Book Review: Calico Joe

Calico Joe: A Novel by John Grisham (New York: Doubleday, 2012. 194 pp)

John Grisham (b. 1955) is a well-known author, recognized for his law novels. He attended Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi School of Law. His best seller is The Firm, which sold more than seven million copies and was adapted into a movie. Though Grisham became a lawyer and novelist, his childhood dream was to become a baseball player. Grisham lives with his wife, Renee, and their two children, Ty and Shea, on a farm in Mississippi.

America’s Pastime

In my hometown of Seattle, we try to be baseball fans. Unfortunately, as of late especially, the game has not been boding well. The excitement of meaningful baseball has disappeared. In 1995, the Seattle Mariners won a division championship, and even defeated the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series. In 2001, they won 116 games, setting the record for most wins in a single season. But, despite successful seasons and great moments, my beloved Mariners have never been to a World Series, and have, to say the least, been in a slump for some time now.

Despite the lack of excitement Mariners fans feel, there is no doubt why the game is America’s pastime. Baseball holds great anticipation and excitement, with many surprises intertwined. John Grisham captures this excitement well in his newest novel, Calico Joe, one of Grisham’s novels which, thankfully, doesn’t revolve around the law world. The novel centers around Joe Castle, a rising star in the baseball world, and Warren Tracey, a jerk of a man. Both are competing in rival teams in a nail-biting pennant race.

A Rising Star

1973, a year of splendor for baseball. The National League East has six teams contending, and due to an injury, the Cubs add a minor leaguer to the roster named Joe Castle, from Calico Rock, Arkansas. Joe immediately sets records, and leads the Cubs to the top of the division. He even hits three home runs in his first three bats.

“As stunning as his first three at bats had been, Joe’s fourth would endear him to baseball purists forever. Top of the ninth, score tied 6-6, two outs, Don Kessinger standing on third, a tough right-hander named Ed Ramon on the mound. As Joe stepped to the plate, a few of the eighteen thousand fans clapped politely, then an odd silence settled across Veterans Stadium. Ramon’s first pitch was a fastball on the outside part of the plate. Joe waited, then whipped his bat like a broomstick, crushing the ball and lining it a few inches outside the bag at first base, a foul ball, but an impressive one nonetheless...The second pitch was a changeup, high. With the count 1 and 1, Ramon tried another fastball. As soon as he released it, Joe hesitated a split second, then broke for first base with his bat trailing. It tapped the ball slightly and sent it dribbling toward the second baseman...Players from both teams looked on in disbelief. With a chance to hit four home runs in a game—a feat baseball had seen only nine times in a hundred years—the kid chose instead to lay down a perfect drag bunt to score the go-ahead run” (11-12).

The Sins of a Father

John Grisham

Castle then meets up with pitcher Warren Tracey, whose son is the book’s narrator. Warren pitches for the New York Mets, and simply put, is a jerk. Warren abuses his family, drinks constantly, and chases women. He also made his son hate both him and the game of baseball.

“For me, baseball was a joy to play when my father wasn’t watching. Because of his schedule, he rarely had the chance to see my games, and that was an indescribable relief. When he was there, though, I had no desire to play. He would lecture me on the way to the park, snarl at me during the game, and, worst of all, berate me all the way home. He even slapped me once as soon as we were driving away from the field. From the age of seven, I cried after every game my father saw me play” (16).

When Warren meets Joe Castle in Shea Stadium, Joe hits a home run against him. The next time Joe is at bat, Warren intentionally beans the rising star, hoping to humble the rising star. Joe Castle’s career is instantly ruined, as the bean ball careened towards and struck his head dead on. With his career over, Joe drifts back home to Calico Rock to work as a groundskeeper, now partially paralyzed and speech impeded.

Redemption?

Decades later, the narrator learns of his father’s immanent death due to pancreatic cancer, and goes to Calico Rock to find Joe Castle, hopefully to encourage his father to repent for ruining another man’s life.

“‘[B]efore he’s gone, I would like for the two men to have a word.’‘What kind of word?’‘I’m not sure, but ideally I would like my father to apologize.’‘Have you discussed this with your father?’‘No, not yet, and before I do, I need to know if Joe will agree to a meeting.’‘I doubt seriously if that can happen, Paul. And it would be a huge mistake for Warren Tracey to show up here in Calico Rock. That could start some serious trouble’” (76).

John Grisham is a wonderful storyteller. Branching off from his law world, he writes a gripping tale, combining both baseball and repentance. Even if you’re not a fan of baseball, or root for a rarely-winning team like the Seattle Mariners, Calico Joe is a good read for you. Grisham develops the storyline well, gets you into the character’s heads, and provides pseudo-Hallmark moments. It’s a quick read, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

Verdict: 4 out of 5


Have you grown tired of Grisham's law novels?  Do you enjoy his writing?  Have you read this book and found it to be exhilarating, or just ridden with Hallmark moments?  Share your thoughts below.
---
Posted by: Andrew Jacobson

Affiliate Links:

Amazon.com Powells Indie Bound

Book Review: Blueprints of the Afterlife

Blueprints of the Afterlife: A Novel by Ryan Boudinot (New York: Black Cat, 2012. 430pp).

