Playing Right Field: A Jew Grows in Greenwich [Paperback]

George Tabb (Author), John Strausbaugh (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 14, 2004

One of a handful of Jews in the WASPish enclave of Greenwich, Connecticut, and undersized at that, George Tabb was routinely kicked around by the other kids — one blind, another one with one arm — as well as by his father. Playing Right Field refers to an early experience of the author and his brother, Lloyd, who played Little League together; they were forced to share one team T-shirt because their father the multimillionaire was too cheap to buy one for each of them. George and Lloyd chose right field because hardly any balls ever got hit out there and they thought it would be safe and provide them with lots of space. This book is a series of vivid remembrances — morality tales with an absurdist edge — that trace Tabb's growing sense of isolation and rebellion. Each is illustrated by noted underground cartoonist Fly.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fistfights, bodily functions and raucous comedy fill this thin, episodic childhood memoir from a seminal New York City punk musician (Furious George)/journalist (The New York Press). Tabb was a nice Brooklyn-born Jewish boy who, after his parents' divorce, was forcibly relocated by his father to Connecticut's rarefied, WASPy suburbs. "Greenwich didn't like Jews," Tabb writes, "but for some reason, my father liked Greenwich." Facing what he found to be a hostile and frequently anti-Semitic community, young Tabb stood his ground, even when (as it often did) it meant he was beaten to a pulp. He eventually earned some respect by shoving a pair of hooligans out the back of a moving school bus; he earned some more by punching out a Little League first baseman and sparking a bench-clearing brawl. When he wasn't defending his heritage, Tabb was blundering through more conventional pratfalls of childhood: puking on carnival rides, ogling older girls and torturing local wildlife (one particularly uproarious vignette involves an ax, a rifle and a giant turtle's Rasputin-like refusal to die). Underlying all the raw humor is Tabb's clear pain over his parents' divorce and a searing rage against his abusive father. Some tales require suspension of disbelief (e.g., was Tabb really sexually assaulted by a monstrous dog? Did his school principal really help him get back at a blind bully?). On the whole, however, Tabb's wry recollections of growing up will be darkly funny and all-too-familiar to anyone who still smarts at memories of middle school.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–Punk-rock musician Tabb (of Furious George) writes about his early years. Each of the episodes is tightly plotted and paced, offering almost equal doses of pathos, growing rage, and laugh-out-loud humor. Tabb was bullied not only by his father, but also by thuggish, anti-Semitic classmates during his elementary and junior high years. He writes of taking beatings from an obnoxious group of suburban kids for several years before getting revenge. Another bully, incredibly, was a blind boy able to pulverize the sighted and physically fit Tabb who, credibly, was disbelieved by the adults to whom he turned for help. In spite of all this blood and hate, the story isn't relentlessly grim: he tried to protect his two younger brothers by working the three of them into a team; his mother was both affectionate and concerned for him; and several of his juvenile enemies have their own personal miseries exposed. Tabb portrays his own ignorance–and occasions of righteous innocence–and bypasses anything like self-pity and goes straight to irony, cultural parody, and black humor. The vulgar language and crude behavior (usually on the part of others) are fitting to the tale. Not only will teens find this easy to read in itself, but it's perfect to pair with K. L. Going's Fat Kid Rules the World (Putnam, 2003) and other novels that feature strong characterizations and give due respect to serious subjects without losing any opportunity for wisecracking in the process.–Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Soft Skull Press (May 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932360409
• ISBN-13: 978-1932360400
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,264,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I Wear A White Hat.
I Wear A Red Shirt.
They All Think I'm Stupid.
One Day I'll Kill Them.

I Am Gilligan.

http://www.georgetabb.com/bio.html

For everything you need to know and more!

I've gone from paperboy to bagboy to Ramone waterboy! Life is beautiful!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Punk Poignancy, May 22, 2004

By 

A. Liebling (Long Island City, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Playing Right Field: A Jew Grows in Greenwich (Paperback)

When I was first introduced to Maximum Rocknroll in the early 90s, Tabb's pieces always stood out. When I outgrew MRR, I would still pick it up for Tabb. Soon after, I'd find his pieces in the New York Press, which became the only reason to pick up that weekly as well.

Whatever the subject, whether talking about his rough childhood, what he did that week, or that time he thought he had an STD (the rash was the cause of masturbating too much), Tabb writes in short, clipped sentences, packed with bittersweet sadness or self-deprecating humor, usually both at the same time. While most perzine writers fell for the eloquent prose of Aaron Cometbus or the zany verbosity of Rev. Norb, my early first-person stories tried to emulate those simple Tabb sentences that expressed a gangly, awkward, outsider mentality that I found completely relatable.

In this autobiographical collection of short stories, you can understand where that outsider mentality incubated. Tabb writes about his childhood, growing up a rare Jew in WASPy Greenwich, CT, where the physical and emotional abuse from his father gave no relief from the physical and emotional abuse from his classmates.

