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Blockade Billy
 
 
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Blockade Billy [Hardcover]

Stephen King (Author)
3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (180 customer reviews)

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Book Description

May 25, 2010
From New York Times bestselling author Stephen King comes the haunting story of Blockade Billy, the greatest Major League baseball player to be erased from the game.   

 

Even the most die-hard baseball fans don’t know the true story of William “Blockade Billy” Blakely. He may have been the greatest player the game has ever seen, but today no one remembers his name. He was the first--and only--player to have his existence completely removed from the record books. Even his team is long forgotten, barely a footnote in the game’s history.

Every effort was made to erase any evidence that William Blakely played professional baseball, and with good reason. Blockade Billy had a secret darker than any pill or injection that might cause a scandal in sports today. His secret was much, much worse... and only Stephen King, the most gifted storyteller of our age, can reveal the truth to the world, once and for all.

 

Originally published through Cemetery Dance Publications on April 20, 2010 as a $25.00 limited-edition hardcover, Stephen King and Cemetery Dance have made an arrangement with Scribner to make available a less expensive hardcover edition of Blockade Billy, with an on-sale date of May 25th, the same date the audiobook goes on sale. The Scribner edition will be available in all U.S. and Canadian retail outlets. Both the Scribner book and the Simon & Schuster audiobook will feature a bonus short story ("Morality").


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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A quirky baseball player with a past shrouded in secrecy is the tragic hero of this macabre tale from the dark side of the all-American sport. In the voice of George Granny Grantham, retired third-base coach of the New Jersey Titans, King (Under the Dome) recalls the spring of 1957, when Billy Blakely, a catcher called up from the Titans' Iowa farm system, helped to boost the team out of the basement and add some excitement to the national pastime. Billy hits with such power and guards the plate with such determination (hence his eponymous nickname) that teammates are willing to forgive such eccentricities as his frequently addressing himself in the third person, or bloodying runners who collide with him. Of course, these kinks are clues to a shocking pathology that King coaxes out in a narrative steeped so perfectly in the argot of the game and the behavior of its players and fans that readers will willingly suspend their disbelief. As King's fiction goes, this suspenseful short is a deftly executed suicide squeeze, with sharp spikes hoisted high and aimed at the jugular on the slide home. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Reviewers tended to dismiss Blockade Billy when they compared it to the sum of King's oeuvre, but they appreciated the book as a better-than-usual attempt to fictionalize the world of baseball. Readers with a more nostalgic take on the game will particularly enjoy King's evocation of the way it was played in 1957. And baseball-stats wonks will likely salivate over the mystery of what event could be so horrible that the Majors would efface the scorecard for all time. But other readers may wish to start with one of King's classics.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 132 pages
  • Publisher: Scribner (May 25, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1451608217
  • ISBN-13: 978-1451608212
  • Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (180 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,645 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are the Dark Tower novels, Cell, From a Buick 8, Everything's Eventual, Hearts in Atlantis, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and Bag of Bones. His acclaimed nonfiction book, On Writing, was also a bestseller. He is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
228 of 241 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I'm going to keep this as spoiler free and as informative as possible.

"Blockade Billy" is the latest release from Stephen King. Its announcement in March 2010 was a surprise for everyone, and I know that I wasn't expecting any new King for another six months or so.

First, some info about the book itself:
Overall, this book is a novella, the physical book clocks in at a little over 100 pages with some excellent Alex McVey illustrations (in the Cemetery Dance and Lonely Road Books versions only).

There are a few editions of this book (some forthcoming). Cemetery Dance Publications had the 1st edition 1st printing of Blockade Billy with only 10,000 dust jacketed copies that was officially released April 20, 2010. This came shrink wrapped with a bonus William "Blockade Billy" Blakely baseball card (that looks like a Topps 1957 card, very cool). They also had a limited slipcase available at an additional cost. Cemetery Dance will also be doing a second printing of 10,000 that is for libraries only.

Scribner's version of Blockade Billy will be a non-dust jacketed trade hardcover edition and it will be coming out at the end of May, 2010. Sadly, it will not have the awesome Alex McVey illustrations, but they are adding Stephen King's short story "Morality" that was released last year in Esquire magazine.

In the summer of 2010, Lonely Road Books is releasing a Signed Limited Edition and a Lettered Edition of Blockade Billy. Both of these will come with the same William "Blockade Billy" Blakely baseball card that came with the Cemetery Dance Publications version, and they will also come with a SIGNED Stephen King baseball card (how cool is that!?)!

There will also be an audio book read by Craig Wasson (Blockade Billy Audiobook), a Kindle version (Blockade Billy for Kindle), and other e-reader versions.

Now, to the story.... Yes, this is a baseball story. If you aren't a fan, some of the passages will go over your head like a foul ball, but the thing is, you won't care. You'll be too engrossed in the story. The next thing you'll know, the story will be over and you will feel a sense of satisfaction and completion.