Ryan Boudinot is the author of the novel Misconception, as well as The Littlest Hitler, the latter which won the book of the year from Publisher’s Weekly. He is on the faculty of Goddard College’s MFA program in Port Townsend, and blogs about film at therumpus.net. A native of Washington state, he currently lives in the city of Seattle.

New York Alki

Setting off in mild trepidation down my newfound odyssey of contemporary literature, I have found some amazing novels. Despite my fear, Blueprints of the Afterlife takes home the proverbial first prize. In this weird, somewhat dystopian, mainly dysfunctional, post-apocalyptic world, Ryan Boudinot carefully weaves a story of my beloved city and hometown, Seattle, which is both brilliant and freakishly weird.

Photo by Carolyn Adin

Woo-jin is our protagonist, and an award winning dishwasher, who suffers from ennui attacks (excessive empathy). He finds a body, not once, but twice, later meeting its owner, Abby Fogg, alive in “superposition” (a place where she can exist in multiple states: both dead and not). Amidst the entirety of the plot there is a man named Dirk Bickle who remains an enigma throughout the novel.

But what interested me throughout wasn’t the plot, which was absolutely mind-bending (in fact mind-bending isn’t strong enough a phrase) and fabulously entertaining overall. Rather, it was the setting. Set in Seattle, society is building New York City on the shores of Bainbridge Island, an island located close to Seattle.

“In the notes we found several references to the ‘New York Alki’ project. I’d taken Washington state history and knew what this meant. When the first white settlers came to the region in the nineteenth century, they debated what to call their settlement. They had big aspirations for their little frontier outpost but were really bummed out by all the mud and rain. To cheer themselves up they considered naming the place ‘New York Alki.’ Alki was a Chinook word for ‘by and by.’ Meaning, ‘someday.’ ‘New York Alki’ meant that someday this place would be as big and vibrant as New York City. But cooler heads prevailed and decided that naming their city after New York, itself named after old York, was retarded. So they named the city after Chief Sealth and called it a day” (68).

A Consistent Backdrop 

Photo by Midwinter

The ill-founded attempt to name Seattle New York influences Boudinot’s writing, and the backdrop of the entire novel. In the future, this past idea becomes future reality, and the consistent setting of the entire story is this New New York emerging where all the characters meander about their crazed, strange, unconventional lives. The other backdrop is a futuristic Seattle, one that I think can only truly be appreciated if you live here.

“After the great fire of 1889, when Seattle laid new streets atop the ruins of Pioneer Square, the ground levels of hotels, brothers, and dry-goods merchants became the underground. Post-FUS [Fucked Up Shit], a third layer arose, preserving Pioneer Square under a dome. In this district it was always night, lit with yellowish streetlights, real trees supplanted by facsimile trees of concrete and latex” (175).

Living next-door to Pioneer Square (I can literally see Seattle from my window), it’s truly mesmerizing to think about the future of the city as I look at it.

Post FUS 

Photo by Trey Ratcliff

Now in the post-FUS era the earth, and the Pacific Northwest in general, has become a strange place. I should state that this isn’t so much a dystopian novel, it’s a post-dystopian novel. The dystopia has already occurred (the FUS), and now it’s plainly dysfunctional. Part of the era of FUS included a glacier taking over most of Canada (ha!), and parts of America as well.

“Several theories emerged to explain the origin and sheer persistence of the glacier. Many suggested the mass of ice possessed an intelligence. It was easy to personify, as it appeared to be deliberately targeting concentrations of human civilization. As it approached Saskatoon, Canadians stood on top of buildings and bridges with bullhorns, loudly and profusely apologizing for warming the planet. But the glacier would not be placated...while [the glacier named] Malaspina laid waste to the Great White North, Americans paid little attention” (171).

Photo by Nate 2B

This quotation exemplifies the kind of strange “Palahniukian” writing that takes place in the novel. Its strange gore mixes with creepy and odd science fiction. But, surrounded by the odd science fiction comes a sort of unusual, Malthusian catastrophe story, where humans are forced to reconcile with how they’ve treated the planet by raping the earth’s resources. Boudinot places effective social commentary and ecological awareness amid this strange science fiction novel.

“It was obvious and apparent: stop using oil, stop making plastic, control the growth of the population to a logical level so we could exist within the parameters of our ecology. If we didn’t do these things, most of us would die. But we were willing to die because a more powerful part of our minds, the old mammalian limbic system, was busy pushing those bars. The more recent, less developed part of our brains, the neocortex, was waving its arms and screaming for us to stop our destructive behavior. In this war between the limbic system and the neocortex, the limbic system won, hence the FUS” (150).

The beauty of this book is the way Boudinot allows the plot to unfold. He uses the common setting of an emerging, post-apocalyptic Seattle as well as the backstory of the FUS era to create a plot that simply rocks hard. He uses crass language (like FUS) in a way that really effectively tells the story of this new dysfunctional world, and uses characters with weird unimaginable things going on to tell a story of epic proportions. Simply stated, I recommend Blueprints of the Afterlife. Even if you don’t enjoy dystopian novels, this one will surely engage, as it focuses more on human dysfunction as a whole. If you enjoy science or historical fiction, this novel would also be an excellent choice. Just give it a try—you’ll be entertained if nothing else.

Verdict: 4.5 out of 5

---

Posted by: Andrew Jacobson

Affiliate Links: