Shoeless Joe

I am not a baseball person by any means, despite the hall of fame being so close. Maybe that is why I did not love this book. Maybe it’s because I’m a curmudgeonly young person who dislikes the tourists, and the main character Ray, reminded me of those tourists.

To be brutally honest, I could not read this book without hearing Kevin Costner in my head. I also kept picturing James Earl Jones as the author, even though the author (JD Salinger) was white. Maybe I should take this as proof that I shouldn’t watch a movie before reading a book, but I won’t.

What can I say? The characters were one-dimensional. The writing was akin to someone in writing class who has promise, but no voice of their own, in other words, it was conventional. The antagonist, Ray’s brother in law, was continually described as twirling his mustache. Ray’s wife was perfect even though her boobs were small(so I’m shallow). Ray’s child was always being compared to flowers and nature. Lame.

I think this book would be excellent for baseball fans. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to say I liked the movie better. I would also recommend sipping a Bud Light Lime while reading Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella