Customer Reviews

Something to Write Home About: Great Baseball Memories in Letters to a Fan

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Not the typical book--not even just a 'baseball' book. Needs to be seen to be appreciated. Every page is a visual and emotional feast. From pinch hitter Gates Brown writing (the book is made up of all the actual handwritten letters Mr. Swirsky received from these people) about the day he was told to pinch hit an inning before he normally was asked too. He stuffs his half-eaten hot dog in his jersey and then, against his own wishes, slams a ball into the gap. He slides in and when he gets up, his uniform is covered with hot dog and mustard, ketchup and pieces of the bun.Hilarious. I found President George W. Bush's letter very poignant (amazing that he handwrote a 2 page letter)....There are many more. Try and find this book.You will not regret it.

Reading "Something to Write Home About" made me recall something the photographer Diane Arbus said about her own work: that if she did not photograph certain things, no one would see them. By that she meant not that her subjects--people--were fleeting; rather, that she could see something in people or coax something from them that others could not. Similarly, I am convinced that if Seth Swirsky did not to get people to tell stories, no one would hear them.

One of my favorites is a letter from Margaret Chapman, whose brother Ray became the only major league player to be killed by a pitched ball in 1920. She recalls her brother's life and death, the crowd at the funeral. Her letter is juxtaposed with an image of the funeral that makes you realize the photo-graphic nature of her recollection. Margaret closes by thanking Swirsky for his interest in her brother. How many times in the last 82 years has anyone asked?

Then there is a series of stories that demonstrate how the Red Sox's "Curse of the Bambino" makes itself felt through time:
--Mookie Wilson writes that "my hustle caused the error," and draws a life lesson from game six of the 1986 World Series;
--Bob Costas recalls, that same night, the championship trophy being wheeled into the Red Sox clubhouse together with the frail Mrs. Jean Yawkey, "anticipating the first Bosox title since she was a girl"; minutes later, Mrs. Yawkey, "head down, saying nothing, was gently escorted away";

--Max Frazee, whose great-grandfather Harry sold Babe Ruth to NY, is booed at Fenway in 1993; and
--Paul Giorgio climbs Mount Everest in 2001 to place a Red Sox cap at the summit in an attempt to "reverse the curse."

The book's epistolary form makes it easy to pick up and open at random for a good story. It is a book, like Ritter's classic "Glory of their Times," that can be re-read with pleasure every summer. Somewhere, Stephen Jay Gould is smiling.

This book is truly great in the fact that even after you've read the letters in it, months later, you remember what some people said--and those things were so inspiring: peter tork of the monkees talking about how 'participating' in an event is, in itself, such a great thing to do. Or, Martin Luther's King's photographer, Flip Schulke, remembering what a great dad Dr. King was...i never thought of dr. king as a father, only as a civil rights leader. Or the guy who's grandfather invented wiffleball and what makes it such a special game.With baseball as a backdrop, all of these intyeresting people wrote to the author (along with some of my favorite baseball players).This book is a true gem, not only for what it is when you're reading it, but for what it is when you are NOT reading it.If you just took away from this visually beautiful book a simple life lesson or two (and you take away many more than that), it would be well worth it. it has been to me and those i've given it to. I highly, highly recommend it to anyone who likes...life!

father of three, husband of one and son of two (all big baseball fans,like myself), I appreciate Mr. Swirsky's new book on so many levels. I loved his first two books, "Baseball Letters" and "Every Pitcher Tells A Story" and brought them in to my class one day and we preceeded to 'act out' many of the letters
on our small school stage.The stories came alive as each student read a different letter. I then thought to myself: when would a 14 year old ever had heard the name "Mace Brown" or "Elden Auker" (people who played professional baseball in the 30s)if Mr. Swirsky hadn't introduced us to these people and their stories through his incredible correspondences.

As a dad, I could very much relate to the letter in his new (and greatest book) "Something to Write Home About" when Dodger catcher Paul Lo Duca writes how it was his mother that picked him up every day after school to throw him baseball after baseball after baseball. He's now the starting catcher with the Dodgers after 8 years in the minors. His mother never got to see him play as a Dodger, as she died right before he made he pros in 2001. My wife and I literally cried when we read LoDuca's deeply heartfelt letter and the one from former Tampa Bay pitching star Tony Sanders. His letter is almost a confession to Mr. Swirsky as he considers retirement, at age 26, because of a freak arm injury. The photograph that the author found to put with the letter says it all: it's Mr. Saunders, weeping, with his arm in a full length cast with a tatoo of a baseball right above that says: "My World". I could go on and on but I won't. Just get the book, you'll see.

Anyone who takes their knowledge of baseball seriously must own this book. It's not just the things you'd learn through the letters written by an incredible array of people. it's the 'life moments' in the book that give it its 3-dimensionality.

An absolute MUST gift.

some great baseball stories in letter form, a slew of awesome photographs, a nice helping of history and a sense of quirkiness and warmth? Answer: This book. What other book could juxtapose the letters of paul mccartney with shawn green? Or, Ernie Banks and Elizabeth Wrigley-Field? Or tie together the letters of Gaylord Perry and Buzz Aldrin? I found I could not put it down as with the author's other books, but this one really goes all out. I just hopes he keeps doing more of them.

How do I start in my description of this extraordinary book?
I heard the author on a radio interview, bought the book that afternoon, and feel it was the best purchase I have ever made. The book is incredible not just in who Mr. Swirsky had write letters in it (The President, Paul McCartney, Tom Seaver, Martin Luther King's personal photographer etc.), but how he exhibits the letters with hundreds of photographs. It's really an 'art' book. If you happen to be into baseball, all the better!
I learned things through what these people wrote. After I showed my husband and kids, I went and bought a copy for my father who later called and thanked me for "giving him the greatest present he had ever received". This book did what few have done over many years--it made me feel something good.

These days, you never see 'works' like this. The work that went into getting these beautigul and timeless letters. The astounding photographs that go with them. Just a treat to read. Also, a really GREAT gift to give for any baseball fan. I guarantee they've never seen anything like it.

Something to Write Home About is a really neat, quirky book that anyone who likes baseball can pick up and read anywhere, any time. It's a fun, easy read full of joy and surprises. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes baseball or is a fan of popular culture. It's a must read!