Brittle Innings

Or maybe they did. Or maybe nobody ever thought of it before. If you had a contest of either the most unlikely types of books or ideas that you just didn't think would work, this would probably top the list. Baseball and Gothic horror? Taking place in WWII-era South? In the summer? But oh man is it good, in large part to Bishop's attention to period detail and his creation of a unique and feisty narrator in the young (and old) Danny Boles. The premise is that a young reporter has tracked down Mr Boles in an attempt to write a book about his life (he's a well known baseball scout) and Danny agrees, only if the first book the reporter does is a story of his only season playing in a professional fashion, with the Hellbenders. Thus the story begins, winding along, following Danny and his attempts to fit in with his team. The team consists of some of the most interesting characters, nay, people to come by in a long time. There is no one there that you can either straight out love or hate, the worst person has an endearing trait, the best of them hides a secret of some sort. Towering over it all literally is Jumbo Hank Clerval, the man who winds up being Danny's roommate (partway through the book he loses the ability to speak, which makes it even more interesting because Danny is forced to watch without acting more often than not) and the focus of the book itself. If you don't know how Mr Clerval is, well I won't spoil it for you, but that's where the unlikely concept comes in. The rest of the book is pitch perfect summer baseball, I don't even like sports that much and I loved this book. You sweat with the team as they win and lose game after game, fighting for the pennnant, trying to get some dignity and recognition in a country where everyone else is focused on the war effort and using baseball just as reason to forget their worries. Against this backdrop the summer falls and you are immersed into the South, warts and all, racism and truimph, tragedy and heroism. It's all there, this book breaks genres and it's a book you can recommend to most anyone. And I suggest you do.

A fabulous combination of the horror genre and sports writing. To top it off, Bishop is strong writer. His characters are well-developed and likable (I hate reading a book where I don't like anyone) and he's excellent at turning a phrase. He's even able to provide a highly believable re-creation of 18th century writing. Some of the events are disturbing, some humorous, and it all comes together beautifully.

BRITTLE INNINGS is a gem of a story -- a World War II Southern Gothic fantasy baseball novel (and I think I may have left out one of the other genres), as comfortable as an old glove.I especially enjoyed the idiom in Bishop's dialogue (when a girl calls a soldier "sojer," it's spelled that way) and the terrific baseball sequences, especially an extended account of a spellbinding matchup between the Hellbenders and a talented Negro League team. The casual racism by the white characters is painful to read, but unfortunately rings true.I didn't want this moving story to end. Save it for summer and savor this true find.Two final notes: I'm dismayed with all the spoilers that give away Jumbo's identity -- it really ought to be saved for the reader to think out. And for those who enjoyed BRITTLE INNINGS, look for a novel called IF I NEVER GET BACK by a guy named Daryl Brock. It's a time-travel novel set in the very early days of baseball, and has some of the same winsome qualities as BRITTLE.

Set in the same period of baseball as "A league of their own," this is a novel which evokes the same sort of nostalgia for a time when the game was about hope and camaraderie and when the money was just a tad better than a living wage. As a chronicle of a small-time local league team in Georgia, it will more than hold your interest. Michael Bishop draws the entire team, the owner, his wife and their niece as a complex set of interacting characters, described in the first person by the promising new short-stop from Oklahoma. As a baseball novel, this book cannot be faulted for its simple love of the game. On the other hand, the central plot twist has nothing whatsoever to do with baseball. Who is the monstrous Jumbo Clerval, huge and weird first baseman who doesn't say much but, when he does, talks in a foreign, nineteenth-century sort of way? Why is he so bent on self-improvement? Can the terminally shy narrator, his room-mate, trust him? Even when you begin to figure out the answers to these questions, the plot just keeps drawing you in. If you love baseball, you need to read this book. (With a name like Doubleday, I didn't have much choice.) If you love well-written science fiction, you need to read this book. (With a name like Doubleday, I get blamed for a lot of really rotten science fiction.) If you're an old softie who likes a story with a cast of hundreds, a gawky romance, a little dash of Southern sensibility and a sad but redeeming tale of life as a 6'8" chap at the North Pole (I hope this doesn't give the plot away), you definitely need to read this book. (This has nothing to do with me being a Doubleday apart from the height, but hey, I need a third point for the tricolon.) End of tricolon. If you read this book, and I beg you to do so, please let me know what you thought of it. I'd hate to think that the best novel I've read this year doesn't appeal to anyone else.

I'm not a fan of baseball, but after reading this novel I can understand the romantic, mythic nature of the sport a little better. You might want to read Frankenstein before you read this novel to get the in-jokes. It's a very satisfying novel--blends genres of mystery, sports, romance, and the more meditative personal history. I loved it.