The Savage Quiet September Sun

It's hard to believe that the sixth anniversary of 9/11 is just about upon us. For the survivors or those who lost loved ones, it must still seem like yesterday. The world of film and literature has had a few big-name entries that deal with the subject: Oliver Stone's World Trade Center, Adam Sandler's Reign Over Me were recent films, and Don DeLillo's new novel Falling Man, which got a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

But there is also a smaller book on the subject, a collection of twelve stories written by New Yorker Victor Lana. Lana's bio says that he "lost a family member and friends on 9/11" and you can tell by the honesty of the writing how much it hit home. Lana's characters deal with 9/11 and its aftermath: the confusion, anger, grief, guilt, paranoia, and overall coping that were results of the tragedy. I don't know how autobiographic some of the stories are, but it must have been cathartic for him to write these tales.

Some of the highlights for me: In "Nisa," a divorced man's new friendship with a young Middle Eastern woman prevents him from slipping into an all too easy prejudice against Arabs, and helps him realize what's important in his life. In "Dust to Dust," a seemingly harmless office prank has serious repercussions for several of the people involved. "From the North Tower to Eternity" has a still disgruntled ex-worker show up in his former boss's office on the morning of 9/11 with the intent to kill him. But fate has other ideas. In "Our Flag Was Still There" a man who co-owns several beach cottages in Long Island with his brother is convinced the three men who rented one of the cottages are terrorists. No one, including his brother, believes him. So he takes matters into his own hands.

This book is available on Amazon. New Yorkers also can pick it up at New Voices Bookstore, located in the East Village in Manhattan.

Deford Hits a Dinger

Technically, and according to the subtitle ("A Tale of Modern Baseball"), The Entitled is a baseball novel. But calling this just a baseball novel is like saying The Road is just a post-apocalypse novel. There is so much more to it. It's literature.

The lead character of The Entitled is an old-school lifetime minor leaguer, Howie Traveler, who finally gets his shot to manage in the big leagues with the Cleveland Indians. His lifelong dream is compromised, though, when he catches his star player Jay Alcazar (possibly) raping a woman. Now Howie has a moral dilemma. Does he protect his player and his job, or does he come out against the player and jeopordize his career in the process?

This is also the story of Alcazar. It would have been easy to have him be a cartoon character, the selfish, "entitled" superstar modern ballplayer. But Deford gives him a complex character, too, and there is a nifty subplot with Alcazar returning to Cuba to locate family that was left behind when his parents escaped with the infant Jay.

Deford does an excellent job of mixing up the chapters, changing the POV, and feeding the reader the background on the individual characters in a non-linear fashion. And Deford's baseball knowledge and observations are spot-on. You can understand what he's saying, and the nuances of baseball even if you are not a fan. That is the beauty and the art of his writing.

Be Cool

American Cool is a fantastic collection of Susan DiPlacido's best short stories. Many of these stories have appeared in other noted publications, such as the Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 6, Caramel Flava, and Rebellion: New Voices of Fiction. But to have them all together in one volume is a very special treat. ("I, Candy" won the Spirit Award at the 2005 Moondance Film Festival, and "Bloodlines" was nominated for a 2008 Pushcart Prize award.)

DiPlacido's writing is fast, fun, sexy, and humorous. The stories just fly by as you read them, and before you know it you've started another one. From the bright lights of Vegas in "Neon Nights" and "Shuffle Up (And Deal) to the dusty desert of "Coyote Blues" to the softball fields of "Like a Girl" to the romance of Italy in "Found in Translation," DiPlacido plops you right into the lives of her characters, into their heads, lets you eavesdrop on their lively conversations, their jokes, their wants and disappointments. Whenever I finish a DiPlacido book I feel like I've said goodbye to some close friends.

One last thing—this book has a very fitting cover! I felt cool reading it on the train. Be cool too and get this book.

Amazon
iUniverse

Don't forget to read an interview with Susan here.

Oh, God!

In God Is Dead by Ron Currie, Jr.—a novel in stories—we see what happens throughout the world after God dies. Literally. He takes the form of a Dinka woman in Darfur, gets killed, and is eaten by feral dogs. Then the shit really hits the fan.

I don't want to give too much away, but the reactions around the world are varied, and Currie handles each separate chapter expertly, and with a streak of black humor. I mean, the world continues, and could/would remain the same as it ever was if not for the extreme reactions worldwide. So society breaks down for a while as humans adjust to life without God, as new beliefs are put in place, as new reasons for war are born, and as new reasons for carrying on are examined. Kind of like I felt after my Yankees lost to the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS.

