Calico Joe: A Novel by John Grisham (Epub)

Description

It’s the summer of 1973, and Joe Castle is the boy wonder of baseball, the greatest rookie anyone has ever seen. The kid from Calico Rock, Arkansas, dazzles Chicago Cubs fans as he hits home run after home run, politely tipping his hat to the crowd as he shatters all rookie records. Calico Joe quickly becomes the idol of every baseball fan in America, including Paul Tracey, the young son of a hard-partying and hard-throwing New York Mets pitcher. On the day that Warren Tracey finally faces Calico Joe, Paul is in the stands, rooting for his idol but also for his dad. Then Warren throws a fastball that will change their lives forever.

User’s Reviews

Amazon.com Review John Grisham Amazon Q & A with John Grisham Q: What’s your favorite baseball team? A: St. Louis Cardinals. My father was a Cardinals fan, as was my grandfather. When I was a kid growing up in the rural south, everyone listened to the Cardinals on the radio. We seldom missed a game. Q: What’s your most memorable game–as player, coach, or fan? A: I played a lot of baseball when I was a kid and teenager, but I do not recall making any spectacular plays. When I coached baseball, my teams usually lost. As a fan, Game 6 of the World Series last year, Cardinals vs. Rangers, comes to mind. Q: Have you played or coached baseball? What position? A: I was an average high school baseball player with big dreams. I tried to play in college, but got myself cut in the fall practices. I was an outfielder with a weak arm. Q: Why are there seemingly more baseball books–both fiction and nonfiction–than other sports? A: Baseball is a uniquely American sport, and it is the oldest organized sport in the country. It has a rich and colorful history, and up until the last generation, it was the most popular sport for kids to play. Sadly, that is changing. Q: Who was the Joe Castle of your childhood–a player you revered? And was there a Warren Tracey? A: I was never much of a Red Sox fan, but I adored Tony Conigliaro. He was a great player, and a certain Hall of Famer. The beanball that struck him in the eye ruined a great career. Q: While researching Calico Joe, did you attend or watch games? Did you write any of the book at a stadium? A: I only write in one place, and that’s my office at home. I take a lot of notes when I travel around and research, which I did for Calico Joe. Q: Did you employ any other behind-the-scenes techniques–watch old footage, interview players, read old issues of Sports Illustrated? A: Yes, all of the above. I interviewed several former major league players. I read lots of old magazines, news articles, and books about baseball, and specifically, The Code. I found some footage of famous beanball wars of recent times. Q: Do the beanball or the brushback have a place in today’s baseball? Even Joe seemed to accept them as “part of the game.” A: Yes. There are times in baseball when a particular hitter must get hit. There are many reasons for this, but retaliation is always a factor. Problems arise though when the pitch is above the shoulders, and aimed at batter’s head. If a pitcher does this intentionally, and they do it all the time, they are fooling around with a player’s career. Throwing at a batter’s head is never acceptable in baseball, even as retaliation. Q: Have you ever been hit? Have you ever hit someone else? A: Every baseball player gets hit. Fortunately, I was never beaned in the head. Our coaches never let me anywhere near the pitcher’s mound, so I never hit a batter. Q: Do you love baseball? If so, why? Any concerns that the sport and its stars (as Warren gripes in the book) have changed? A: I still love baseball but it’s not the game of my youth. The pro game today is dominated by money and, frankly, there is a lot of bad baseball being played. I find it frustrating, but I always get pumped at World Series time. College baseball is far more exciting. –This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Review Praise for Calico Joe “Grisham knocks it out of the park.”—The Washington Post “An enjoyable, heartwarming read that’s not just for baseball fans.”—USA Today Praise for John Grisham “Never let it be said this man doesn’t know how to spin a good yarn.”—Entertainment Weekly “Grisham may well be the best American storyteller writing today.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer –This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ Two of my favorite subjects are addressed in this book: Baseball and Redemption. Two definitions for redemption are as follows: (1) the action of being saved from sin, error, or evil; and (2) the action of regaining possession of something in exchange for a payment, or clearing a debt.In this well-written short story by Grisham (I read it from cover to cover in one sitting), tells a gut wrenching story of an abusive alcoholic father (who happens to be a professional pitcher for the New York Mets); the story of his eleven year old son; and a rookie phenom nicknamed Calico Joe who is setting records left and right coming up to the majors with the Chicago Cubs.From the three perspectives: alcoholic abusive father; young impressionable son; and talented young phenom Graham develops the story over what happens to each of these key “players” over the next thirty years. Without giving away the plot – the story keeps you gripped as you hope for a great ending. Grisham delivers (as usual) on developing a great plot that does not disappoint. The reader is drawn in to the story from the get go, and Grisham continues to draw the reader into the story. It’s as if you are involved emotionally, spiritually, and at times, even physically with the characters of the story. The story is one of great lessons: the wasted or unexamined life isn’t worth living; death is approaching fast – so make your life and relationships count; second chances are available; redemption and forgiveness are possible for everyone. I highly recommend this book as a terrific read that with an ending that is insightful, wise, and full of hope.

