Customer Reviews

The Dixie Association (Voices of the South)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
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The Dixie Association is a perfect book. It is hilarious, wise, profound, and unbelievably beautifully written. It should not be subtitled "Voices of the South". It is THE voice of the South, perfectly captured on paper. Donald Hays has perfect pitch for Southern language, on the street and in the locker room. The basdeball portions are true, interesting and exciting. The picture of the last game remains one of the great descriptions of an epic encounter in sports. There are more great characters than you can count. I read it in the 80s when it was published and probably bought a dozen copies before I was through giving it to people who I thought needed it. And finally, I simply loved the book so much that I tracked down the author and called him to tell him directly how much I was moved, and touched, and thrilled by it. I am about to launch into another buying and giving spree with this new edition.

The Dixie Association was a well written and thought out novel, written by an author who knew how to grab his audiences attention. A baseball team full of rejects that noone wanted around and did not have any respect for, but they knew the game of baseball and that is what they all loved and it is all that mattered to them. Donald Hays writes the book through an ex-convicts eyes. With the rudeness, foul language, and racists remarks the author offends everyone. In all I really liked the novel and give it a thumbs up, cause I could actually read the book without dreaading it.

I thought the book was very well written. The author showed a great deal of knowledge in the sport of baseball. The characters were interesting and fun to read about. I enjoyed reading about the games and the way it was portrayed through the eyes of an actual ballplayer.This book is defenitly one of the best baseball books ever written, not only because of its portral of the game, but because of the conflicts its characters deal with off the field as well.

Well, it seems that everyone that has reviewed this book has given it really high marks and it is no wonder. The characterization is profound and at a very high level. It's less like it was written than it was seen and transcribed. Skip Hays uses baseball as a forum, as a war, to talk about rascism, classism, and redemption. It's not preachy though, and one of my favorite characters was the rascist knuckleball pitcher, Bullet Bob.

The Dixie Association which is about a team of outsiders who come together and create a chemistry that is unforgettable. The book details a season throught the eyes of Hog Durham, a ex-convict. His blunt, yet persuasive analysis of baseball is intriging and also repulsive by way of his language. Though repulsive, the language is manageable by way of being able to identify with Hog Durham and the times in which the story takes place.
The manager named Lefty Marks is the one who provides the best of the book. His unconvential wisdom of life and baseball are a view in which is not used enough because it is seen as American political taboo. He provides a refreshing and heartful determination to do the things in which make him feel successful, without money standing in the way. Some may view him as throwing away his life while most who understand his points will respect and appreciate his unconventional wisdom.
The Dixie Association while harsh on racial sensitivity is a joyous read that almost anyone can read. The story is simple but the characters are full of explosive personalities that protect a weak story. This is by far the most entertaining baseball book ever written.

This was one of the most entertaining books I have ever read. Although the story is played out in a baseball environment, you really don't have to be a baseball fanatic or even a sports fan to get caught up in the drama and exicetment of this novel. The main characters are all well depicted and they each have conflicts they must resolve both on the baseball field and in society. There is a quagmire of underlying themes, and you can't help but become intrigued with at least one aspect of this story.

As the others have said, I think this is just about the best fictional baseball ever written. The characters are brought to life by Mr Hays. These are some of the most memorable characters I have ever come to love in fiction. I do not agree in the slightest with the politics and world-view of Mr. Hays; however I must say that he presents his view of the world in such an engaging and humanistic way, that I find myself totally enthralled by these characters and thier trials and tribulations.

The main character "Hog Durham" is an ex-con who is given one last chance by society. After having spent the last few years in the Oklahoma State Prison (I can't spell penitentiary) he is released to the care of the the Arkansas Reds. A minor league team mangaged by the oh so subltly named "Lefty" Marks.

Lefty has assembled a team of has beens and wanna be's that by thier sheer oddness you just know that they will set the league on it's ear. The plot is predictable but the characterzations and humanizing of the players is incredible.

The team consists of the ex-con Durham, along with Jeremiah Eversole (a Panamanian Native American, that psyches himself up by reading a history of how the Whites' raped Central America.) Bullet Bob Turner (A biggoted redneck has been major league relief pitcher) and the most important other character Lefty Marks himself.

These charaters and many others bring this story alive. They are alive, aware, human and earthy.

The language will offend some, but it is the language of ex-cons, and the down-trodden. A language that is rich in description and explitives.

Do yourself a favor, read this book. If you are a fan of baseball, or a fan of the down-trodden masses, this will reach your heart and make you laugh and cry.

What else can I say? Hog Durham's narrative is simply brilliant throughout the entire novel. Not only a great work of fiction, but very accurate with its baseball details as well. Not a novel for the thin-skinned.

Nothing is sacred. Donald Hays manages to offend everyone in this book about minor league baseball in the deep south. If this book doesn't make you laugh, you're dead.

I am in my fifth reading of this novel. It is simply the best baseball novel ever. The book was first published in mid-80's and it left no one unoffended then and it leaves no one unoffended now. The baseball part is depicted in accurate detail, and life in America is depicted in more detail than we might generally be conmfortable with. Memorable characters, great storyline, and humor out the kazoo. If Chomsky had decided to write a baseball novel, this would have been it. Great read, worth the price, and thanks to LSU Press for the reissue.