Stephen King - Blockade Billy - 7

[StefanY]

Blockade Billy

Blockade Billy is a very solid and entertaining novella that fans of baseball and non-fans alike should enjoy. There is simply not much good baseball fiction available and this offering from King manages to fill a void that I simply didn't realize was there until I read it. Overall, the story gave me feelings of some of my favorite baseball movies such as Bull Durham and The Natural.

For those who aren't baseball fans though, this book still contains enough of King's wonderful characters and dialog and a dark subplot that you don't have to have a passion for the game in order to enjoy it.

I hadn't really thought about it much before, but since I've watched The Natural recently to celebrate the start of this year's baseball season, this story does closely resemble that film in tone and the feel of it. So, if you liked that film I think that you'll really like this novella and conversely if you enjoy Blockade Billy, you might want to give The Natural a shot if you haven't seen it.

The version that I have also includes a bonus short story titled "Morality" about a young couple who is struggling to get by financially. When her boss, a reverend, offers her a deal to commit a "sin by proxy" for him for which he will pay her $200,000. This wasn't a bad story, but overall not a really memorable one either. I thought that it was nice that it was included with Blockade Billy though and some of the moral issues presented within it do relate well to some of the feel and tone of the previous story, so it was a decent addition.

Have you read this book? Click here to rate it!

[laurie]

Have you seen this baseball movie, from a novel by Mark Harris:

Bang the Drum Slowly, with an almost-unknown Robert DeNiro - Michael Moriarty had top billing!

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Stephen King knows baseball front-to-back and every-which-way, so I'm not surprised he can fictionalize it well. His book about the 2004 Red Sox season, Faithful is terrific.

[StefanY]

That's one that I actually haven't seen, but it's definitely on my to watch list. Thanks for the reminder!