Man, Tony, you drove me crazy, but couldn’t be happier for you. It was all so, so worth it.
A baseball book by John Grisham, you say? Why yes, I believe I’d be interested in that. I gave Grisham’s newest novel, Calico Joe, four out of five stars over on GoodReads.
I read this 200-page book in about two days, definitely a quick read for a Grisham novel. It isn’t nearly as prodigious as most of his earlier stuff, but it was very enjoyable.
As usual, there are a few things I could nitpick. I don’t understand why an author like Grisham (and certainly why his editors) don’t catch little things like badly abbreviated words. I’ve been critical of Grisham on this front before, for choosing ya’ll instead of the obviously correct y’all. Likewise, in this book, instead of using ol’, which is the correct abbreviation of old (e.g., “good ol’ boy”), Grisham chooses ole. This just doesn’t make any sense. He also chooses to use multiple ellipses to indicate pauses in a person’s speech, which becomes cumbersome later in the book.
The content, though, was terrific, especially for a baseball fan. Grisham told a fascinating tale of a brilliant young baseball phenom, Joe Castle, weaving the fictional tale into true baseball history. Even as a Cardinal fan and Cub hater, I found myself enjoying Joe’s success and fascinated by the quasi-reality of it all, what with all the familiar names, statistics and places. When you add in the other elements of the story, it makes for an easy and enticing read. Very different from what Grisham has typically written, but delightful in its own right.
I continue to feel that Grisham’s writing has tapered off in quality (hard to imagine it getting better than it was, frankly), and I confess my love for baseball may have me overvaluing this one a little bit, but I’d recommend it just the same.
Baseball manages to screw up a whole bunch of things, but this isn’t one of them. A very cool site where you can share a baseball memory, including tagging players and stadiums, adding pictures, and more. Very cool, MLB.
Last night I finished Jim Abbott’s autobiography (with Tim Brown), Imperfect: An Improbable Life. I enjoyed it greatly and gave it 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.
The authors brilliantly interwove the story of Abbott’s life with the story of the no-hitter he threw in September 1993 as a member of the New York Yankees. I don’t know which writer deserves the most credit for the excellent tone and readability of the book, but I would imagine Brown is to credit for articulating Abbott’s stories so well. The book is conversational, but not overtly so, making it an absolute pleasure to read. With some athlete autobiographies, I’ve found myself wishing the athlete would’ve sought someone’s help in making their story more readable, but Abbott and Brown do a fabulous job with this one.
I especially appreciated Abbott’s forthrightness regarding his handicap and how it affected him throughout his life. His story is an inspirational one for anyone who shares his condition, but likewise for anyone who doesn’t. One of Abbott’s great aims in life is to be seen as normal, to be treated just like everyone else. In this book he’s anything but normal, but it’s not because he’s handicapped in any way—it’s because he tells a remarkable story with vivid detail and considerable clarity, which is unfortunately abnormal these days.
There were many memorable lines, moments and quotes in the book, but one that stands out to me as a baseball fan. In his first start after the no-hitter, Abbott gave up a double to the leadoff hitter. He says as he looked in at his catcher with a knowing grin, he reflected on how baseball honors itself in its relentlessness. That’s a well-stated observation about an age-old game that is equal parts maddening and thrilling, but is, indeed, always relentless.
Thanks, Jim and Tim, for this excellent work.
I began studying 1 Samuel at the beginning of 2012, and I finished it this morning. I really enjoyed diving into an Old Testament book a little more deeply than I typically have. I feel like God taught me many lessons through these months, and maybe some of them will be helpful for you, too. Here is a very non-exhaustive list of lessons from 1 Samuel.
That time of year again, when all the pundits prognosticate pugnaciously about the upcoming baseball season. And I’ll participate.
American League
East: Red Sox
Central: Tigers
West: Angels
Wild Cards: Rangers, Rays
MVP: Albert Pujols
Cy Young: Justin Verlander
Rookie of the Year: Yu Darvish
Manager of the Year: Mike Scioscia
National League
East: Phillies
Central: Cardinals
West: Diamondbacks
Wild Cards: Reds, Marlins
MVP: Justin Upton
Cy Young: Cliff Lee
Rookie of the Year: Yonder Alonso
Manager of the Year: Mike Matheny
Playoffs
AL Wild Card: Rangers over Rays
NL Wild Card: Reds over Marlins
AL Division Series: Red Sox over Rangers and Angels over Tigers
NL Division Series: Reds over Diamondbacks and Phillies over Cardinals
AL Championship Series: Angels over Red Sox
NL Championship Series: Phillies over Reds
World Series: Angels over Phillies
Almost time!!
(Source: derrickgoold)
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