This collection of well-crafted essays spans more than 40 years of franchise history but hews to a single theme: the experience--sometimes humorous, sometimes painful--of being a fan of the New York Mets. From the sound of jets overhead to Keith Hernandez and the Seinfeld connection, Hofstra professor Dana Brand writes about the experiences and lore that make baseball in Queens unique. Mets fans will recognize themselves in this book, and everyone who enjoys great baseball writing will delight in the reading.
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About the Author
Dana Brand is a professor of English and American literature at Hofstra University. He received his Ph.D. from Yale, where he often talked baseball with A. Bartlett Giamatti, a Yale English professor who would go on to become the Commissioner of Baseball. He is the author of numerous articles about English and American literature, philosophy, and film. He lives in Connecticut.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This marvelous collections of essays conveys what it truly feels like to be a Mets fan. Dana Brand beautifully captures the mix of triumph (so rare) and loss (all too frequent) that all Mets fans experience. He leaves out precious few aspects of the world of the Mets (there's even an essay about an eccentric Shea Stadium regular known as "Cowbell Man"), and he sugarcoats nothing (his enduring and well-deserved contempt for Mets GM M. Donald Grant permeates several essays, for example). But, for the most part, this book bursts with love, however irrational and so often unrequited. Professor Brand is just old enough to have grown up with the Mets from their first season in 1962, so fans of all generations will find themselves nodding in recognition how Seaver fanned the last 10 Padres, how they felt when they heard that he'd been traded, Game 6 of the 1986 National League Championship Series, and, of course, Cleon Jones's genuflection as he cradled Davey Johnson's game and series ending fly ball to left in October of 1969. And so many, many more moments that define the New York Mets.
You don't have to be a Mets fan to appreciate "Mets Fan." Anybody who loves baseball will enjoy this gem of a book.
You don't have to be a Mets fan to appreciate "Mets Fan." Anybody who loves baseball will enjoy this gem of a book.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By NBB
Format:Paperback
"Mets Fan" is the ideal book for people who can relate to the unconditional love you feel for a particular sports team. It goes beyond the diehard, irrational loyalty that allows one to persevere through the good times and bad; never giving up no matter how dismal things get.
The essays in "Mets Fan" illustrate how that unconditional love manages to permeate every aspect of life and shape us from the time we are children, and for the rest of our lives. The specific events Dana Brand writes about have such powerful emotional significance, that you sometimes forget he is writing about baseball. Regardless of what is omitted, what is included is relatable to fans (and non-fans)on so many levels. This is life with a side order of baseball, and we should be grateful for the opportunity to get a brief glimpse of how meaningful baseball can be, not just in the ballpark, but outside it as well.
The essays in "Mets Fan" illustrate how that unconditional love manages to permeate every aspect of life and shape us from the time we are children, and for the rest of our lives. The specific events Dana Brand writes about have such powerful emotional significance, that you sometimes forget he is writing about baseball. Regardless of what is omitted, what is included is relatable to fans (and non-fans)on so many levels. This is life with a side order of baseball, and we should be grateful for the opportunity to get a brief glimpse of how meaningful baseball can be, not just in the ballpark, but outside it as well.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is one of these rare books that just gets better with every reading Vividly described as only Dana can, reading this book in it of itself makes you feel like your actually sitting in the ballpark surrounded with all the intangibles that come together with a trip to Shea Stadium. And now with the Stadium all but gone this book is the closest you can get to bringing back your favorite Shea Stadium memories.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Big B
Format:Paperback
I love this book! Dana Brand illustrates what it's like to be a Mets fan because he is one himself. I thought this was a nice piece of reflective Mets history. I plan on giving it as a gift to a few friends. This is aust read for any Mets fan! I also noticed a few people complaining about the price. I don't think it's over priced. I don't mind supporting independent artists who offer quality work. If you like this you'll like the Mets fan documentary. Very cool. Mathematically Alive: A Story of Fandom DVD
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Mike S.
Format:Paperback
A terrific book for die-hard Mets fans that enjoy a quality read. Literate and smart, but also accessible and real. In writing about his own experience as a true fan of this team, the author touches on things that are universal to most of us fans. Highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This amazin' collection of essays, was thoroughly enjoyable and easy to read. Dana Brand masterfully weaves his personal stories, season recaps, the highs, the lows, and plenty of sentimentality together in perfect form. This book truly sums up everything it is to be a Mets fan, or a sports fan in general.
I have read plenty of books covering the Mets: books that take the reader inside the locker room, books that give an A-Z statistical history of the ballclub, trivia books, and and all of the downright goofy ones. Mets Fan is similar to none of these. This book is really one of a kind. Dana Brand shares his personal memories of this team, and if you too are a fan, you will definitely see so much of yourself in them.
I was born in 1978 and I have been a fan of the Mets since 1985. It is fantastic to finally read about 1962-1984 from a pure fan's point of view. The point of this book is not to look up Jerry Koosman's ERA for the 1973 season, it is to see what a fan went through during the 1973 season. This makes for fantastic reading.
From now on, if anyone asks me why I care so much about this team, why I get upset when they lose, why I jump up and down when they win, why it is necessary for me the check the score, I will simply tell them to read this book. Mets Fan explains why were are fans in the first place. It expresses how we Mets Fans feel when we see orange and blue and why we feel that way, it goes deeper into the soul of fans than any book that I have ever read before.
I have read plenty of books covering the Mets: books that take the reader inside the locker room, books that give an A-Z statistical history of the ballclub, trivia books, and and all of the downright goofy ones. Mets Fan is similar to none of these. This book is really one of a kind. Dana Brand shares his personal memories of this team, and if you too are a fan, you will definitely see so much of yourself in them.
I was born in 1978 and I have been a fan of the Mets since 1985. It is fantastic to finally read about 1962-1984 from a pure fan's point of view. The point of this book is not to look up Jerry Koosman's ERA for the 1973 season, it is to see what a fan went through during the 1973 season. This makes for fantastic reading.
From now on, if anyone asks me why I care so much about this team, why I get upset when they lose, why I jump up and down when they win, why it is necessary for me the check the score, I will simply tell them to read this book. Mets Fan explains why were are fans in the first place. It expresses how we Mets Fans feel when we see orange and blue and why we feel that way, it goes deeper into the soul of fans than any book that I have ever read before.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am a diehard Mets fan that absolutely loved this book! I found myself relating to every word written by Mr. Brand, who understands what it means, how it feels and why it is that we are Mets fans!
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Mets fans have not only endured many poor seasons, but also many poor books written about its team. This book tries to rectify that in providing a fairly novel approach of essays about various topics relating to the Mets over their history. Its an interesting approach which largely fails because the insights of the essays are often not compelling and many of the topics are addressed too abruptly. The Essays on Tom Seaver as well as the 1973 Mets are prime examples. The Seaver essay is only for three and a half pages. We come away with the notion that Seaver was arrogant, cocky and great and, rightfully, made no apologies. All Mets fans probably know that already. The 1973 Mets piece takes no side as Berra's decision to pitch Seaver in the 6th game as opposed to saving him for the 7th game. In fact, the author does not mention it. Further, where are the essays on some of the obscurities like George Theodore and Doug Sisk? Nevertheless, the book is earnest and well written. I thought Meeting a Met was a great chapter and I enjoyed it the most. Overall, its a worthwhile read and an improvement over many of the past books about the Mets. The price is crazy, however. This book should be listed at around 15.95
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