Shoeless Joe Paperback - 1999

More than the inspiration for the beloved film Field of Dreams, Shoeless Joe is a mythical novel about “dreams, magic, life, and what is quintessentially American” (Philadelphia Inquirer).

 

“If you build it, he will come.” These mysterious words, spoken by an Iowa baseball announcer, inspire Ray Kinsella to carve a baseball diamond in his cornfield in honor of his hero, the baseball legend Shoeless Joe Jackson. What follows is both a rich, nostalgic look at one of our most cherished national pastimes and a remarkable story about fathers and sons, love and family, and the inimitable joy of finding your way home.

Details

• Title Shoeless Joe
• Author W. P. Kinsella
• Binding Paperback
• Edition 1st Mariner Book
• Pages 272
• Volumes 1
• Language ENG
• Publisher Mariner Books Classics, Boston
• Date 1999-04-28
• ISBN 9780395957738 / 0395957737
• Weight 0.53 lbs (0.24 kg)
• Dimensions 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 in (21.08 x 13.97 x 2.29 cm)
• Reading level 1020
• Themes
  • Cultural Region: Heartland
  • Cultural Region: Midwest
  • Cultural Region: Upper Midwest
  • Demographic Orientation: Rural
  • Demographic Orientation: Small Town
  • Geographic Orientation: Iowa
  • Topical: Family
• Library of Congress subjects Fantasy fiction, Farmers
• Library of Congress Catalog Number 81019196
• Dewey Decimal Code FIC

"W. P. Kinsella plays with both myth and fantasy in his lyrical novel, which was adapted into the enormously popular movie, 'Field of Dreams.' It begins with the magic of a godlike voice in a cornfield, and ends with the magic of a son playing catch with the ghost of his father. In Kinsella's hands, it's all about as simple, and complex, as the object of baseball itself: coming home. Like Ring Lardner and Bernard Malamud before him, Kinsella spins baseball as backdrop and metaphor, and, like his predecessors, uses the game to tell us a little something more about who we are and what we need." Amazon.com