Coincidentally, I've read three post-breakdown-of-society books in a row: Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, God Is Dead by Ron Currie, Jr., and The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. Three very different books, so it may not be fair to compare them. But Currie more than holds his own against those much-honored writers. In fact, God Is Dead is one of those books that leaves a lasting impression, and sticks in your mind long after reading it. I already want to go back and re-read it.

5 of 5 stars.

Road Trip

Well, I finally gave in and read THE ROAD, by Cormac McCarthy. I usually resist reading books that I am "supposed" to read. This novel just won the Pulitzer, but come on, how many post-apocalyptic stories, novels, and films have been done? Dozens? Hundreds? Nothing new under the sun, I figured. I also resisted for so long because of McCarthy's lack of punctuation in his novels, a trick that I find pretentious. But I caved and joined the bandwagon.

Now, besides his lack of quotation marks and apostrophes, his writing style is of the sort that you either love or you don't. I swear at some points McCarthy was just making up words on the fly. Thirty pages into the book I hated it, and regretted ever going down the road. But like a bad movie you don't want to walk out on in the hopes that it will get better, I stuck with the novel, waiting for something to happen.

The father and son, who are the lead characters, travel the road in search of other "good guy" survivors of the unnamed apocalypse (nuclear war, I guess) that ruined the world, burning it to a lifeless gray ash (if you removed all the times McCarthy used the words "gray" and "ash," the novel would be a third shorter). They are on a vague route toward the coast, in the hopes that it will be better and there will be more people near the ocean. Meanwhile, they have to scavenge for clothes, food and water, while keeping an eye out for the "bad guys," other survivors who might want to kill them and steal their provisions.

Page 90 (of 241) came and went, and I still wasn't liking it any better. McCarthy seemed to be as lost as his characters, wandering aimlessly in search of something meaningful. Then on page 93 McCarthy decided the book needed more of a plot. There is a scene in a basement of a house that just turned the whole book around. Now it got interesting. Also at this point, McCarthy begins to tell the story in a more straightforward manner, shaking off his Mr. Fancypants literary style somewhat and just getting down to the basics of telling the story.

But there is more to this book than "stuff happening" on the road. It is about the relationship between the father and young son, and the father's attempt to keep the boy alive and well, as well as keeping him on the side of the "good guys." That part isn't hard because the kid is innately good, and there were a few instances where I wondered if McCarthy was hinting at something larger, messianic. Either way, the father's instincts were to protect the boy; if the Earth was going to have a future that included humans, his life was more important than the father's.

I'm not one for having everything wrapped up nicely at the end of a story. And McCarthy didn't do that. Without giving it away, I can say that the end is left open and he can write a sequel if he chooses. Or, it can stand as it is, with the reader left to imagine the next day, month, year, century of this place called Earth.

4 of 5 stars.

Get AMERICAN COOL this summer!

AMERICAN COOL now on sale!

ENTER the world of AMERICAN COOL, where risk, rejection, and romance are played to win. When characters meet every roll of the dice with grit, humor and determination, is it enough to change the stakes? AMERICAN COOL is Susan DiPlacido's first collection of short stories.

Amazon
iUniverse

Available soon at Barnes & Noble and Booksamillion!

Also, read a lively interview with Susan HERE!

Into the Sunset now on sale!

WHEN a thirty year-old bachelor disguises himself as an old man to live in The Sunset, a retirement community, will everything go as smoothly as planned? Of course not! His elderly love interest becomes suspicious of his under-cover-of-darkness-only lovemaking, his neighbor wants to experiment with Viagra�, the head of security is more interested in extortion than security, and the woman who runs the community may be on to his scheme. Can Wayne survive old age?

To purchase:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iUniverse
Booksamillion

Susan DiPlacido's AMERICAN COOL will be available soon.

McCartney's Memory Almost Full

Paul McCartney's new CD, Memory Almost Full, was released this week to much fanfare by Starbuck's new music label, Hear Music. I downloaded the grande version, also known as the Deluxe Limited Edition, that includes three extra songs and a 26-minute interview.

How does one go about reviewing a new Macca album? Should you consider it on its own, as one separate entity? Or should you put it in the context of his 40+ year career? It's not fair, really, to compare this work against anything done by the Beatles, or even Paul's early solo years. Will it match up to Sgt. Pepper, Revolver, Abbey Road? Of course not. Does it match up against current artists, like John Mayer, for instance, or Jack Johnson? Possibly. Which is either a testament to Paul's enduring talent and drive, or a knock against the current stale state of rock n' roll.