⭐ Book Review – Calico Joe – John GrishamIn preparation for John Grisham’s first ever basketball story coming out in late April entitled “Sooley” – about an African born (Sudan) basketball player – I decided to re-read his first baseball novel, “Calico Joe.” Grisham’s story telling in this sports fiction novel is impeccable. Naturally he is good at crime and courtroom drama in his legal thrillers, but in this fictional sports story, he also ‘knocks it out of the park’! The character development is just where it needs to be, realistic and compelling. The story pacing is like a baseball game itself, no time clock forcing an end. Instead, the story of Calico Joe unfolds like life itself, full of cause and effect, decisions and consequences, uncertainties of outcomes. Grisham’s brilliance and versatility of using factual names and places in a fictional story are on display in this wonderful sports fiction written primarily for the nostalgic baseball fan. Although Calico Joe is a baseball story, it is mainly a ‘people’ story. It brings together very different individuals and tells a surprising and moving tale of fathers and sons, forgiveness and redemption, all set in the world of Major League Baseball. The baseball part of the story is thrilling, but it’s what happens off the field that makes Calico Joe a must read. I highly recommend it…

⭐ I write a lot of reviews and also write pulp fiction (mystery and horror).I read as much as possible and across many genres, sports is always nearthe top of my list.Calico Joe, hit (no pun intended) me for three reasons; I love baseball. I am aNY Mets fan. I lived through that 1973 season.I devoured the story in a flash (I am also a speed reader) and enjoyed relivingthe summer/fall of 1973.I don’t believe in giving away storylines, as that takes away the author’s thunder.But, I will say; Calico Joe, is more than just a baseball tale.Enjoy…

⭐ Not a legal thriller but still a great story about a dysfunctional family, ego and the trappings of professional sports. Grisham mastery works in nearly every genre. Incorporating the storyline into the actual seasons of 2 well known sports teams adds to the enjoyment.

⭐ Calico Joe is a bit of a departure for John Grisham. The deals with a man who is facing the death of his estranged father from a terminal disease. The uniqueness of this situation comes from the background of the father and the titular character, Calico Joe. The father was a major league pitcher for the New York Mets. Calico Joe was a prodigious rookie having the season of a lifetime when his career is ended by the pitcher. As the man faces death, the protagonist tries to convince him to face what he did and apologize to the now disabled man.The story is very touching and, amazingly, does not deal with the law or lawyers in any way. Grisham does a great job hopping back and forth between the present and the past where the protagonist relives the tumultuous childhood that he experienced with this abusive professional athlete.Grisham weaves in real and fictional major league players and, by default, reveals his love for the American pastime. It was an enjoyable read.

⭐ Mr. Grisham’s prose took me back to my childhood. My newspaper articles cut from our local paper The Virginian Pilot and the Sunday New York Times my father bought every week after mass. Of course mine had to do with the 1961 home run contest between Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle being a lifelong Yankee fan.I am recommending this book to my brother Joe who is a voracious reader and also a Yankee fan. Additionally Paul’s baseball career somewhat mirrors my mediocre experiences from age 9 through high school.But one of the most enjoyable aspects of the book centers on the relationship of Paul, Jill, and their mom and the emotional support each offers as a buttress against abuse and distress.Excellent work Mr. Grisham.