This novella is a very fun and very fast read. For sports fans that love King, this book will probably be a dream come true. For King fans that don't like sports... it is a new King story! I'll admit, I don't really care too much for baseball. I know it. I've played it, but I don't watch it. Yet, I still really enjoyed this story. In the end, it is a story about the people, not just the game.

Yes, the book is short, but you will enjoy it. This is a lot more than can be said for many much longer books out there. Stephen King told the entire tale that he wanted, and ended it where it ended. There are no rabid beasties, Dark Towers, or possessed cars, but you will revel in the telling of this tale as if your grandfather were telling you a story about his childhood (one of the good ones that make all the grandkids gather round).

I don't want to give away the plot, but here are the basics: A baseball team loses their catcher. They gain a new one. He is kind of an odd duck, but he plays really well. But... he has a dark secret. Hey, it is Stephen King, you know. That is all I'm going to give you. Buy it and read it. If you like King, you HAVE to get this. I think this book goes beyond King-lovers though. It isn't so... gruesome... as some of his other tales, and I could see people of all ages enjoying this one... well... maybe no under 13 should be admitted without their parent or guardian. Ha ha.
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Though I consider this "book" to be a minor addition to Stephen King's vast literary canon, I found myself enjoying it. Some of King's books could be a bit of a slog trying to get through. This novella is definitely not one of those. I enjoyed the descriptions of the old time baseball scenarios. The story centered on the super-talented catcher "Blockade" Billy Blakely, whose name was inexplicably removed from the records book (the constant reader does not learn why until near the end of the story). It is a fairly straightforward baseball fantasy up to the time it arrived to its Stephen King trademark twist ending. I really enjoyed it for the fast reading and the thrills. I also read this story from the standpoint of being a potential movie script. I was able to see this story fitting nicely as a cinematic offering. If handled correctly by the right director and actors, it will be a viewing experience that few will forget.
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105 of 128 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
To get it out of the way early, it is best to know that Blockade Billy is a short story. It is not a short novel or even a novella, it is a short story. Weighing in at only 730 locations on the Kindle, it is extremely hard to justify the eight dollar price tag. It is more than twice the price of King's UR while less than half the length.

The good news is that if are a King completist, Blockade Billy is another nice addition to his baseball stories. The narrator, Granny, a former third base coach and equipment manager for the New Jersey Titans is a funny narrator and tells the story well. He is apparently telling this story to King himself while sitting in a nursing home after a life in baseball.

After losing their first two catchers in spring training, Billy is called up from their Double A squad to fill in until a seasoned pro can take over the catching position. But Billy puts in a great month, making numerous stops during plate collisions (hence the name Blockade Billy) while hitting at a good pace as well. The team's ace pitcher thinks Billy is his good luck charm.

Billy is also either dumb, crazy or both. He talks to himself in the third person and players get injured while playing against him. Eventually, as in all great stories, the little incidents add up and boil over, but you can discover that for yourself.

It's a good if minor addition to King's work. But it remains hard to justify the high price for such a slim work.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Disappointing
I wanted to like this book because I love Stephen King and baseball too. However, this fell way short of my expectations. First of all, it was way too short. Read more
Published 15 days ago by Larryland
My last King book
Another wasted day reading Stephen King. If Mr. King ever reads this I hope he takes one thing away from my post and that is, not every person on earth uses Jesus Christ as a... Read more
Published 18 days ago by Kelly Burkett
My Review
Blockade Billy is a very solid and entertaining novella that fans of baseball and non-fans alike should enjoy. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Stefan Yates
Great Story but a little too short.
Loved the story. Wish it had been a longer book. Not really worth the money. You should kindle this and at least save some bucks.
Published 1 month ago by Bo
Baseball and King
Baseball is one of the few sports I actually have some passion about (basketball being the other). Some people like hockey and in America football has become king. Read more
Published 1 month ago by tvtv3
Too Short
Overall I enjoyed the book, but I found it too short. I borrowed it through my local library to read on my kindle. I never would pay $6. Read more
Published 2 months ago by S. Beardsley
A Good Story, But...
I'm glad I checked this out from the library because, while a fun read, it is not worth its $25 cover price. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jason Lilly
Very POOR
[[ASIN:1.451608217 Blockade Billy]] I was very disappointed in this book. Usually, Stephen King writes better than this. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
Published 2 months ago by P. Cullen
Blockade Billy by Stephen King
Blocade Billy did not seem like the kind of book I usually read "I'm a horror fanatic'" but Stephen King is my favorite author and I never miss anything that he writes. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Morticiala
Good story
I love Stephen King but I'm not into baseball that much. The story had some nice twists and turns but was a little disappointing.
Published 3 months ago by ceejay
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