The music here is strong, as it always is on a McCartney album. In fact, there are many stand-out tunes. It opens with the mandolin-driven "Dance Tonight," which is a real foot stomping, sing-along tune (great video, too.) This is followed by "Ever Present Past" which is one of those perfect pop tunes that in another era would have been a top-ten hit. "That Was Me" is a great, funky little number that reflects on all the eras of his life, from when he was a child "with a spade and bucket" by the sea, through his Beatles years "That was me, Sweating cobwebs, Under contract, In the cellar, On TV, That was me," up to the present day "The same me that stands here now." "Vintage Clothes" is another nostalgic song that is so infectious, it will have you whistling along.

"Only Mama Knows" is a real rocker, as is "Nod Your Head." These two fit into the "Helter Skelter" category—not much to the lyrics, just pure rocks songs to keep you going. The knock against McCartney has always been the shallowness of his lyrics. On Memory Almost Full he tries to dig deeper on a few songs. In "The End of the End," Paul sings:

On the day that I die
I'd like bells to be rung
And songs that were sung
To be hung out like blankets
That lovers have played on
And laid on while listening
To songs that were sung.

This is Paul singing about his death! I wanted something a little more insightful, mournful, deeply personal. This is a man who has endured the deaths of his first wife Linda, John Lennon, George Harrison, Brian Epstein. Shouldn't he have more to say? Does he believe in heaven, will he see Linda again, or John & George, or his mother who died when he was a kid? Does he have any regrets? How will his death affect his young three year-old daughter? Comparatively, on Harrison's final CD "Brainwashed," which he recorded when he was dying from cancer, these were his thoughts on the subject:

I never knew that life was loaded
I'd only hung around birds and bees
I never knew that things exploded
I only found it out when I was down upon my knees
Looking for my life, looking for my life

Oh boys, you've no idea what I've been through
Oh Lord, I got to get back somehow to you

A tad deeper.

On the soulful "Gratitude," Paul sings about his failed relationship with his second wife, Heather. Ooh, I thought. He's going to put that gold-digger in her place!

Well I was lonely
I was living with a memory
But my cold and lonely nights ended
When you sheltered me
Loved by you
I was loved by you
Yeah I was loved by you
I want to show my gratitude.

Hmm. Not exactly "Instant Karma" there. Maybe it was sarcastic? No, I think Paul is sincere. He's taking the high road here. But I wanted some anger, a flash of the chip on the shoulder that Lennon always had. The problem is expectations. The problem is mine. Why am I still expecting Paul to suddenly be an angry poet? That was John's role. (If Lennon hadn't become a musician, I believe he still would have been a major artist—but as a poet, not a rocker.) I shouldn't expect a 65 year-old man to suddenly become something he's not. He is what he is—what he always was. What he is is one of the most accomplished and talented rock musicians in the world. Memory Almost Full is a solid piece of work, one that I am finding I like more and more with each listen. Amazingly, Paul's voice is still strong, still a beautiful instrument.

Starbucks has a winner with this CD. I'm going back for a refill.

2 New Books from Rebel Press

Rebel Press is pleased to introduce the latest in its publishing rebellion, two new titles by rebel writers Susan DiPlacido and Donald Capone.
Available soon at Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com) • Amazon.com • Booksamillion.com


ENTER the world of AMERICAN COOL, where risk, rejection, and romance are played to win. When characters meet every roll of the dice with grit, humor and determination, is it enough to change the stakes? AMERICAN COOL is Susan DiPlacido's first collection of short stories.

DiPlacido is the author of three novels: 24/7, Trattoria, and Mutual Holdings. Her short story, “I, Candy” won the Spirit Award at the 2005 Moondance International Film Festival ("I, Candy" is included in American Cool). Her novel Trattoria was nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best Small Press Romance. Her short fiction has appeared in Best American Erotica 2007, Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica vol. 6, Caramel Flava, and Rebellion: New Voices of Fiction. Visit her online at susandiplacido.com and susandiplacido.blogspot.com.


WHEN a thirty year-old bachelor disguises himself as an old man to live in The Sunset, a retirement community, will everything go as smoothly as planned? Of course not! His elderly love interest becomes suspicious of his under-cover-of-darkness-only lovemaking, his neighbor wants to experiment with Viagra®, the head of security is more interested in extortion than security, and the woman who runs the community may be on to his scheme. Can Wayne survive old age?
INTO THE SUNSET is Donald Capone's first novel.

