Havana Heat: A Novel [Hardcover]

Darryl Brock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2000

Deaf-mute pitcher Luther "Dummy" Taylor won 115 games for the New York Giants between 1900 and 1908. Darryl Brock's novel picks up Taylor's story in 1911, when Taylor is unsure what to do with his life. He sets his sights on a return to the big leagues, working out with his brother in the evenings and wrestling with the decision to leave his wife temporarily to pursue his dream. Only when he's picked by his old Giants manager John McGraw for an exhibition trip to Havana, where the Giants face the renowned Cuban national team, does he discover what he has to offer after his pitching arm gives way to younger talent. In his new novel, Darryl Brock takes readers back to the glory days of baseball and Cuba to witness a great player's second chance.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Brock (If I Never Get Back) is one of the finest baseball fiction writers around, lucidly rendering the passions, disappointments and excitement of the sport while capturing the defining details of the era he depicts. In this book it's 1911 and Luther "Dummy" Taylor, one of the first deaf-mute players in the major leagues, has been relegated to the minors, his career seemingly finished. But he hopes for another chance with John McGraw's New York Giants, for whom he pitched 115 winning games between 1900 and 1908. After training hard, Taylor approaches McGraw for a tryout. Short of pitchers for a postseason exhibition tour of Cuba, McGraw adds Taylor to the roster. It feels like old times to Taylor when he reunites with some old buddies on the Giants team, with whom he shares several off-the-mound adventures. While his pitching is not top-notch, McGraw assigns him to scout a couple of promising Cuban players. One of the Cubans, Luis, is a deaf pitcher whose arm rivals that of the great Christy Mathewson. Taylor and a friend coach a team of Cuban hopefuls, preparing them to face the Giants in a high-stakes exhibition game in which the young phenom Luis will be pitching. Wisely, Brock doesn't narrow his focus to the outcome of the crucial confrontation, but instead illuminates myriad issues. The embattled Taylor resolves some conflicts in his personal life, feels empathy and responsibility for Luis's drive and learns about the political and social realities of Cuba, in the end realizing that his true calling may be to coach. Brock's re-creation of the John McGraw era in all its rough and tumble vestiges and period details is vivid and believable. Agent, Laurie Harper. (Apr.) FYI: Castro's Curveball, by Tim Wendel, published by Ballantine in 1999, is another baseball novel set in Cuba.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In 1911, Luther "Dummy" Taylor, an aging deaf pitcher longing to get back to the major leagues, approaches his old boss John McGraw of the New York Giants for a chance to play. McGraw takes him along on an exhibition team that visits Cuba, a country still simmering with hatred stirred up by the Spanish-American War. There are four dramas here--Luther's struggle for acceptance, the Cubans' struggle for respect, Luther's discovery and fostering of a deaf young Cuban pitcher, and the games themselves, which McGraw treats as wars to be won at all cost. Luther must choose between the sporting spirit of baseball and the man who could give him his heart's desire. A rewarding slice of baseball and American history from the author of If I Never Get Back. For all fiction collections.
-Marylaine Block, "Librarian Without Walls," Davenport, IA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Total/Sports Illustrated (April 17, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 189212923X
• ISBN-13: 978-1892129239
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,728,614 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Havana Heat, April 20, 2000

By 

Greg Cochran (Elk Grove, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Havana Heat: A Novel (Hardcover)

As with his first novel, "If I Never Get Back", Darryl Brock again takes us into baseball's historical past. This time it is back to 1911, where we meet deaf pitcher Luther 'Dummy' Taylor. Taylor was a real-life pitcher who played for John McGraw's Giants. The story introduces us to Taylor at age 36, having been forced to the bush leagues due to an arm injury. Claiming his arm now healed, he convinces McGraw to include him on a team headed down to Cuba to play local teams. Brock has done a fantastic job of researching major league baseball in the early 1900's. Fans of today who look back fondly at baseball's 'Golden Age' should read this book. They will find that todays players are surprisingly more loyal and stable characters compared to their counterparts of yesteryear. Brock also gives us a glimpse of what life for a deaf man was like in those days. Due to birth defects and prenatal illness, deaf people were much more common than they are today, and were treated better than we of today might think. We also get to see what life in Cuba was like. We find that governments and the political climates may have changed, but life for the people has stayed much as it was then. Those who read "If I Never Get Back" will also be pleased to know that a brief reference is made to two characters from that story. Overall, I found "Havana Heat" to be a thoughouly entertaining book. Fans of character study will enjoy it as much as history and baseball buffs.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another winner, May 24, 2000

By 

Jeff Rapson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Havana Heat: A Novel (Hardcover)

As a former player, avid fan and high school English teacher, I am always interested in good baseball literature, not the kind which over analyzes to the point of nauseum (i.e. George Will's Men at Work). By good baseball literature, I mean the type of writing where one feels as if one is on the ballfield, sharing the highs and lows of playing this most difficult sport. One of the best of this genre is Mr. Brock's If I Never Get Back, a mastery of baseball realism fused with time travel (why this is currently out of print escapes me). Havana Heat is also terrific. As someone currently going through a pre middle age withdrawal from playing baseball, I immediately could identify with Dummy Taylor's yearning to return to the bigs. There are several components which make this book great: the recreation of the NY Giants - Phil. Athletics 1911 World Series, the difficulty of being a major leaguer during this era, life in Cuba and perhaps most interesting, the telling of a story through the voice of a deaf person. This story is both compelling and ultimately very sad as the two heroes have to deal with the inevitable: age and racism. I became so interested in the Cuban aspect of this book that I immediately picked up S.L Price's terrific Pitching Around Fidel which examines the current sports scene in this remarkable island. Havana Heat, while just a notch below If I Never Get Back, is a must read for anyone, not just baseball fans. A great start to the new season. Now if only the Giants and A's can follow!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Baseball Treat, June 28, 2000

By 

N. Bilmes "bookaholic" (Vernon, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Havana Heat: A Novel (Hardcover)

Darryl Brock has written a riveting, page-turning baseball novel that should be on every baseball fan's shelf. Weaving a narrative storyline out of real-life events is never easy, but Brock pulls it off with great skill. The baseball scenes are top-notch, and the humor is frequent. Much of the baseball information is reminiscent of details Al Stump used in his great biography of Ty Cobb. Good baseball novels are hard to find...I hope Mr. Brock continues his efforts!