Castro's Curveball

I found Castros' Curveball a wonderful ride through an amazing journey. Whether you are a history buff, a romantic, a sports fan or just an avid reader, there is a strong enough story to keep those pages turning. Tim Wendell should be comended for bringing these characters to life. I found myself wordering throughout the book -- is this fact or fiction?I HIGHLY recommend it. An excellent Bookclub selection!

Wendel captures Cuba at its crossroads - the Carribean Las Vegas about to become a third world nation, frozen in time. The story line is one of hope - the hope of a career minor leaguer trying to make it to the bigs, as well as the hope of a revolutionary trying to change a country. Both characters brought together by the love of the game of baseball.Wendel captures the struggle of each, complete in the knowledge that a price has to be paid before the goal is ever, if ever, attained. The minor leaguer paying the price of having to play winter ball to improve; the revolutionary paying the price of having to gain momemtum from true grass roots politics.Wendel is masterful at showing how the love of baseball can bring together radically different people in a peaceful setting, and afterwards, just as at games today, everyone goes their own ways, each with a different opinion of what was the best thing about what happened that day at the ballpark.A great book that showed me why a person like Castro, so villified today, could reach out and gain the love and trust of his fellow countrymen.I recommend the book highly.

"He wore thick, black-framed glasses and slipperlike shoes, with a white dress shirt and ruffles and frills coming untucked from his black pants. He looked like a combination of a maitre d' and a matador." But oh could he pitch. Thus Castro makes his appearance in Wendel's fine first novel. And from that point Wendel had me hooked. No escape. Castro's Curveball is fast paced, a joy to read and to remember."

Wendel weaves a wonderful baseball love story, as magical in its own way as W.P. Kinsella's Shoeless Joe. For years, I've admired Wendel's pieces in national publications. This debut novel shows him to be a versatile, deft writer. Castro's Curveball pulls you in and holds you until the last page. This work will resonate with anyone who's ever looked deep into his own heart and revisited his past. I look forward to his next book.

Tim Wendel is an excellent writer. I am not a baseball fanatic, but I certainly had more of an appreciation for the game after reading this well written, intriguing book. The writer's passion for baseball oozes out of every page. He also gives the reader an interesting tour of Cuba --its culture, history, politics, landscape and love of baseball. The whole premise of the book is creative and imaginative. Wendel is successful in making the reader believe that Fidel Castro really did had a wicked curveball that could have landed him in a major league baseball career if he hadn't been such a die-hard revolutionary. It was interesting to see an author tackle the challenge of writing a book of fiction about a current political figure like Fidel Castro. I will closely follow Tim Wendel's writing career and will be eager to read his next book.