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What Members Thought
I liked the book. Liked. But the book slowly descended from 5- to 4- to 3-stars as it progressed.
The writing was excellent. But the story meandered from baseball metaphors, to idealized mid-Western small liberal arts college pastiche, to cliché. My biggest issues, however, were with the characters:
• Guert. Is he a washed up intellectual? New found father figure? Is he gay or straight? His life was unclear, but his death was obscure – even convenient. Damn, suicide would have been more believable ...more
The writing was excellent. But the story meandered from baseball metaphors, to idealized mid-Western small liberal arts college pastiche, to cliché. My biggest issues, however, were with the characters:
• Guert. Is he a washed up intellectual? New found father figure? Is he gay or straight? His life was unclear, but his death was obscure – even convenient. Damn, suicide would have been more believable ...more
I liked this a lot but I still have no clue about baseball (after reading this book I imagined a shortstop in the place of a wicket-keeper in cricket - wrong, it's more like silly mid-on) and (view spoiler)
...more
When did I start being so liberal with 5 star ratings? But this book deserves it. Wish I had the chance to read this when I was actually in college. Mike, Owen, and Guert's stories hold so much personal resonance for me. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get into a book about baseball, but turns out, the book was as much about literature and the liberal arts collegial experience as about baseball. I especially appreciated the thematic and actual references to The Lovesong of J. Alfred Pruf
...more
Oct 10, 2016
Marie (UK)
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2016-reading-challenge
I enjoyed this book, good characterisation and a different story line for me. If only i understood baseball a bit better
Sep 12, 2011
Amanda
marked it as to-read
Jan 02, 2012
BookFiend
marked it as to-read
Jan 03, 2012
Bror (Abrar)
marked it as to-read
May 06, 2012
Sue
marked it as to-read
May 17, 2012
Emma
marked it as to-read
Jul 19, 2012
Amber
marked it as to-read
Sep 09, 2012
Autumn
marked it as consider-to-read
Oct 30, 2012
Eve
marked it as to-read
Dec 01, 2013
Christina's Book Chronicles
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
own,
1001-books,
fiction,
checked-in,
added-2013,
coming-of-age,
spine-dark-blue,
2025-sort
Jul 05, 2014
Nancy
marked it as to-read
Jun 10, 2016
Jirrine
marked it as wishlist
Oct 14, 2017
Lisa Wilkinson
marked it as wishlist
Jan 28, 2018
Mari
marked it as to-read
