Tim WendelRezensionen

This is a book about a tumultuous year in US history as seen through the lens of baseball. 1968 is considered “The Year of the Pitcher” and this book recounts the many pitching accomplishments. The next year, the height of the mound was changed – a decision the author questions. It includes historical events such as war protests, civil unrest, and the assassination of two prominent leaders.

I enjoyed reading anecdotes about skilled baseball players of the era, such as Lou Brock, Curt Flood, Bob Gibson, Willie Horton, Mickey Lolich, and Denny McLain. The World Series between the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals is described in just the right amount of detail. The baseball-focused segments are nicely done.

The rest is, however, a bit of a hodgepodge. Many of the events described in the book take place in seasons other than summer. The football stories, and a few about other sports, seemed “thrown in” and are not integrated into the narrative. I remain unconvinced that football supplanted baseball as the “national sport.” In my opinion, it is a regional preference. Football has been king for a long time in the south, but in the west, baseball remains extremely popular.

There is not much depth. It is more a chronicle than an analysis. As a fan of both baseball and history, I found it interesting but the theme could have been better developed.

Excellent book about one of the most turbulent years in American history, and sports' rule in it. My edition was 272 pages.

"When it comes to Cuba, there are always surprises. Nothing goes as planned."

It's 2016, and Billy Bryan has returned to Cuba. Billy's playing days are far in the past, but his role in a movie has brought him back to the baseball diamonds of the country that is what a friend calls on of Billy's angels--a place where "you've learned something important, met someone special ... the places you can always picture when you close your eyes."

While in Cuba, a talented young shortstop named Gabriel Santos catches Billy's eye with his play on the diamond. When Billy's daughter, Eván, tracks Santos down and learns of his dream to play baseball in the United States, she convinces Billy that helping Santos will be the revenge they'd both like to get against the Cuban powers-that-be they believe are responsible for the death of the woman Billy loved (and Eván's mother) Malena Fonseca.

First, if you haven't read Castro's Curveball, the book for which Escape from Castro's Cuba is the sequel, here's the review of it that I wrote: https://thesisterhoodofbooks.com/2020/04/06/castros-curveball-by-tim-wendel/. If you don't want to click that link, just know that I thought it was a great book, and it was with some trepidation that I started the sequel. I always worry that the second book in any series won't live up to the first.

Thank goodness my fears were unfounded.

Escape from Castro's Cuba is completely engrossing with the great character development and well-done action scenes that I've come to expect from Tim Wendel. As was the case in Castro's Curveball, Cuba and its past are painted with as much depth as any of the people in the book, and Billy Bryan's love for the island is as evident as his sadness over what it has become.

And let's talk about those people in the book. My love for Billy Bryan is documented in my review of Castro's Curveball, and nothing in this new novel changes my feelings for him. I also adore Eván and Cassy, Billy's daughters. Their relationships with Billy--their bossiness and occasional exasperation mixed with obvious love and respect--made me miss my own dad.

Although more baseball scenes would have been nice because Tim Wendel writes baseball action so darn well (and because more baseball is always a good thing), I do appreciate how tight this story is. Wendel doesn't waste words, but he still manages to incorporate all the extra little things I appreciate in a book--things that will take a book from good to great for me: pretty turns of phrase where appropriate, thought-provoking insights, and clear settings that allow me to be stay centered and immersed in a story.

Finally, I don't know how a book becomes a movie, but I think this story would make a terrific one. Lots of action and atmosphere, wonderful characters, and beautiful settings ... I'd definitely go see this one on the big screen. Could someone make that happen, please?

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me a copy of the e-book in exchange for my honest review.

"It's not the people who've never fallen or lost that are worthy of our admiration. It's what you do after you fall that's the surest test of a hero."

Playing winter baseball in Cuba is the only path left to the major leagues for Billy Bryan in 1947, and the deep-thinking catcher knows that he doesn't have many chances left to stand out to the people who decide who makes it and who doesn't. Cuba is at a similar crossroads as young revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro are working to usurp the country's government and instill a new way of life for its people.

Billy and Fidel's lives intersect on the baseball diamond one night as Castro leads a group of radicals onto the playing field during a game, and Billy offers young Fidel a chance to throw a few pitches. That interaction sets Billy off in an unexpected direction, and he finds himself in the middle of a revolution and falling in love with Malena Fonseca, the photographer tasked with documenting it.

Malena's photographs are why, more than 40 years after leaving Cuba, Billy finds himself on a plane headed back there with his adult daughter and a host of memories of baseball, Castro, Cuba, and the woman Billy left behind.

CASTRO'S CURVEBALL by Tim Wendel combines sports, history, and personal relationships in a wonderful amalgam with a terrific plot and characters that make you care deeply about them. The story alternates between modern day(ish) and Billy's final days in Cuba in the 40s.

Just to be clear--I love Billy Bryan, and not just because "aging catcher" is my favorite baseball character in both literature and film. Billy has more depth than the typical sports protagonist, and his story is set in a fascinating time. I haven't studied nor read much about Cuba in the late 40s, but after reading CASTRO'S CURVEBALL, I'm going to have to remedy that.

But since I do love baseball so much (baseball was the first game I learned to play in depth), let's talk about the baseball scenes for a minute. Those sections are incredibly well written, and I could almost feel the grit from the infield and hear the crack of a bat every time the book's action took me to the ballpark. But, when reading a book that revolves around a sport, I'm often sad when the plot takes me anywhere other than the field, but that wasn't the case with CASTRO'S CURVEBALL. I was thrilled to find that the action outside of the diamond was just as engrossing as the games in which Billy played.

