The Dixon Cornbelt League: And Other Baseball Stories

W.P. Kinsella comes back with another great collection of short stories in this book. His stories are not just about baseball. They are about life itself, with a touch of magic and fantasy. My favorite is the title story, which has a very interesting twist to it. Ever since I found "Shoeless Joe", Kinsella has never ceased to amaze me, and I can read his books again and again without putting them down. Another classic that you should add to your library.

The first story in this book, "The Baseball Wolf," is the greatest short story i've ever read. The descriptions, the humor, and the creativity (the main character's name is "Denny's" after the restaurant) make this story perfection. I've read it over and over and I'm continually marvelled by its ingenuity. Read this story and close the book with a wonderful warmth in your belly.

Baseball and the mystic. Kinsella does a great job of satisfied the baseball addict's need for a good story with the game or its players as the focus. I loved "Shoeless Joe" but was surprised to find these short stories almost as enjoyable. Some of the language is strong but I recommended it to my adolescent son, none the less,and he fell in love in it. Such fun to read. It helped pass those long night between the end of the World Series and the start of Spring training

This is one of the best books, I have EVER read. My favorite, "Searching For January", in which Reberto Clemente paddles ashore, 25 years after his "fatal" plane crash which for him happened only days ago, and discusses with a tourist, returning to the Pittspurgh Pirates, almost made my dad, who remembered Clemente fondly from his youth, cry when I read it to him. This is one beutiful collection of stories. Don't miss it.

W.P. Kinsella is a man with magic in his hands and baseball in his heart, and that's one of the best combinations there is. Kinsella fans who have read "Shoeless Joe" and suffered Joe Jackson's heartbreak right along with him, or those who have been through the wonderful story of the "Iowa Baseball Confederacy" and really believe that once the Cubs were locked in a two thousand inning ballgame with a bunch of farmboys, are in for yet another treat here. "The Dixon Cornbelt League" is a collection of Kinsella's short stories designed to grab your attention, scare you a little, but in the end, to gladden your heart. The topics of the stories range from a baseball player who happens to be a part time werewolf, through a modern day team manager who gets calls from the long-dead pitcher, Christy Matthewson, on the dugout phone, to the story the book is named for. It is probably the most heartwarming of the lot, but to tell you any of it might spoil the beauty and the surprise. All in all, this is one of Kinsella's better efforts. Any baseball fan should definitely have it in his or her collection, as should anyone who simply enjoys a really good story.