Man on Spikes (Writing Baseball) [Paperback]

Mr. Eliot Asinof (Author), Marvin Miller (Foreword)

Book Description

Series: Writing Baseball | Publication Date: April 24, 1998

Selected as one of baseball literature's Golden Dozen by Roger Kahn, Man on Spikes is an uncompromisingly realistic novel about a baseball player who struggles through sixteen years of personal crises and professional ordeals before finally appearing in a major league game. In a preface to this new edition, Eliot Asinof reveals the longsuffering ballplayer and friend upon which the novel is based.

 

 

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

One of baseball writing's best utility men, Asinof is justly famed for Eight Men Out, his masterful exploration of the tragic events that led to the surreal stain of the 1919 Black Sox scandal; it is a deservedly enduring work of baseball nonfiction. Asinof's first literary at-bat, though, was in the fictional league. Man on Spikes--long out of print until that egregious error was rectified with the debut of Southern Illinois University Press's Writing Baseball series--is about as unromantically clear-eyed a look at baseball as exists in the genre. Its hero is a journeyman ballplayer named Mike Kutner, based, intriguingly, on a real journeyman ballplayer named Mickey Rutner, who Asinof played minor league ball with, and who, in one of the game's cosmic jokes, winds up on the same page as Babe Ruth in the alphabetical listings of The Baseball Encyclopedia.

Kutner, like Rutner, is never quite good enough to stick in the Majors, but his dream of making it allows ownership to abuse and exploit his talent for the 16 seasons after he signs his first contract. Dreams die hard, and sports dreams die particularly hard; Asinof works this theme beautifully, until, in the end, Kutner can finally hang up his spikes and hold onto something more tangible than reverie: sustaining love. This is a novel bursting with passion, understanding, and the insight of someone who's played the game and can translate its feelings without filtering them through rose-colored flip-ups. --Jeff Silverman

Review

"Like the glove work of Cal Ripken, Jr., which looks easy till you try it and fall on your can, the writing of Eliot Asinof looks so easy that you don't realize he has conveyed an entire milieu in the life story of a very ordinary man with one special talent and an all-consuming love for his sport. Then you discover that you're having trouble reading the page because of the mist in your eyes and the tension in your chest." —Harlan Ellison, San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

"Out of print for nearly 30 years, this classic baseball novel by the author of Eight Men Out realistically portrays the trials of a career bush leaguer who struggles for nearly two decades before finally making it to the major leagues. Many critics regard this book to be among the finest examples of sports fiction ever written."  

—USA Today Baseball Weekly

"[A] serious baseball novel, lucidly and dramatically written."—Douglas Wallop, New York Herald Tribune

 

"The truest novel I've ever read is Man on Spikes."—Jimmy Cannon,
New York Post

"I hope that all baseball fans who like to read books will read Man on Spikes."  —James T. Farrell, New York Post

"[A] plain and honest book, the first realistic novel I can remember having read." —John Lardner, New York Times

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press; 1st edition (April 24, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809321904
• ISBN-13: 978-0809321902
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #435,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Man on Spikes Perfect Pick for Spring, March 12, 2010

By 

David A. Moyer "lifeandlifeonly" (Crystal Lake IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Man on Spikes (Writing Baseball) (Paperback)

Baseball fans everywhere are flocking to warm weather to watch their favorite teams and players get ready for yet another season. If they are smart, they will take Man on Spikes with them to read on the planes and in the hotels. Man on Spikes is somewhat overlooked in the lexicon of great baseball fiction, but it's time to correct that. Eliot Asinof, who wrote Eight Men Out, tells a terrific story from mulitple points of view of young Mike Kutner's quest to make the major leagues. This book is for all of us grown up kids and aging dreamers out there.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A realistic view of baseball the way it used to be played!, August 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Man on Spikes, Special Edition (Writing Baseball) (Hardcover)

This is a must-read book! Very well written and insightful. It gives a realistic view of baseball in America as opposed to the usual romantic view presented in other books and films.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story about Baseball and following your dreams, August 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Man on Spikes, Special Edition (Writing Baseball) (Hardcover)

This is one of the best books I have read with baseball as it's central focus. It is a grity story of one ballplayer's long time struggles in the minor leagues trying to make it to the majors. I would strongly recommend this title to anyone interested in baseball!