Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

Fiction

A night of baseball, a lifetime of memories: Review of Steal Away Home by Billy Coffey

I would read anything Billy Coffey writes (cross-reference: reviews to his books here, here and here) sight unseen so I was more than a little bit thrilled to discover his newest book, Steal Away Home, is a baseball book.

It’s also so much more than a baseball book.

Coffey has a way of turning ordinary and familiar events and moments into a work of art. To call this only a baseball book would be an insult. It’s a story about a heart divided, dreams broken, love lost, and love found.

For most of his life, Owen Cross has loved two things: baseball and a girl named Micky Dullahan. He dreams of the day when he can pursue both at the same time–a quest that will leave him wanting in the end, if he continues to run from the truth.

Steal Away Home is structured around a baseball game between the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles that really happened on June 5, 2001. The story weaves back and forth between the innings as they occur and the past as it is remembered. It is a unique storytelling device, and as a baseball fan and a Billy Coffey fan, this is quite possibly the perfect book. (If you aren’t at least a casual baseball fan, maybe skip this one. While the themes in the book are universal, I’m not sure you’ll enjoy it as much if baseball is a foreign concept.)

Coffey’s books are full of mystery and longing and unanswered questions that still leave you feeling satisfied with the outcome.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher. Opinions in this review are my honest-to-goodness thoughts.

Read some of the author’s thoughts about the subjects in the book here.

Shakespeare for the modern world: Review of Dunbar by Edward St. Aubyn

I don’t remember much about my reading of King Lear, whenever it was that I read it–college probably–but I do remember it being a convoluted family drama. And since I always appreciate the chance to read a re-telling of a Shakespearean play, I picked up this new one–Dunbar by Edward St. Aubyn.

I was not familiar with this author or the imprint that publishes these retellings but I was impressed by both. Dunbar is the story of a media mogul whose power-hungry daughters abduct him and enlist the help of a doctor to make their father appear crazy enough for institutionalization before an important meeting about the company’s future.

Honestly, I’d love to go back and re-read King Lear now–or watch a filmed stage production of it–to connect the original story with this new one. St. Aubyn’s writing is impressive. I could feel Dunbar’s madness, and there are lines in this book that made me pause and admire the word choices. The story does have elements of crudeness that might be a bit shocking to some readers, but I did not think they were included simply for shock value. A re-read of King Lear would help me confirm my suspicions that Shakespeare wrote these elements into his play and they may have been shocking in his day.

I’m interested in reading more from this author and in checking out other titles in this series.

Author bio: Born in 1960, Edward St Aubyn is the author of four highly praised novels, Never Mind (winner of the Betty Trask Award 1992), Bad News, Some Hopeand On the Edge. He lives in London and France.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the book through the Blogging for Books program. Review reflects my personal opinion.