Capone's stories have appeared in Edgar Literary Magazine, Word Riot, and Thieves Jargon, as well as the anthologies See You Next Tuesday and Rebellion: New Voices of Fiction. Visit him online at donaldcapone.blogspot.com.

Read the prologue to INTO THE SUNSET

I'll post again when the books are on sale!

Bjork Volta

After the experimental departures of Vespertine and Medulla, Bjork is back to her classic sound with VOLTA, her fantastic new CD. Volta features a 10-piece horn section that is used to great effect throughout, especially at the end of instant-favorite lead-off track "Earth Intruders," where the horns emulate ship fog horns of an Icelandic harbor. This leads into the beautiful "Wanderlust," which starts with the lyric I am leaving this harbour, Giving urban a farewell. At this point in the CD, I'm ready to take the journey with her.

"The Dull Flame of Desire" is next. Here Bjork duets with New York singer Antony. The song is a bit too long, and it has taken me a while to get used to Antony's strange voice, but overall it is a good, slow love song with smooth horns and wistful lyrics. Definitely a song that grows on you. "Innocence" picks up the pace with its catchy techno beat. Rarely of late has a CD--by anyone--started out with such an amazing quartet of songs. The sound is fresh, modern, and shows a re-invigorated Bjork.

After catching your breath from these four tracks, "I See Who You Are" will have you marvel at Bjork's downright ability to compose a song. It features Min Xiao-Fen on pipa, a traditional Chinese string instrument (like a sitar) that has to be heard to be appreciated. It's almost enough to inspire some air-pipa playing!

"Vertebrae By Vertebrae" and "Pneumonia" are next; they are good, solid filler tracks. "Hope" is next, and is one of my favorite songs on the CD. What's the lesser of two evils? Bjork ponders, as she muses on the state of the world, and what would drive a pregnant suicide bomber to commit an act of terror. She concludes with the thought Well I don't care, Love is all, I dare to drown To be proven wrong. The song ends with more harbor horns, before kicking into the foot-stomping "Declare Independence," a crunchy, techno song--the exact kind that I love from Bjork. This song, along with "Earth Intruders" and Post's "Army of Me" will easily keep my speedometer at 80 if I happen to have them on in my car while driving.

"My Juvenile" closes out the CD. Antony is featured again, though more subtlely. Bjork sings this song to her first child, whom she feels she may have let go too soon: Perhaps I set you too free, Too fast, Too young. Antony, singing in response as Bjork's son: But the intentions were pure. But the intentions were pure.

Bjork is probably the only recording artist left who is doing her own thing, not a slave to the whims and wants of a record company. She is a true artist who is only concerned with her art, and making the music that she wants, with whom she wants. There is not much of that left in the medium of rock music. Volta is a classic CD by a phenomenal artist.

Roger Morris' "Taking Comfort"

Rob Saunders just wants to feel safe, but the world is a dangerous place.

Rob Saunders is the lead character in this stylish novel by Roger Morris. After witnessing a suicide one morning, Saunders impulsively picks up the notebook the girl dropped, and is strangely comforted by the presence of this souvenir in his briefcase. But as we read further into the book, we learn that Saunders is not the only character who finds comfort in routine, in physical objects, in hopes and dreams that may never be realized (yet are always on the horizon).

Every character in this book is affected by--and witness to--Saunders' movements in his daily life, and in fact, through use of different POVs, we know what they are thinking and feeling, know how they react to Saunders' increasingly obsessive actions as he seeks out more and more tragedies (and souvenirs), and know what their own quirks and "comforts" are. People crave their routines, while also yearning to break out of their ruts and do something exciting or spontaneous. Conversely, if their routine is upset, they feel lost. But how can one feel safe and comforted in this increasingly unsafe new world of terrorism, climate change, and suicide bombers anyway? That's the question Morris poses.

As the story progresses, Saunders' desire for more and more comfort drives him (ironically) into more and more dangerous situations. In the end, something has to give. Morris' use of short chapters and different character POVs really keep the pace of this novel fast, as each chapter flows perfectly into the next. If you are looking for a quick, engrossing, different book to read, I highly recommend Roger Morris' Taking Comfort.

