assuming they escape the Black Furnace Death) to get refused by the college of their choice. And we expect the Red Sox to lose. It's the curse, all right, but it has nothing to do with the Bambino; it's the curse of living here, in New England, just up that Christing potholed I-84 deathroad from the goddamn New York Yankees." (page 199, if you're interested.)
 
 Every game from the entire season is in here, and for me that got pretty tedious and took away from my enjoyment. But this book is the ultimate book about baseball, its history, and its fans. It's worth a read even if you hate the Sox but love the game.
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/49422?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Lilias's review
rating:

bookshelves: maine, non-fiction
recommended for: ppl who love the cover
status: Read in November, 2007

It's a great cover.

To make things simple in conversation, I have often fallen back on telling people I am not a sports fan. So it was a suprise for a few friends of mine when I was going ca-razy during the post-season Red Sox games this year. The way I see it, being a fan of the Red Sox, or of baseball really, doesn't necessarily mean you're a fan of sports; you could just be a fan of history. Baseball, to me, is all about history. And, while I couldn't care less about any other sports team on the planet (except for Italy's national soccer/football/calcio... team, but that's another review), I love the Red Sox. I grew up watching them. Then I let college and grad school stop me. And that's really why I read this book.

So, yes, about the book. There were some moments I really loved, and they usually came from my fellow Mainer Stephen King. Those moments were the ones when he broke away from the play-by-play recounting of each game and shared with the reader what it means...more It's a great cover.

To make things simple in conversation, I have often fallen back on telling people I am not a sports fan. So it was a suprise for a few friends of mine when I was going ca-razy during the post-season Red Sox games this year. The way I see it, being a fan of the Red Sox, or of baseball really, doesn't necessarily mean you're a fan of sports; you could just be a fan of history. Baseball, to me, is all about history. And, while I couldn't care less about any other sports team on the planet (except for Italy's national soccer/football/calcio... team, but that's another review), I love the Red Sox. I grew up watching them. Then I let college and grad school stop me. And that's really why I read this book.

So, yes, about the book. There were some moments I really loved, and they usually came from my fellow Mainer Stephen King. Those moments were the ones when he broke away from the play-by-play recounting of each game and shared with the reader what it means to be a Red Sox fan. An example because I am procrastinating and it's worth it:

"There is a very real streak of dour pessimism in the New England character, and it runs right down into the bedrock. We buy new cars expecting them to be lemons. We put in new heating systems and suspect them not just to go tits-up but to do it stealthily, thereby suffocating the kiddies in their beds (but leaving us, their parents, to grieve and blame ourselves for at least fifty years). We understand we're never going to win the lottery, we know we'll get that unpassable and exquisitely painful gallstone on a hunting or snowmobiling trip far from medical help, and that Robert Frost was fucking-A right when he said that good fences make good neighbors. We expect the snow to turn into freezing rain, rich relatives to die leaving us nothing, and the kids (assuming they escape the Black Furnace Death) to get refused by the college of their choice. And we expect the Red Sox to lose. It's the curse, all right, but it has nothing to do with the Bambino; it's the curse of living here, in New England, just up that Christing potholed I-84 deathroad from the goddamn New York Yankees." (page 199, if you're interested.)

Every game from the entire season is in here, and for me that got pretty tedious and took away from my enjoyment. But this book is the ultimate book about baseball, its history, and its fans. It's worth a read even if you hate the Sox but love the game....less

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message 1: by Jo

10/29/2007 09:16PM

Hey stranger,
Are you back with a big smile and victory flag. I am glad for you. That is a GOOD feeling. The Boston Red Sox are lucky to have you.

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message 2: by Lilias

10/29/2007 09:55PM

SUCH a good feeling. I've been watching them off & on since I could barely walk, but you know, I was so deep in school duing 2004 that I barely paid attention to them. Pfft. No excuse! So I have to catch up.
Thank you, dear.

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message 3: by Jo

10/30/2007 06:11AM

I so need to get you in with my football girlfriend. Loude, fun, it is the best. A good friend here and I kid about being in box seats at the Seahawks games with our oprea glasses and corridinated blue and white outfits. This will be years from now (if ever!) Kids are expensive.

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message 4: by Lilias (last edited 10/30/2007 11:29AM)

10/30/2007 10:56AM

Oh man I have the same kidding thing going on with a friend of mine in boston. I say to her "you know, when I am rich and famous I'll buy us some box seats at fenway, yeah."
But I like the idea of have opera glasses @ the game. That's a nice touch.

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message 5: by Jo

10/30/2007 08:41PM

I love it!

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