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Ball Four
544 pages
A hilarious, unvarnished peek behind the curtain of professional sports that shatters myths while capturing the bittersweet reality of playing a boy's game as a grown man.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like pulling up a stool next to the smartest, funniest, and most observant guy in a dive bar after a long game. The diary format gives it a brisk, episodic momentum, pulling you effortlessly through the grueling, absurd reality of a professional sports season. It is famously irreverent, stripping away the polished, heroic veneer of athletes to reveal the petty grievances, locker-room hijinks, and deep anxieties underneath. Yet, beneath the wry humor and candid exposes of bad behavior, there is a profound, bittersweet affection for the game itself. It delights readers who want their nostalgia served with a heavy dose of reality, offering a funny, deeply humanizing portrait of men desperately trying to hang on to their fading youth.
- Mood
- locker-room rowdy
- bittersweet
- nostalgic
- unvarnished
- Tone
- irreverent
- candid
- wry
- humorous
- observational
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the reality behind the myth · loss of innocence · male camaraderie · the business of sports · fading glory
- The writing
- The writing is conversational, sharp, and diary-like, delivering punchlines and profound truths with the casual ease of a late-night bar conversation.
- The arc
- The journey shifts from gleeful, irreverent observation of a chaotic season to a surprisingly poignant reflection on aging and the love of a flawed game.
- Who it's for
- Anyone who loves a good behind-the-scenes tell-all that dismantles heroes while still managing to romanticize the world they inhabit.
Content notes
- coarse language
- casual 1960s sexism
- substance use
About the book
Twentieth-anniversary edition of a baseball classic, with a new epilogue by Jim Bouton. When first published in 1970, Ball Four stunned the sports world. The commissioner, executives, and players were shocked. Sportswriters called author Jim Bouton a traitor and "social leper." Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force him to declare the book untrue. Fans, however, loved the book. And serious critics called it an important social document. Today, Jim Bouton is still not invited to Oldtimer's Days at Yankee Stadium. But his landmark book is still being read by people who don't ordinarily follow baseball.
Description from Open Library.
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