R.I.P Kurt Vonnegut

"When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in a bad condition in that particular moment, but that the same person is just fine in plenty of other moments. Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is 'So it goes.'"
—Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five.

Chapter 24 now live

Chapter 24 of Like I've Never Been Born is now live!
Like I've Never Been Born

Rebel Press to serialize novel online—FOR FREE!

I am now hard at work on my third novel, nearing the completion of the first draft. My first novel, the comedy Into the Sunset, is currently making the agent rounds. Meanwhile, I’ve decided to serialize my second novel Like I've Never Been Born online—FOR FREE—with a new chapter posted twice a week on Rebel Press’s web site.

Giving his hard work away, you're thinking? Is he crazy? Yes, and yes. Hey, it's not doing anyone any good sitting on my hard drive. Plus, there are other reasons, which I’ll mention shortly.

First though, here is a quick synopsis of the book:
Early December, 1980. Angela Girardi, a nineteen-year old student, travels from her upstate New York college to Manhattan to seek out her (and her mother’s) idol John Lennon. She is determined to hand-deliver her mother’s unopened suicide note, which had been addressed to John. Angela wants to honor her mother and accomplish this last task for her; only then will Angela allow herself to grieve, move on with her life, and figure out her uncertain future. But circumstances on the night of December 8th change the course of her life forever.

I started work on the novel in December 2004. Between June 11, 2005, and July 29, 2005 I sent out thirteen query letters to various literary agents. I received seven rejections; six are still pending. Then on November 4, 2005, I read an announcement online about an indie film being made called Chapter 27, starring Jared Leto, which included this info:

Lindsay Lohan...is now set to star opposite Jared Leto in Chapter 27, an indie film centering on the 1980 murder of John Lennon. Lohan will play a devoted fan of the former Beatle who befriends Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman (Leto), shortly before the murder in New York 25 years ago.

Oh, fuck, I thought. My lead character, too, encounters Chapman several times. Either I'd been ripped off, or someone had the same idea as I did. I know it's not uncommon for people to get similar ideas at similar times. After a cooling off period, I realized it most probably was just coincidence. (I haven't seen the movie yet, as it doesn't have a distributor.) But the similarities made me feel like I couldn’t get the book agented or published since it would appear I’d just rewritten an existing story. It killed the book for me, and I last worked on it in December 2005. Though a few fellow writers read the manuscript and critiqued it, it never finished the editorial process. Under normal circumstances, I’d give it another round of revisions.

So, that is reason one for serializing the book. Reason two is that I use Lennon's lyrics throughout, as they are essential to the story. I know that obtaining the rights to so many lyrics would be a huge obstacle to publishing the book in the traditional formats. So I'm giving it away—I won't make one cent from it.

Look for updates every Monday and Friday. There are 30 chapters in all (that’s 15 weeks!). Thank you and enjoy!

To read the first chapter, go to:
Like I've Never Been Born

Please leave feedback and comments here or email me directly.

EDIT: It seems many people oppose the existence of the film Chapter 27, because it gives Lennon's killer the fame he desires. In my book, I never mention his name, and in fact he is a minor character. My novel is more of a tribute to Lennon, as my lead character figures out the direction of her life after the suicide of her mother.

"I Want A Freaking Character Named After Me!"

Ellen Meister has a fun new promotion going on. It's called the "I Want A Freaking Character Named After Me!" Drawing.

It'll be a piece of cake to enter for anyone who's read her sexy, hilarious debut novel, Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA.


Full details available at her site, but here are the rules:

1) Send an email to her at "win AT ellenmeister.com"

2) In the subject line, type in Maddie's favorite multi-syllable curse

3) In the body of the email, type in your name as you'd like it to appear in her next book

That's it! After May 31, 2007, all entries with the correct curse phrase will be entered into a drawing. One lucky winner will get a character named for them in her next novel.

Hurricane Season!

One of my favorite writers, Tim Dorsey, was in New York last night (Feb. 28). He did a book signing downtown in Greenwich Village at a great little bookshop called Partners & Crime, and afterward invited everyone out to a bar/club called Siberia up on 40th between 8th and 9th avenues. About 6 or 8 of us joined him and we hung out and drank a few beers. Dorsey is a very friendly, funny, and likeable guy, definitely the life of and star of the party. Lot of good stories were told, many about the zany things that have happened to him on his book tours.

His new novel is Hurricane Punch, which is the ninth adventure starring the one and only Serge A. Storms and his stoner partner Coleman. Now that I have my autographed copy, I can dive into the very sick mind of Tim Dorsey!

