My apologies for the false promises I made when I said that I would be able to turn more of my focus to this blog. There are extenuating circumstances, I assure you.
Regardless, here I am.
Now, for those of you not even remotely familiar with the genre of fantasy baseball fiction (and I mean fantasy in the literary genre sense of the word, not the fantasy sports sense of the word), W.P. Kinsella is the man who wrote the novel Shoeless Joe--which one of my favorite sports films Field of Dreams was based upon.
Maybe Field of Dreams rubs some the wrong way, but there is something about the quest of reconnecting to one's father through the glory that is baseball that strikes a chord with me. Introducing a supernatural element to the plot does not bother me in the least.
That last part was integral to my enjoyment of The Iowa Baseball Confederacy.
Given to me while working the counter* at Little City and talking baseball with Travis, I was actually looking forward to reading the book. Chronicling a man's quest to prove truthful some information that he and his deceased father preternaturally possess, The Iowa Baseball Confederacy features time travel, supernatural immortal Native Americans, a 2000+ inning exhibition baseball game between the 1908 Chicago Cubs and an amateur all-star team, and a flood of biblical proportions.
*I don't know about you, but it always feels like such a homework assignment when somebody hands me a book. When I look at the book initially, there is a hesitancy for me. And it's not like I am not open to reading books that people hand to me (as KRD** can attest to). It is just that there is this sense of obligation that I'd rather avoid when embarking on a book.
**Where the fuck have you been? It would appear that you have not been on the internets even more than myself.
Maybe you read that description, and you think to yourself, "That sounds fucking stupid."
If you don't, though, and love the spirit of Field of Dreams, The Iowa Baseball Confederacy is a worthy read.
2 comments:
I agree about the obligation thing. And sometimes I get really stubborn about it, and don't read something for a long, long time. As a result, I try to ONLY give things to people that they NEED to read. As I knew that you NEEDED to read Chuckie K. I was right, wasn't I? And you should be impressed, because I hardly knew anything about you.
Also, thanks for the concern (or whatever). Explanation (sort of) now on the blog.
I'm not complaining about the Klosterman. You were totally right.
More on obligations in my most recent post.
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