from: Library of America
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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 810.80355
EAN num: 9781931082099
ISBN number: 193108209X
Label: Library of America
Manufacturer: Library of America
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 721
Printing Date: March 04, 2002
Publishing house: Library of America
Release Date: February 28, 2002
Sale Popularity Level: 470817
Studio: Library of America
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Brief Book Summary:
Robert Frost never felt more at home in America than when watching baseball 'be it in park or sand lot.' Full of heroism and heartbreak, the most beloved of American sports is also the most poetic, and writers have been drawn to this sport as to no other. With Baseball: A Literary Anthology, The Library of America presents the story of the national adventure as revealed through the fascinating lens of the great American game.
Philip Roth considers the terrible thrill of the adolescent centerfielder; Richard Ford listens to minor-league baseball on the radio while driving cross-country; Amiri Baraka remembers the joy of watching the Newark Eagles play in the era before Jackie Robinson shattered the colour line. Unforgettable portraits of legendary players who have become icons-Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Hank Aaron-are joined by glimpses of lesser-known characters such as the erudite Moe Berg, who could speak a dozen languages 'but couldn't hit in any of them.'
Poems in Baseball: A Literary Anthology include indispensable works whose phrases have entered the language-Ernest Thayer's 'Casey at the Bat' and Franklin P. Adams's 'Baseball's Sad Lexicon'-as well as more recent offerings from May Swenson, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Martin Espada. Testimonies from classic oral histories offer insights into the players who helped enshrine the sport in the American imagination. Spot reporting by Heywood Broun and Damon Runyon stands side by side with journalistic profiles that match baseball legends with some of our finest writers: John Updike on Ted Williams, Gay Talese on Joe DiMaggio, Red Smith on Lefty Grove.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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When Ted Williams died a few months ago, someone described "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu," John Updike's chronicle of Williams' final game, as "the most perfect piece of sports writing ever." I looked for it in this collection, and there it was. When the baseball season ended last week (for us Mariners fans, anyway), another friend quoted Bart Giamatti's famous elegy that begins, "It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart." Like they say about the spaghetti sauce, "It's in there."
More than any other sport, I think, baseball seems to inspire writing that's lyrical without being cheesy or cloying. That much is apparent in this collection, which also treats us to "Casey at the Bat" (naturally), Owen Johnston, Ring Lardner, Nelson Algren, Jimmy Breslin, Roger Angell, and much more (but, I observe without comment, no George Will). When my lovely bride gave me this collection back in June, I knew it would be a perfect companion for the season. Now I'm finding it an even better companion for the still young off-season. So as we try to figure out how many days are left until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, this great collection of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and prose will carry us forward, and back, to summer.
Rated by buyers 
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Baseball, in the time frame that it happened. This book is an excellent view of events in their time. It is a compilation of articles from writers, players, comentaters and owners. Although the book sometimes seems to jump around this can be expected when you are piecing together articles by so many different people. Where else could you find articles in the same book by Satchel Paige, Stephen King and A. Bartlett Giamatti. Baseball seems timeless and this book presents that. With very first hand acounts of people and events that are long gone.
Of particular interest to me was the chapter where Lawrence Ritter talks to Sam Crawford. Sam's views on life and people are engrossing, his assessement of opposing players provocative and his memories of the game eye-opening.
Overall this book should be read by any fan of baseball. It's a unique book and is full (over 700 pages) of interesting reading. The entire history of baseball is covered in this book.
Rated by buyers 
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This is not the quality binding you would expect from Library of America! I have not yet read this book but I have my copy here in my hand. The binding appears to be glued, not sewn. The covers
are not cloth, but flimsy, slick cardboard. This is really a disappointing sight from the project which made its name with
sturdy cloth editions. This might still make a nice gift book, but it is not what I expected from this publisher.
Rated by buyers -
This book is the book to have if you once played, have been a fan of, or have fallen in love with the greatest game known to man--baseball. Some of the authors here surprised me (especially DeLillo). These pieces form a noble, moving whole (kind of stitched together--like a baseball). As is usual, the book (being a Library of America special edition) is sturdily built--built to last. Get this book.
Rated by buyers -
Baseball: A Literary Anthology edited by Nicholas Dawidoff and published by The Library of America offers a lively mix of stories, memoirs, poems, news reports, and insider accounts about all aspects of the great American game, from its pastoral nineteenth-century beginnings to its apotheosis as the undisputed national pastime.
Among the contributions are the works of Ring Lardner, Don DeLillo, sportswriters Damon Runyon & Red Smith, and poets William Carlos Williams & Yusef Komunyakaa. Included are essays and player profiles from John Updike, Gay Talese, Roger Angell, and David Remnick.
Baseball: A Literary Anthology is a varied and exuberant display of what baseball has meant to American writers. Among the highlights: Philip Roth considers the terrible thrill of the adolescent centerfielder; Richard Ford listens to minor league baseball on the radio while driving cross-country; Amiri Baraka remembers the joy of watching the Newark Eagles play Negro League ball; Stephen King follows his son's team on their riveting journey toward a Little League championship.
Bringing together tales of ambition and heartbreak, childlike wonder and implacable disappointment, raw strength and even rawer emotion, Baseball: A Literary Anthology tells a rich and vital story about the sport that has always been more than just a game in the hearts of Americans.
In an age where venal, shorsighted men seem bent on destroying the game, reading this book gives one perspective: Such men have always existed--and failed. This stands, then, as a book of remembrance, reflection and hope. It's just what baseball-and baseball fans-need.
This is a truly great read!
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