Columbus Slaughters Braves

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Honi Warner. [2], 200, [4] pages. Mark Friedman's debut novel is an unflinchingly honest portrait of the relationship between siblings, the heartbreaking tale of two brothers whose lives lead to vastly different fates. The narrator, Joe Columbus, tells the story of his brother CJ's remarkable success as a professional baseball player in an effort to explain not only CJ's apparently charmed life but also his own failures - his envy, his crumbling marriage, his missteps and cowardice. A richly imagined story that explores both the grand and enduring allure of our national pastime and the complications of our lives - our longings, losses, and regrets - COLUMBUS SLAUGHTERS BRAVES is a dark and comic and ultimately redemptive novel. Like W. P. Kinsella's SHOELESS JOE Joe and Michael Shaara's FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME, this is a poignant and compassionate work that introduces readers to a gifted and extraordinarily perceptive writer. Derived from a Kirkus review: Echoes of Bang the Drum Slowly, The Natural, and Brian's Song are heard throughout this literate first novel about an athlete dying young: an incisive first novel. The story's narrated by Joe Columbus, the older brother who watches with mingled amazement, subdued pride, and rancorous envy as his sibling CJ becomes a baseball phenom and a beloved public figure. Golden boy CJ-as intelligent, friendly, and generous as he is athletically gifted-rises from sandlot prominence in their southern California neighborhood to dazzling success as the Chicago Cubs' All Star third baseman, even challenging Joe DiMaggio's consecutive game-hitting streak. Friedman forcefully communicates the jealousy even Joe knows is irrational and unfair. There's no doubt that the Cain-and-Abel tension between the brothers engages our attention, or that the emotional closing pages have genuine impact. A good bet to become very, very popular.