Magic Time

Kinsella does it again! As in Shoeless Joe and Iowa Baseball Confederacy, he returns to the theme of Iowa, baseball, and true love. A solid triple, not quite the grand slam of previous novels, but fun. You know where it is going, and yet you enjoy the ride. Mike Houle is a great college player who had a terrible senior year...and yet reports to Grand Mound, Iowa, for Cornbelt League. Or does he...............? If you love baseball, small towns, the feeling you have stepped back into a world of no pc's, cell phones, and terrorism, than this is for you....not a lot of brain power required, but a great escape!

Mike Houle is a baseball player who, unaccountably choked in his senior year at LSU and is left undrafted by the major leagues. When his agent calls with a chance to play in semi-pro ball in Iowa, Mike agrees although he's never heard of the team or the league. At least, his agent assures him, the major league scouts will have a chance to see him play. What Houle finds in Grand Mound Iowa comes as a complete surprise to him. Families take in ball players--especially families with young and attractive daughters. Is that normal? And Grand Mound, according to his sponsor, is one of the few towns in Iowa which is actually growing. The entire town shows up for the regular inter-squad matches held by the local semi-pro team and Houle, the pressure off, finds himself playing the best baseball of his life. He may be playing great baseball but he isn't stupid. There's something going on in this town, and with this team, that just doesn't make sense. Author W. P. Kinsella creates an ode to baseball as the solution to the world's problems. In a strange, fairy tale part of Iowa, baseball has become the savior of a town, and the town in turn has become the salvation to a number of players who had somehow lost touch with the love of the game. Kinsella's lyrical writing makes MAGIC TIME an intriguing and compelling read. Although the plot itself is somewhat slow moving (but then, people say the same thing about baseball), Houle's coming of age and his growing realization of the mystery of Grand Mound made me keep turning the pages.

The Publisher's Weekly review above pretty much misses the central thesis: Does Mike Houle want to live an assured life "in the fairway" or take his chances that he might "drive out of bounds?" It's classic risk/reward that we all face in our lives, written eloquently in a well told tale. The mini-stories within about the conflicted slugger Barry McMartin, the rules- bending Roger Cash, and the protaganist's father Gil Houle are rich and imaginative. Between the covers, this one is better than Shoeless Joe. [Incidently, I am a big Kinsella fan ever since he flew across the continent to appear at openning day of Pupque Park...a miniature replica of Fenway built by 2 enterprising high school boys in their backyard in Wayland, MA. A great day, Kinsella was the star of this Jimmy Fund event despite appearances by Spaceman Bill Lee and Rich Gedman. Thanks for coming,WPK!]

the sports story has had a profound influence on me. this baseball drama rates with the shoeless joe jackson book of 1982. how could i approach w.p. kinsella with a script ready for book publication along the same idea lines? john moran

This is the first book I have read by W.P. Kinsella, although I know the story of Shoeless Joe, and have seen 'Field of Dreams'. I really enjoyed this book - read it in 2 days! I loved the mystery/twist to the story.