Almost Famous

Like all great literature, this novel takes time to get into its proper rhythm. Once it does, it leaves you amazed. Highly recommended, and you DON'T have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this.

I picked up Almost Famous on a whim, thinking, a baseball novel? I am a reader of Anne Tyler, Jane Smiley, Anne Lamott. I have never willingly watched a game, let alone read a book about it. This novel is the story of Ward Sullivan, ferociously focused on the one thing he was born to do, play baseball. The 1960's farm leagues are evoked in sardonic detail, as we watch our hero prepare himself for greatness at the Great American Pastime. His self absorption is as immense as his talent. When one horrific car accident shatters his body and his life, forcing him back to his agonized mess of a family, he must find a new pattern for living. And what a pattern he finds. Small creates a hilariously rut bound man, carefully sticking to his compulsive repetition of a life. The detailed descriptions of Ward's car care, his family life, his version of a love life, are as hilarious as they are sad. Ward Sullivan did not die that night in the rain, but every dream he had died, and every part of the past that he valued. The story tracks his painful reawakening to life, and offers a hope of redemption for even the most human and flawed of heroes. I think this book is best appreciated by the lover of the human comedy. The baseball is integral, and important, but the real story is one of hope and endurance. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Just_Karen

I picked up Almost Famous on a whim, thinking, a baseball novel? I am a reader of Anne Tyler, Jane Smiley, Anne Lamott. I have never willingly watched a game, let alone read a book about it. This novel is the story of Ward Sullivan, ferociously focused on the one thing he was born to do, play baseball. The 1960's farm leagues are evoked in sardonic detail, as we watch our hero prepare himself for greatness at the Great American Pastime. His self absorption is as immense as his talent. When one horrific car accident shatters his body and his life, forcing him back to his agonized mess of a family, he must find a new pattern for living. And what a pattern he finds. Small creates a hilariously rut bound man, carefully sticking to his compulsive repetition of a life. The detailed descriptions of Ward's car care, his family life, his version of a love life, are as hilarious as they are sad. Ward Sullivan did not die that night in the rain, but every dream he had died, and every part of the past that he valued. The story tracks his painful reawakening to life, and offers a hope of redemption for even the most human and flawed of heroes. I think this book is best appreciated by the lover of the human comedy. The baseball is integral, and important, but the real story is one of hope and endurance. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

The story starts slowly. I didn't like the characters I was ready to stop after the first few chapters. But then, after a bit, I couldn't set it down. Why were the characters unlikable at first, because the main character didn't like himself. As he came to accept his faults, he accepted himself and those around him. I liked i