California Rush

I've read this book over and over again and it gets better every time. The first time I read it, I wasn't really much of a baseball fan and I still thought it was a great book. Over the years, I've become more of a fan, and the more you know about baseball the funnier it becomes.

Baseball books are an art form unto themselves. It's daunting to think of writing about a subject that Ring Lardner wrote about so well. Yet, Sherwood Kiraly pulls it off. This is a story that captures the poetry of this sport and the men that play it, but always with a humorous slant. The ending of this delightful book, in particular, is (I had to be cliched) "laugh out loud" funny. It's a wonderful book and can be enjoyed by anyone, not just sports fans.

I picked up this book at a yard sale for 20 cents, and I didn't have much hope for it. After all, the blurb on the cover says something like "Kiraly Scores A Solid Base Hit". Now I know baseball, and if you're going to use a baseball pun to hype a book "A Solid Base Hit" isn't the one I would chose. Maybe "Kiraly Knocks This One Out Of The Park". Or "This Book Packs A Real Wallop" Or even "Going. Going Gone". But "A Solid Base Hit"? Perhaps, the fantastic, wacky, "anti-baseball" nature of the final game kept the reviewer (and publishers) away from a more ringing endorsement. But as it turns out this book is a pure delight. And a page-turner to boot. I think you'll enjoy it more if you love baseball, but it's not just for bleacher creatures. Much like the movie "Bull Durham", "California Rush" gives you an insider's view of the game and then turns the sport on its head with hilarious, magical results. Part fable, part screwball comedy (or, in this case, knuckleball comedy), the book comes right out of the tradition of grand storytelling with the rollicking tale getting taller and taller until the very last at bat. Ultimately, it reminded me of everything from Jim Bouton's "Ball Four" to Eudora Welty's "Ponder Heart", "The World According To Garp" to "A Confederacy Of Dunces" "Forrest Gump" to "Louisiana Power & Light "Contrary Blues" to "Memoirs Of A Geisha" (Just kidding but also a wonderful book) Suffice it say "California Rush" is one a hell of a yarn. I can't wait to see Kevin Costner in the movie.