The Greatest Slump of All Time (Contemporary American fiction) [Paperback]

David Carkeet (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (April 2, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140079092
• ISBN-13: 978-0140079098
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,449,146 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Carkeet was born and raised in the Gold Rush town of Sonora, California. He went to college at U.C. Davis and Berkeley, then to graduate school at U. of Wisconsin and Indiana U.--thus the southern Indiana setting for "Double Negative," his first novel. He lived in St. Louis for 30 years, where he set "The Full Catastrophe" and "The Error of Our Ways." He now lives near Montpelier, Vermont, and you can probably guess where he set his newest novel, "From Away." He is married with three grown daughters. More info at davidcarkeet.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Enjoyable Slump, December 13, 2001

By 

Bret Hern (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Greatest Slump of All Time (Hardcover)

I've read Kinsella, Malamud, Harris, Lardner... and this remains my favorite piece of baseball fiction -- and it's well up the list on favorite reads, period. You'll laugh a lot, and think about it long after you've put it down. The characters are vividly drawn, the dialogue crackles, and while the story has its exaggerated comedic moments (there's an amazing no-hitter that remains a personal favorite), the tone is realistic and the details ring true. Carkeet never makes fun of his characters -- ok, almost never -- but he sure makes them fun.

Highly recommended, and if you enjoy this, you'll also enjoy his novels on linguist-for-hire (I'm not making this up) Jeremy Cook, _Double Negative_, _The Full Catastrophe_, and _The Error of Our Ways_.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Carkeet's Home Run, May 2, 2009

By 

Dharma "Book Bum" (Ft. Lauderdale, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Greatest Slump of All Time (Contemporary American fiction) (Paperback)

The Greatest Slump is one of the greatest baseball stories. A hapless team of talented misfits struggle with their lives and psychological problems as they make their way through a winning season. Professional baseball has never been funnier. A classic of sports "anti-psych". Carkeet writes better than almost anyone else in America, and in this novel he pins the favorite pass-time on the point of his pen and shakes it until we are all splattered in laughter.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Triumphant baseball novel affirms life, explores depression., May 23, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Kalamazoo, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Greatest Slump of All Time (Hardcover)

In a stroke of what may be coincidence, all the key players on a National League contender fall into clinical depression. Each teammate despairs in the face of crushing personal challenges that threaten to make the each day too horrible to endure. Yet the team's collective talent and years of mechanical "good habits" propel the club ever higher toward a seemingly inevitable and fatal humiliation. Life, friendship, honesty and humility eventually prevail. This book has a message for young male professionals and those who would understand them.