Customer Reviews

Battle Creek: A Novel

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I became so immediately involved with the characters in this story that I forgot I was reading a book about baseball and men's lives ... I was completely engaged in everything about the story, and hated to see it end ... Thanks to Scott Lasser's amazing craft for characterization, I am now intrigued with baseball and the players and looking for an amateur baseball game, as well as Scott Lasser's next novel...

Battle Creek joins Bang the Drum Slowly and The Natural in its exploration of the lure and costs of baseball on the American psyche. Focusing on the final season of generationally-sandwiched head coach Gil Davison, the novelist Scott Lasser is at his best when the themes of competition and success mingle with the tensions engendered in families which do not function well. His descriptions of his terminally ill father are, to me, the strongest aspect of the novel.

In addition, his evocative narrative of actual games reveal a man who knows and respects the beauty of baseball. Unfortunately, the women who populate his novel are distressingly unidimensional: either poetically detached or built like centerfolds (with little personality or intelligence to attract them to readers who would prefer "real" women to affected groupies).

Nevertheless, I commend the novel for its exploration into the darker sides of our character, our obsessions with winning and our delusions as to how much victory truly means.

Mr. Lasser writes a compelling tale about people. The premise is baseball, which admittedly is a subject that doesn't interest me, but in spite of that, I really enjoyed the book. A true work of literature, and not just another mindless page-turner, this high-quality work is haunting and yet strangely uplifting.

"Battle Creek" is the best book that I have read in a long time. As a native Michigander now living in Tennessee, the book made me nostalgic for southern Michigan in the summer time.But more than that, it gave me insight into a sport that I don't know a whole lot about, and it gave me insight into the men who play the game of baseball. The characters were richly developed and the story flowed easily. I found myself really pulling for the characters, especially Luke James. To all of you who are looking for something different, read "Battle Creek." You won't regret it.

The characters are baseball men in the bloom and the twilight of life. Their love of the game overshadows everything else in their lives. The characterizations are rich and authentic, and their hopes and dreams bittersweet. Students and fans of baseball will love this book and take some heartache for the old game with them when the last chapter is finished.

I bought this book as a fathers day present for my dad, who was my little league coach, after reading about it in the Detroit Free Press. Prior to giving it to him, I read it and was deeply drawn to the story of fathers and sons--coaches and players.

But is some ways this is a morality tale. Sometimes to get what you want and maybe what you feel you deserve, you need to bend the rules. Do we as society like this--no, but in many ways the reward for success enourages it. Increasingly more and more of us are blurring the lines of morality and ethics to reach the top. Gil and Ben represent the proverbial bridesmaids who will do a little something extra to reach for the brass ring and we have to live through their mistakes and moral lapses.

My one concern was the issue of Gil and his father. The final act between father and son seemed to be as much about money as about pain. Maybe that's reality and is one reason why the happy ending is not totally happy.

Great first book.

as i follow my detroit tigers through a season of hardships, i am very ecstatic to come across a great baseball story. this story takes you back to the days when baseball was truly the american past time without the distractions of nike and egos. the days when a ball player was truly a ball player and he did it for the love of the sport. i would recomend this book to anyone who has a love for baseball or is searching for the true meaning of baseball. this story will put a smile on the face of a true fan!

Despite the fact that the central plot of this book revolves around baseball, and I'm not a fan, I thought this was a great book. It put a real face issues that we all face in our lives. I'll be looking for more from Scott Lasser in the future.

I could not put this book down and read it in one sitting. A story of real people with real lives. Mr. Lasser is able to capture the readers attention right from the beginning and never lets go. This is a must read for all of us men who never got a chance to tell our fathers what we really felt. For some there's still time, for others it's too late. Looking forward to reading his next book.

Battle Creek works well on two levels; as a poignant chronicle between three generations of men and as an exciting baseball story. Scott Lasser writes knowingly of his subjects and effectively uses baseball as a metaphor for life.