"A disorder peculiar to the country" by Ken Kalfus

Straight off, I want to say I enjoyed the book. I was almost put off reading it by two poorly-written sentences on the first page, but I stuck with this book because I'm interested in the subject matter of post-9/11 New York, of which I've written two short stories myself.

I still have a problem with one sentence in particular, it is clunky and would be forgivable anywhere else in the book except for the first paragraph. I'm still amazed that all the agents and editors and readers who laid eyes on this sentence before publication somehow let it slip through:
She went directly to her office on Hudson Street to sort out the repercussions from the negotiations' failure—and especially how to evade blame for their failure.

Now that I got that off my chest, let me talk about the book without giving away too much of the plot. When we meet the two main characters (Joyce and Marshall Harriman) on the morning of 9/11, they are already in the middle of a divorce. Both think that the other was killed during the attacks, bringing a sense of relief to them; now custody of the two kids, not to mention the pricey condo in Brooklyn won't have to be battled over. The survivor gets everything! Unfortunately, they both survive the attack and have to continue living together until the divorce (which drags on throughout the length of the book) is complete.

Neither character is very likable, as they battle for the upper hand, and for moral superiority during their bitter divorce. Meanwhile, America deals with the trauma of the 9/11 tragedy and the impending invasion of Iraq. The stress and tension of the Harrimans' life together is used as a metaphor for the rising tension of world events, as NY-ers are waiting for the other shoe to drop in the form of...what? An anthrax attack? A suicide bomber? Something unknown?

"A disorder peculiar to the country" is a National Book Award finalist, and though I recommend it, it's not a perfect book. The first page has Joyce returning to her office. Yet we never hear about her work life again. Toward the end of the novel there is a scene with Marshall and some sticks of dynamite that is so absurd I'm sure I must have missed something as a reader, or maybe it existed only in the character's head. I guess this is all symbolism: Marshall is a terrorist and his wife is America, the willing participant.

Just like in a marriage, and a divorce, and war: It takes two to tango.

4 out of 5 stars.

Sean Lennon

AP Photo

I saw Sean Lennon perform last night at the Bowery Ballroom, a small little club way downtown in Manhattan. He's touring to promote his new CD Friendly Fire, which is excellent. I was a little worried that his voice was all studio, and wouldn't hold up live. But I shouldn't have worried. He sounded great. He played rhythm guitar, but took the lead on the last song before the encore and played a hot solo. He talked a lot to the audience and was funny. It was his hometown crowd and many of his friends and family were there. He mentioned Yoko, but I didn't see her.

Give the gift of Rebellion this holiday season!

Rebellion: New Voices of Fiction
AVAILABLE NOW on Amazon!

12 stories. 12 dollars. $1 dollar a story.

Support the independent presses.
Join the rebellion.

Click here to read excerpts!
Then click on either the book cover above, or the Rebel Press logo below to go directly to the Amazon page.
Also available directly from Rebel Press.

Hardball: A Season in the Projects

Hardball: A Season in the Projects by Daniel Coyle.

If you need a baseball fix this winter, I heartily recommend Hardball. I found this gem on the discard shelf of my library, and picked it up for ten cents!

It chronicles a Little League team in Chicago's notorious Cabrini-Green housing projects during the summer of 1992. It's about more than just baseball, however. Author Daniel Coyle does an excellent job of weaving the personal lives with the baseball personas of the individual players. You get to know each player, his home life and personality, and how and why he came to join the team, the Kikuyus. The field is the players' escape from the reality of the projects' gang wars, murder, teen pregnancy, and broken families.

The book also discusses the politics that seep into the league, and the tension that arises between the original founder of the league (who is African-American and from Cabrini-Green), and the white coaches who volunteer their time to try and teach the kids baseball, as well as win their trust and friendship.

This is an old book, published in 1993. An excellent journalist, Coyle has since gone on to write a novel, and a book about Lance Armstrong, Lance Armstrong's War. You don't have to be a baseball fan to like Hardball. It's about society, and opportunity, and community. Pick it up.
----------------------------------
A side note to Mr. Coyle: It's been nearly 15 years since you wrote this book. I'd love to see a follow-up, even if it's an article and not a full-length book. Where are the kids now? What are they doing? Who succeeded? Who succumbed to the lure of gang life? What has happened to the residents—and gangs—of Cabrini-Green, now that a new urban renewal is happening, and the old projects of the neighborhood are coming down?