Customer Reviews

The Dixon Cornbelt League and Other Baseball Stories

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4 star:		(1)
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This is the fourth W.P. Kinsella book I've read, after "Shoeless Joe", "The Iowa Baseball Confederacy", and "The Thrill of the Grass". I loved the first three. The author blends wonderful writing with mysticism, magic, and baseball to create mind-bending stories you can't forget.

"The Dixon Cornbelt League and Other Baseball Stories" disappointed me. "Searching for January", "Eggs", and the title story are memorable; they sparkle with imagination and fine writing. The remaining six tales are just average, below Kinsella's usual high standard.

Baseball fiction is Kinsella's arena. He ranks with Ring Lardner and Mark Harris as best in the genre. If you are new to Kinsella, start with the novels or "Thrill" to catch him at the top of his game.

W.P. Kinsella comes back with another great collection of short stories in this book. His stories are not just about baseball. They are about life itself, with a touch of magic and fantasy. My favorite is the title story, which has a very interesting twist to it. Ever since I found "Shoeless Joe", Kinsella has never ceased to amaze me, and I can read his books again and again without putting them down. Another classic that you should add to your library.

W.P. Kinsella is a man with magic in his hands and baseball
in his heart, and that's one of the best combinations there
is. Kinsella fans who have read "Shoeless Joe" and suffered
Joe Jackson's heartbreak right along with him, or those who
have been through the wonderful story of the "Iowa Baseball
Confederacy" and really believe that once the Cubs were
locked in a two thousand inning ballgame with a bunch of
farmboys, are in for yet another treat here.

"The Dixon Cornbelt League" is a collection of Kinsella's
short stories designed to grab your attention, scare you a
little, but in the end, to gladden your heart. The topics
of the stories range from a baseball player who happens to
be a part time werewolf, through a modern day team manager
who gets calls from the long-dead pitcher, Christy
Matthewson, on the dugout phone, to the story the book is
named for. It is probably the most heartwarming of the lot,
but to tell you any of it might spoil the beauty and the
surprise.

All in all, this is one of Kinsella's better efforts. Any
baseball fan should definitely have it in his or her
collection, as should anyone who simply enjoys a really
good story.

Kinsella deftly and most pleasurably combines three fine things: baseball, magical realism, and the short story. Weaving baseball into stories from Canada to an imaginary Caribbean country, from unaffiliated leagues through the minors to The Show, Kinsella does short story magic. The nine short stories all contain acts or hints of magical-realism-like events and most feature superbly created human main characters, most of whom play baseball at one level or another. Those are delightfully combined to make short stories, many of which conclude in that short story treasure, the ambiguity of resolution, that shows so very much respect for the reader's ability and thought. Truth be told, I thought there was a clunker among the nine stores, but only one (which I will refrain from identifying) surrounded by eight gems. The writing is so smooth, so easy to follow and digest and enjoy, that this collection manages to balance ease of reading with thought provoking creation. Do you have to know baseball to love this? In my opinion, it helps, but no.

The first story in this book, "The Baseball Wolf," is the greatest short story i've ever read. The descriptions, the humor, and the creativity (the main character's name is "Denny's" after the restaurant) make this story perfection. I've read it over and over and I'm continually marvelled by its ingenuity. Read this story and close the book with a wonderful warmth in your belly.

Baseball and the mystic. Kinsella does a great job of satisfied the baseball addict's need for a good story with the game or its players as the focus. I loved "Shoeless Joe" but was surprised to find these short stories almost as enjoyable. Some of the language is strong but I recommended it to my adolescent son, none the less,and he fell in love in it. Such fun to read. It helped pass those long night between the end of the World Series and the start of Spring training

This is one of the best books, I have EVER read. My favorite, "Searching For January", in which Reberto Clemente paddles ashore, 25 years after his "fatal" plane crash which for him happened only days ago, and discusses with a tourist, returning to the Pittspurgh Pirates, almost made my dad, who remembered Clemente fondly from his youth, cry when I read it to him. This is one beutiful collection of stories. Don't miss it.