⭐ I loved this novel, just as I’ve loved all of John Grisham’s stories because his characters have such heart. I feel as though I know Paul Tracey now, I know what it’s like to love baseball and to want a parent to be your hero, and have your admiration always shut down. I feel like I can watch baseball now and know enough to enjoy it because of Grisham’s story, and that is exactly why I read. To be immersed in another world to the point where I feel as if I’ve actually visited that world.Calico Joe is a story about a young boy, Paul and his love for both this father, and for baseball. Unfortunately for Paul, his father, who’s a pitcher the New York Mets, is not worthy of his son’s admiration. A narcissist bordering on sociopath, Warren Tracey is the kind of guy who shifts his responsibilities onto everyone else so his ego can stay falsely inflated. The story takes us from 1973 to 2003 in flashbacks centering on a moment in baseball history that changed Paul’s life, his father’s, and a promising rookie named Joe Castle.John Grisham entertains us with an important life lesson, wrapping it in his love for baseball that gives the story its extra-special dimension. The lesson is about how we have to claim responsibility for what we do in order to be a good person, and while forgiveness is possible, it can’t change the messes we make in our lives. Forgiving doesn’t mean forgetting, it means moving forward and getting on with life the best we can under new circumstances. Joe displays grace in the face of horrific circumstances that could have been avoided, while Warren shows how blaming others can leave a trail of regrets.This is a story that will stick with me for a long time. Sure the good guys and the bad guys were very black and white, but that’s not to say that there aren’t people out there that display such a contrast of light and dark. Grisham is a writer at the top of his game, and always a pleasure to read. He’s one of my favorite writers of all time, and I hope he doesn’t stop writing in my lifetime.

⭐ John Grisham is best known for thrillers, legal usually, but has also authored many books outside that perimeter, including “A Painted House”, and a very strong non-fiction book that examines the unfairness of the death penalty and the corrupting world around it called “An Innocent Man”. He brings the old days of professional baseball to life with “Calico Joe”, that is made more interesting as its time frame in 1973 coincides with my own boyhood interest in what was once a cool game before massive trades and the total disappearance of team loyalty ruined the game for me. “Calico Joe” is one Joe Castle, a young ball player out of the small Arkansas village Calico Rock who, for a brief time with the Chicago Cubs, sets the game on fire with phenomenal batting until a horrific incident happens. Grisham takes great care in his descriptive work, and has obviously visited Calico Rock. I am from Arkansas, or at least have been since I was twelve, for forty years, so I know whether or not he’s done his homework. The town sits on a huge bluff overlooking the White River, which at that point is near navigable stage, wide and deep. The BNSF has trains running along the river bank, and the setting is truly idyllic. It’s difficult to not want to share plot points, but suffice it to say that the book is believable through and through. It’s touching, brutal in parts, and manages to get the reader excited even if temporarily in the wonder years of baseball, in the era of greats like Tom Seaver, Willie Stargell, Johnny Bench, Harmon Killebrew and others. But it’s the fictional part of the book where the main characters are placed in the world of the real players that carries the day. Grisham shows a tender side to his writing, and for my money “Calico Joe” could be made into a good movie. It’s one of the better books I’ve read this summer.

⭐ Calico Joe, by John Grisham, is a novel about two major league baseball players, their families, and their fans. Most of it is narrated by Paul Tracy, who is the son of Warren Tracey, a journeyman pitcher who finishes his career with the New York Mets in 1973, when Paul was eleven years old. The book jumps back and forth between 1973 and thirty years in the future. It is a wonderful story that immerses the reader in the professional baseball environment. Paul, like so many boys, loved baseball, pitched in little league; and followed his favorite major league players and teams closely, including creating scrapbooks about them and collecting baseball cards. In 1973, Joe Castle, from Calico Arkansas, was brought up from the minor leagues to play first base for the Chicago Cubs after two of their infielders were injured. Unlike most rookies, Joe Castle captured the hearts of all the Cubs’ fans, and most other baseball fans, with a fantastic beginning to his major league career. He broke many previous rookie records, including consecutive home runs, overall home runs, hits, batting average, and stolen bases. He became Paul Tracey’s hero in his first game when he hit three home runs. The story eventually brings the journeyman Mets’ pitcher (Warren Tracey) with his rigid belief in long-standing confrontational baseball traditions, into battle with the rookie savior of the Cubs (Calico Joe) on the field in New York, with Paul and his mother in the stands. The book reveals the continuing consequences of that 1973 battle on Warren Tracey and Joe Castle and both of their families. I really liked this book and found it hard to put down. As you would expect, Grisham crafted it in a compelling way with a great ending for the reader to enjoy. I also liked it because it reminded me of how much I loved baseball and how much I admired certain baseball players with I was a boy. If you like baseball read this book! However, you should also read it just because it is an excellent story about interesting human beings successfully struggling through the challenges that life presents for them.

⭐ My husband always played baseball and softball growing up so I had to learn about the game and grew to enjoy it. The preview chapters were very interesting so I purchased the book to find out how it ended. The writing is superb and holds your interest to the very end. I finished it in 2 days. Everyone would enjoy reading this…even none ball players.

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