Anyone else would tackle this in self-pity, but Tabb is Tabb: you can't help but laugh at the descriptions of him getting beaten up by just about everyone, including the blind and handicapped kids in his school; but the moments of humor strengthen the underlying sadness of the experiences, and while it's missing from the book, you can easily see how and why punk rock became his escape.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars effort is sweet, bittersweet, and never self-pitying, September 1, 2004

By 

MissParker - See all my reviews

This review is from: Playing Right Field: A Jew Grows in Greenwich (Paperback)

George Tabb is a man of the people. That is to say, he knows a heck of a lot of people and a heck of a lot of people know him. He is an approachable, likeable guy and when I began reading his Maximum Rock 'n Roll columns back in the late 80s I had no idea that he was actually such a friendly person. Due to his long-standing punk rock celebrity/credibility he doesn't have to be. The fact that he IS such a great person is a testament to his character, glimpsed here in "Playing Right Field: A Jew Grows in Greenwich."

This book is a collection of essays that span Tabb's early childhood and teen years. It is all at once heartfelt and heartbreaking. When I finished it I felt the urgent desire to seek out and brutally punish anyone who'd ever been mean to George, and believe me when I say that would be a time-consuming process!

The bottom line is that this book is full of poignant, bizarre, and sometimes upsetting memories presented in amazingly rich detail. Tabb's capacity for recall is the mark of a great writer and a true talent.

I believe this book is an incredibly valuable manuscript that takes the reader back to the sometimes cruel state of childhood, all the while reminding us that back then we always strove to remain optimistic in our belief that Tomorrow would be a better day. I believe that George Tabb is still optimistic - despite everything - and that this both confusing and inspiring characteristic distinguishes him as a complex man with an important voice.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CinderFella Strikes Back!, May 26, 2004

By 

Allyson Schrager (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Playing Right Field: A Jew Grows in Greenwich (Paperback)

Kids can be extremely cruel. Most people have horrible memories of childhood, and would rather not stroll down memory lane. Do we really want to read any more appalling stories about a 98 pound weakling getting beaten up daily by his classmates and bullies at school (as well as at home)? Do we need to read about these horrible kids torturing animals, eating sheep eyes to spew out onto enemies' faces, or dismembering a sea turtle with an axe? Do we have to read in detail about getting dry humped and ejaculated on by a 200 pound dog named Bear? Of course we do. Especially when George Tabb is the narrator. Nothing personifies the definition of punk rock like Tabb. According to the dictionary, punk rock is "marked by extreme and often deliberately offensive expressions of alienation and social discontent". This perfectly describes "Playing Right Field: A Jew Grows in Greenwich". Tabb certainly understands what its like to be on the outside looking in. He just doesn't care to be on the inside.

After spending his first few peaceful loving years in Brooklyn, his folks got divorced and he was dragged up north to Greenwich, CT to live with his physically abusive father and new wife in Waspville. This made young George awfully miserable. His father certainly knew how to snatch defeat from his son's jaws of victory. His cruel stepmother, who liked nothing more than to humiliate and antagonize him, also treated him like CinderFella. Even his home wasn't a safe haven, but somehow Tabb made it through all the violence and mental abuse.

Tabb's schoolmates were all anti-Semitic too, which also made his life a living hell. Nothing is worse than being ostracized as the local kike, since everyone in Greenwich seemed to have the Heebie-Jeebies towards him. Luckily the natives never strung him up from a tree, since the most brutal physical torture was saved for local animals. At least his friend Jimmy crucified a frog instead of Tabb. Even the blind kid who looked like a zombie and had no eyeballs beat him up on the head with his Braille typewriter for being a Member of the Tribe. Maybe he was trying to push down the horns he thought Tabb had growing on his head, being Jewish and all. The one legged kid didn't like him either; at least Tabb had the upper hand (or lower leg) with him. Something is seriously wrong when even the unaccepted won't accept you. It's a good thing Helen Keller didn't go to his school; she would have kicked his ass too. This is extremely ironic since Tabb was the only good-natured soul to befriend the one mentally retarded kid at camp, and took under his wing. Of course he got the crap beaten out of him for defending him, but Tabb eventually does get his revenge. Or as much revenge an angst ridden adolescent can dish out.

The author has a candor and empathy when describing his experiences that is rarely found. This must be due to the endless persecution he endured. Fortunately Tabb still had a typical suburban childhood, filled with comic books and superheroes. His enthusiasm and humor even in the darkest of times (for a 10 year old) shows a kid who just keeps trying and never gives up. Always looking for approval from his father and never getting it. Some role models pass through his life, and show him that he really is a great person, no matter what. Tabb soon learns life lessons, such as breasts are really comfortable to lay on, and there is something in between his legs for a reason .He still has an innocence about him that wasn't completely lost. Except for the time he got dry humped and ejaculated on by a 200 pound dog. But Tabb just gets up, wipes himself off, and goes on. That's what this book really is about, perseverance in the face of adversity. And that's how Tabb's vivid memoir makes you feel, as if you are actually there with him experiencing his miseries and joys, through his young perspective. You'll be out playing in right field; sharing the same sweat encrusted team shirt with his two brothers. During the same game. That his rich father was generous enough to buy. We should all be so lucky. George Tabb is a pussy, and is damn proud of it. If you read this book, you'll agree, too.