- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Paperbacks (Feb 20 1997)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0140260285
- ISBN-13: 978-0140260281
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 1.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 204 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,272,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Using real names and events, Winegardner playfully recounts how in 1946 one quixotic man nearly established a third, fully integrated major baseball league in Mexico. In 1994, the year without a World Series, aging baseball reporter Frank Bullinger Jr. sets out to write about la temporada de oro-the Season of Gold of 1946. Although Bullinger shapes the story, he frequently steps aside for chapters told by others: Theolic "Fireball" Smith, an acerbic black pitcher; Roberto Ortiz, a Cuban power hitter; and the Bronx's own Danny Gardella, a first-baseman who claims to have "caught" manic depression from a neighborhood kid named Rocco. Together, this Babel of voices tells how wealthy Mexican industrialist Jorge Pasquel offered ridiculous sums of money to American ballplayers willing to jump to the Mexican league. Whether Pasquel was "(a) Mephistopheles, (b) Gatsby, (c) Barnum, (d) an egomaniacal war-profiteer" or a few other possibilities, including "philandering murderer" and "civil rights pioneer," Bullinger leaves to the reader. As a milieu, baseball begs writers to indulge in the pleasures of tall tales and broad characterization, and Winegardner-whose only previous book is the nonfiction Prophet of the Sandlot: Journeys of a Major League Scout-excels at it. The brand of baseball played south of the border is equal to that of American ball, but sometimes the umps pack pistols-and the train tracks that cut through right field in Tampico are fully functional. In Bullinger, a frustrated novelist who hung out with Hemingway, he's created a narrator who sounds like Damon Runyon or Ring Lardner at their bourbon-soaked best. The novel invites comparisons to other baseball books, but Winegardner does something special here: he writes about both baseball and the past with a nostalgia that isn't cloying, always aware of how the ridiculous cohabits with the sublime.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Winegardner, previously known for his outstanding book about baseball scouting, Prophet of the Sandlots (LJ 1/90, o.p.), hits a home run with this first novel. The story is based on fact. In 1946, a Mexican entrepreneur began to buy the best baseball players-black, white, and Hispanic-from Central American leagues and from the majors, offering American players (who were bound in virtual slavery by the reserve clause) decent salaries for the first time. Yet good players do not necessarily work together to build good teams. The story of the Veracruz team's rise and fall is told by a sportswriter, several of the players, and the mistress of the Mexican magnate; each voice is distinct and interesting. This book is highly recommended not only for sports nuts but also for readers of serious fiction.
Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, Ia.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, Ia.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Veracruz Blues,
By A Customer
This review is from: Veracruz Blues (Paperback)
Amazing...I'd love to meet the guy who wrote this!
5.0 out of 5 stars
A truly entertaining and revealing book,
By A Customer
This review is from: Veracruz Blues (Hardcover)
This book transports the reader into the era of pre-Robinson, Mexican baseball and beautifully portrays baseball legends, writers, and dreamers.
5.0 out of 5 stars
not just about baseball,
By A Customer
This review is from: Veracruz Blues (Hardcover)
At the risk of being overly enthusiatic, this book should be considered a classic. Its many characters, many of whom serve as narrators, all assist in telling many truly American stories. For theorists, the story can be interpreted from a racist, marxist point of view. The magic of this novel is almost matched by the short lived utopia that the players in the summer of 1946 shared, playing in a world where color didn't matter, and the players had fun. Like any utopia, the Mexican league was only a mirage, but the humor and wisdom of the novel is not
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