CASTRO'S CURVEBALL is a great book of historical fiction, it's a fantastic sports book, and the relationships between the covers are just as intriguing as the play between the foul lines. I regret that my dad isn't alive so that I can share the book with him and get his take on it--I'd love to talk about this novel with someone else who is a fan of baseball, history, and politics. Also, I hear that there's a sequel of the book coming out soon, and I'm excited to read that one, too. Kudos to Tim Wendel to characters and a story that will stay with me for a while.

https://thesisterhoodofbooks.com/

So- so account of the events the turbulent year of 1968, and that year's baseball season and World Series. Light read.

CANCER CROSSINGS by Tim Wendel is a memoir that details an important time in cancer research--a time with which the Wendel family was all too familiar as the author's brother, Eric, was diagnosed with leukemia in 1966 at age 3 and given a year to live.

Wendel's book could have been crushingly depressing. Reading about a young boy's efforts to beat a disease that killed 90% of those diagnosed is sure to be heart-wrenching, right? But instead of a sob-fest, it's an interesting look at the doctors who were fighting to keep children alive against all odds, and a nostalgic visit to perhaps the best time to be a kid. Part memoir and part medical mystery, CANCER CROSSINGS shows one family's role as a part of medical history, and it details how they navigated an almost impossibly difficult time by banding together

It would be hard to pick favorite segments of this book. I loved reading about the adventures of the Wendel family as the navigated Lake Ontario on their boat, but I was also fascinated by the doctors and the work they were doing. I wish I had been able to get to know Eric a little more--he's a hazy figure considering that he's the central figure in the book. The photos included were helpful in bringing him into focus, and I found myself staring at the school picture toward the end of the book and wondering about a world where someone so young and so good can die. As noted by one of the people who met the boy before Eric's death at age 10, he deserved a lot better.

Kudos to Tim Wendel for the amount of research that went into this book, and for his willingness to revisit a time that wasn't easy for his family. My thanks to the author and publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.½

Narrated by LJ Ganser. In 1947 Cuba, Billy Bryan is a pitcher playing winter baseball when he meets Fidel Castro during a political protest at one of his games. He asks Fidel to throw some pitches and he is surprisingly good. Papa Joe, a baseball scout for the Washington Senators presses Billy to get Fidel to sign with the Senators. But Fidel seems more involved and committed to revolutionary activities. Billy also falls in love with Lena, a photographer and revolutionist. Descriptive of the times and atmosphere and of the baseball player life. Novel apparently inspired by a rumor that Fidel had signed with the Senators.

Solid . . . but my main reaction is disappointment. Maybe because I think the story had a lot more potential than Wendel managed to deliver. I can't take too much away from him, the book is . . . solid. But the idea could have made for a better book had it been better framed.

Interesting read about a magnificent World Series. Broken into inning by inning chapters, it includes good descriptions of the action on the field and that is enhanced by biographical snapshots of the individual players.

On the surface, Tim Wendel's novella, HABANA LIBRE, is about the efforts of two young people, Pilar and Pablo, as they strive to escape Cuba. The primary storyline is the progress of those two, but every other character in HABANA LIBRE has hopes and dreams--both large and small--and, despite the brevity of the book, Wendel’s writing captures each character’s longing beautifully. From Pilar’s family members to the Cuban National Team baseball players and Cayo Coco resort staff, I had an understanding of each person portrayed that I don’t often get from a longer work. The action in HABANA LIBRE is well done too. The attention given to the details of Pilar and Pablo’s trip across the water makes it possible for readers who have never sailed to immerse themselves fully in their journey. I always appreciate a novel that makes me want to learn more about the topic, and I’ll be looking for more Cuba-based literature thanks to Tim Wendel.

The only thing that kept this from being a perfect little book was some proofreading and editing details that distracted me from my reading a couple of times, but overall, this is a fantastic and quick read.½

As a rabid Detroit Tigers fan, I was incredibly excited to receive this ARC which revisits their 1968 World Series championship season. As someone interested in the sociocultural history of America, I was also very intrigued, since Tim Wendel subtitled the book, the "Season that Changed Baseball -and America- Forever".

As a sports book, Summer of '68 is excellent. Wendel does a noble job of attempting to recount the sociocultural moment which nearly boiled over that year, too. Unfortunately, what he is not very successful in conveying is how the changes in society and baseball were related, in any sort of new and unique manner.

Wendel describes the outrage and sadness experienced throughout baseball when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated and spends a great deal of time discussing the later Robert F. Kennedy's assasination, in which Commisioner Allan Eckert made the unfortunate decision of not cancelling all MLB games the day after, in respect to Kennedy.

He also discusses the '68 Summer Olympics, likely the most politically-charged sporting event of all-time, and the '68 Super Bowl, which propelled the NFL to becoming the nation's most popular televised sport, if not displacing America's pasttime, altogether.

I believe that the breadth of all of the events in 1968 were too broad for one book to cover. I firmly believe one book could be written JUST about that Tigers season and the events which occurred in Detroit, Michigan during those tense 18-24 months of the late 60's.

That being said, even though I never saw any of its players in action, the 1968 Tigers will always be legendary to me. This book is chock full of new anecdotes which I was unaware of that occurred during that fabled season (such as details of Mickey Lolich's National Guard service or Jim Northrup's perceptions of his series winning 400 ft. blast (triple) which Curt Flood misplayed).

Wendel also effectively captures how remarkable (and devastating) the "Year of the Pitcher" truly was and how the game changed dramatically as a result.

For baseball historians looking for an enjoyable read, I can't recommend this enough. For those of us who want a book that really digs into that era's social milieu, the book is good, but not a great exploration of a truly explosive time period in America's history.½