Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Books read in 2013: No. 5 -- The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told

edited by Jeff Silverman

Started: Jan. 9
Finished: Jan. 15

Amazon link: The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond

Notes: For some while now I've had a story idea pertaining to baseball, but though I was a big fan of the sport back in the '90s (the Cleveland Indians were my team), my interest in sports has dwindled over the last decade or so, and I find myself woefully unread in baseball literature, especially fiction. Oh, I've read a few books here and there about baseball, but it's been a while. So, even though I'm not likely to start writing my baseball story any time soon (there are too many other projects at the moment), I'd still like to keep my hand in things a bit, or pick up some things. This collection I found interesting because it is a mixture of true stories and fiction, including writings by the likes of John Updike, Gay Telese, and Zane Grey.

Mini review: This was simply a fine read, bringing back lots of memories and reminding me how much I loved baseball. It's difficult to pick just one, but I think my favorite piece of writing here was "The Silent Season of a Hero," by Gay Talese, a character piece about Joe Dimaggio in his retirement years; this piece didn't directly have much to do with baseball itself, but it was great writing and showed a great hero of baseball. Reading this book got me to thinking a lot about baseball, and comparing baseball and fantasy fiction, and lead to this post.

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