The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd... The Second Pass has a neat post this week about baseball books and recommends some that are new to me, including THE BROTHERS K and CRAZY '08.
Is it time for me to do another baseball book week? I think so! Two solid options I have on hand are Philip Roth's THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL (= one of the greatest book titles ever) and Jonathan Mahler's LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE BRONX IS BURNING. What else should I make time for? For reference, the first-rounders were THE BOYS OF SUMMER, THE NATURAL (plus the iffy movie), THREE NIGHTS IN AUGUST and MONEYBALL.
I would whole-heartedly support another 'baseball week.' Jim Bouton's "Ball Four" has been on my shelf for a long time, and I intend to finally get around to it this spring.
ReplyDelete"The Bronx Is Burning" was a great book, but its less about baseball than it is about how crazy New York City went in 1977.
Also, Daniel Okrent's Nine Innings is really good. Its a little dated in some days (its about 25 years old) but its really a classic of the genre, and the game that he writes about was a Brewers game from the old County Stadium.
ReplyDeleteI went to my first baseball game at County Stadium (RIP)! Hey, wait a second...
ReplyDelete/looks the book up/
Dang, too early. But those are helpful, thank you!