‘Baseball is a game of failure…’
😐 😐 ❓
In a departure from his usual legal thrillers, Grisham here gives us a book about the world of baseball. The first person narrator is Paul Tracey, whose father, Warren, was a pitcher for the Mets in 1973 in the same season as Joe Castle, the Calico Joe of the title, was breaking all records as a rookie player with the Cubs. Warren is now dying and as Paul travels to see him, he tells us about his childhood, his hero-worship for Joe and why his relationship with Warren reached breaking point.
Normally I am a big fan of Grisham but really, there are limits. Firstly it is very short and yet the plot, such as it is, is so slight as to barely maintain interest to the end. Instead the book is filled with extremely detailed descriptions of imaginary baseball games, so detailed that Grisham felt it necessary to give what he calls a summary of the basics of the game. This ‘summary’ runs to 13% of the entire Kindle book and was so dull that I gave up halfway through, deciding to trust that the book would make sense even if I didn’t know what a drag bunt or a pick-off might be. By about the fourth chapter, I was so bored that I was speed-reading through the innings by innings match descriptions that fill easily half the book dropping back in whenever it looked like the plot might move along a little. However, the plot was so uninteresting and clichéd and the characterisation so superficial that it did not make up for all the rest.

I would have given this book 2 stars but I recognise some people will be more interested in baseball and perhaps in interminable scoring statistics, even imaginary ones, than I and so have upped it to an extremely generous 3. Grisham says in his introduction ‘Baseball is a game of failures’. Unfortunately I feel this self-indulgent book is an example of that. Here’s hoping Grisham returns to form (and the legal world) in his next novel.
I Like your use of smileys 🙂
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😆
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hehe…how do you do that???
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❗ You want me to reveal my secrets?? 👿
Stick www. in front of this… en.support.wordpress.com/smilies/
😎
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I want all your secrets….all of dem….
for now…this will do
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I think your secret is safe with me….till i work this out !! 🙂
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You’re much braver than me – nothing would induce me to read a book about baseball – or any other sport I know nothing about.
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Quite probably, I didn’t look at the blurb – just saw Grisham and assumed it’d be a legal thriller…I’ll be more careful in future!
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On the one hand, I respect an author who tries different things and explores in different (sub)genres. On the other… Sorry this disappointed you so much. I would probably give it a miss anyway as it takes a lot to convince me to read a sport-themed book (with a few exceptions). But your excellent review has made it even clearer that this is one I’ll not be reading… Oh, and I love your use of smileys too!
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At least now, if I’m ever forced to watch baseball, I’ll understand the rules… 🙄
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LOL!
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You use his quote against him! Priceless!!! And… 😎
I must make a confession, though. Baseball is the American sport, I believe. Now, of course, this professor should like it. It’s fun to play, definitely, but to watch? Boring to the point of tears. I still don’t understand how it works–which is quite pathetic. After all, this professor has been to a few ball games and has seen more baseball than…than… Than whatever.
I can only imagine the pain in Grisham’s novel… It should have got one frown at least. And then if you added his hideous picture, you could have added a few more. Now that’s… 😎
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Well, I didn’t like to mention it because, as you know, I never like to insult my colonial friends but… in Britain we call it rounders and it’s played by…girls ❗
The silly dancing men summed up my feelings about the book even more than Grisham’s smugness – grrrr! And if you think watching it is boring, try reading page after page of MADE-UP statistics!!! 😡
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Well now the professor feels he should defend the other side.
Baseball is a very complicated and challenging game. And it is very 😎 to play. I wonder what you think of football?
Now I understand why you don’t like it! I wouldn’t either if it was played by girls and called rounders… Definitely doesn’t do the game justice, I’m sure. And must be really silly to watch. Now, McCutchen is a natural, even though I don’t root for his team…
I wonder how Murray would react if a tennis ball was coming at him well over 90 mph…maybe run screaming?
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Very complicated! One guy throws a ball – another guy does (or more often doesn’t) hit it…and everyone else runs round in circles…that’s the basics, right? I wonder what Americans consider simple… 😉
Excuse me, Chicky-W-W, but male tennis players serve at anything from 120 mph to about 150! Now that’s a real man’s sport… (oh, and in general, the guy at the other end manages to hit it…) 😎
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You would be surprised, young lady! I’m sure that in Scotland they don’t play the ‘right’ way! A hotdog is pretty simple.
Oh, they do not!!! And you know it!
The professor suffers from enjoying all sports. Tennis is actually one of his favorites.
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Oh yes they do!!! Google fastest tennis serves…
I used to suffer from a brother who enjoys all sports…
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I admit defeat…
Except basketball!!! Yucketh!
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Oh, yes, and football (I assume you mean American football as opposed to real football) – now that’s the game, isn’t it, where it takes them all day to run up the park because they keep having to stop for a rest every couple of yards… 😉
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Yes. But you have to understand with all of those large porpoises on the field, rests must be taken quite regularly. The intelligence of that game runs quite low… Don’t tell anyone I said it! Just keep it 😎 Otherwise…I could fetch it!
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Oh, and I do like Francisco Totti…
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Never heard of him, but just googled – nice! Not Rafa, admittedly…but nice nonetheless!
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I’ve always assumed they were weighed down by their terrible unfashionable Joan Collins-esque shoulder pads. But now I know they’re having to avoid stranded sea-creatures, I have more sympathy…
Of course, rugby’s the British version – and the main criterion for success seems to be that the player’s neck should be wider than his head – perhaps from being repeatedly squashed in the scrum…
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😆 Definitely!
It seems that football players just don’t have a neck.
Though T. Brady is 😎
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Ooh-er! He is rather… 😀
Tell me, why do they wear the war-paint?
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Amazing Quaterback. You mean under their eyes? It’s so the sun doesn’t reflect and blind them. Some overdo it, though. Just so they can look more savage.
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Men, eh? They’re so sweet… 😉
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Quarterback, I mean. This professorish head…
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And the professor is 😎
(I really hope you don’t regret giving me the smileys.)
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I’m just wondering if I accidentally only gave you the link for the 😎 one though…
Though it suits you very much, Chicky- 😎 – 😎
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😆
No, I got them all. It was just the 😎 est one on there. 😀
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But that’s just because you’re 😎 ! For some reason I prefer the 😈 one – don’t know why. 😉
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😆 I think you mean Tuppence prefers that one.
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Sounds like Grisham should stick with what he knows.
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At least I’ll know to read the blurb before buying him in future… 😉
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