Marshall J. Cook has again teamed with Savage Press to create a baseball novel that goes far beyond the diamond.
Off Season: a Novel of Love, Faith, and Minor League Baseball has plenty of drama for baseball fans and folks who don't know a line drive from a Texas leaguer.
After one of the most raucous pennant drives in baseball history, the Beymer Buffalo are back for another season. But first, freshman manager Tommy Lee Smith and his new wife Billie Jo must weather some off-season storms.
Billie Jo is raped, nearly miscarries in her Dime-a-Cup Diner during a freak Thanksgiving blizzard, and presents Tommy Lee with a child he has no idea how to love.
Buffalo team owner and Hall-of-Fame pitcher Gordon Glendennon convinces the town council to help finance a new ballpark for the Buffalo, along with a McDonald's and a casino to be run by the Oshnaube Indian Nation. He brings in folksinger Jamie Paradise as partner to help swing the deal.
When an arsonist torches the new park before it's even finished, Sheriff Tom Warren has plenty of suspects, including the Buffalo's legendary slugger, Roy Don "Hammer" Hammond.
Then Casey (as in "Cassandra") Chastain and Heather Peterson arrive all the way from Texas for team tryouts and a chance to make baseball history.
All this even before the start of a season that will turn out to be every bit as exciting as the one chronicled in Cook's previous novel, The Year of the Buffalo.
Cook has also published 18 nonfiction books, including Freeing Your Creativity and Slow Down and Get More Down. He's a professor for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Continuing Studies, where he teaches writing and helps put on a two-day Writers Institute in Madison every summer. He lives in Madison with his wife, Ellen.
Marshall J. Cook, Professor emeritus, Division of Continuing Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison email: mcook@dcs.wisc.edu www.dcs.wisc.edu/lsa/writing/extrainnings www.odyssey.wisc.edu I've published 30 books. I edit Extra Innings, an online newsletter for writers, having for 20 years edited a print publication for writers called Creativity Connection. I've published articles and short stories in hundreds of regional and national magazines, and I'm a columnist for The Writer's Magazette, an online magazine for writers. I teach in the Odyssey Project for the University of Wisconsin- Madison. I hold a BA in creative writing and an MA in communications from Stanford University. I've been married to the former Ellen Malloy since 1968, and we have one son, Jeremiah, who is married to the former Kimberly Zunker. When not writing or teaching, I like to read, exercise, play the piano, draw cartoons, listen to old time radio shows, and talk back to the television (not all at the same time). I'm a passionate baseball fan, drive the back roads (often taking the longest distance between two points, and eat in small town cafes. My published books include: Freeing Your Creativity: a writer's guide, Writer's Digest Books, 1991. (Pb 1995), How to Write with the Skill of a Master and the Genius of a Child, WD, 1992, Slow Down and Get More Done, Betterway Books, 1993, Leads and Conclusions, Writer's Digest Books, 1995, The Year of the Buffalo: a novel of love and minor league baseball, Savage Press, '97. Time Management: proven techniques for making the most of your valuable time, Adams Media Corporation, 1998 Pack Your Bags: baseball's trade secrets, with Jack Walsh, Masters Press, 1998 Effective Coaching, McGraw Hill Briefcase Books series, 1999 Your Novel Proposal: from creation to contract, with Blythe Camenson, WD, 1999 Handling Worry: a Catholic approach, St. Paul's Books and Media, 2000 Off Season: a novel of love, faith, and minor league baseball, Savage Press, '02 Murder Over Easy: a Mo Quinn Mystery, Bleak House Press, '03 Baseball's Good Guys (with Jack Walsh), Sports Publications, 2004 The Great Wisconsin Manhunt of 1961, Badger Books, 2004 Twin Killing, a Mo Quinn Mystery, Bleak House Books, 2007 Murder at Midnight, a Mo Quinn Mystery, Bleak House Press, 2005 Obsessions, a Mo Quinn Mystery, Bleak House Books, 2008 Give 'em what they want: the right way to pitch your novel to editors and agents, with Blythe Camenson, Writer's Digest Books, 2005 My books are available through Amazon.com and the other usual suspects.
This review is from: Off Season: A Novel of Love, Faith and Minor League Baseball, Second Printing (Paperback)
I don't understand any negative reviews on this novel. Anyone who has gone through loss can relate to it. I LOVED it. Cried through so many chapters. Not many novels can do this to me, but this one did. Thank you for a beautiful, heartbreaking read.
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This review is from: Off Season: A Novel of Love, Faith and Minor League Baseball, Second Printing (Paperback)
I admit that I had to put this one down and come back to it later because on the very first page something happened that I didn't want to happen. Once I pushed myself through it, though, it was wonderful to get reacquainted with all the memorable characters the author has created (channeled?) in and around the Beymer Buffalo baseball team. Definitely take yourself out to this ballgame.
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This review is from: Off Season: A Novel of Love, Faith and Minor League Baseball, Second Printing (Paperback)
Well at the outset I should admit to being a little biased here; Marsh is my little brother. But even so this is a good book. We follow the people we got to know in Year of the Buffalo for another great season of minor league play but there's a bit more this time. A couple of plot threads woven skillfully in between pitches. Marshall has a fine ear for dialog and includes some great quotes and quips. A very enjoyable read, as they say, you won't want to put it down!
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