'The Indiana State University Conference on Baseball in Literature and American Culture has consistently produced a strong body of scholarship since its inception in 1995. Eighteen essays presented at the 2004 and 2005 ISU conferences are published in this work. '--Provided by publisher.

'This is the first comprehensive evaluation of the women characters of baseball literature, including women's crucial roles on and off the field of play. Applying several feminist theories and examining the works in the context of both myth and psychology, the author discusses baseball fiction written by both men and women'--Provided by publisher.

Product Description: Within the excellent, if underrated, body of adult baseball fiction that emerged in the latter half of the twentieth century, one finds a distinctive subgenre of baseball novels that feature the religious aspirations of their characters and the spiritual qualities of the game of baseball...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

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Product Description: Where is the truth about baseball to be found? In nostalgic stories of the timeless bond woven between fathers and sons on the ball field? Or in stinging exposes about manipulative owners, abusive coaches, and greedy players? Beginning with a mostly truthful essay about an exhausted university department chair who believes a visit to Cooperstown can save his soul and ending with the story of a delusional university professor who loses his mind because he takes baseball - and baseball writing - too seriously, "Extra Innings" tackles the question of how writing about baseball has shaped our understanding and misunderstanding of the national pastime...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

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Timothy Morris examines the cultural implications of baseball novels, focusing on four themes - assimilation, heterosexuality, language, and meritocracy - from among many possibilities "because they are particularly problematic issues for America and Americanists in the mid-1990s."While Making the Team deals with canonical works such as The Natural and Bang the Drum Slowly, it devotes equal attention to juvenile novels by John Tunis (The Kid from Tomkinsville, Young Razzle) and others. Throughout, Morris considers how the ideals of manliness, courage, competitiveness, athleticism, whiteness, and standard English - of "Americanness" in its many facets - have been embodied in fictional characters for readers of different ages and in different eras.He concludes with a chapter that asks, "What does it mean to be 'literary'?" What distinguishes "high art" from a baseball novel, or a mystery, or a romance novel, or pornography? Making the Team suggests that drawing the line may be a more vital concern - not just for scholars, but for Americans at large - than anything critics have argued about for a very long time. (view table of contents)

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