Have you ever seen a movie - and wondered if the book was really better (you know, like they ALWAYS say)? Well, here is your chance. Most people have seen the film "Field of Dreams." That movie, staring Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta, and the University of Michigan's own James Earl Jones, tells the story of a man losing his farm to foreclosure because he has decided to build a baseball field in the middle of a corn field in Iowa.

Once the field is built, many former players come from the field to play ball. By former players - I mean dead players - who are led by a man who is possibly the greatest baseball player of all time - "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. Also - Ray Kinsella, the main character who built the field, gets a chance to see his father come back from the dead to play catch again.

There are a few differences, the author that Kinsella goes to meet in Boston is JD Salinger, as opposed to the fictitious Terrance Mann played by James Earl Jones in the movie. And the book really shows more character development in Ray, his wife, JD Salinger, and "Moonlight" Graham.

If you love baseball and movies, this is a must read. This book will give you a new appreciation for baseball and the small nuances of the game. ( )

Better than the movie. ( )

The movie was far better crafted. ( )

SPOILER:
OK, so the writing is nice. A little flowery, a little over-poetic with the metaphors, but very readable & I had trouble putting it down. The getting over the 60's thing wasn't in the book. So I was feeling positive toward it.

But there are 2 problems. One is that the nostalgia thing is still there, the idea of this perfect Iowa past that will save people, this perfect White Iowa past, this perfect isolated, lonely, hard-working Iowa past; this perfect women-in-the-kitchen Iowa past.... Etc. And the 2nd problem is Bluestein. Abner Bluestein. Short & greasy & greedy & the money-hungry, heartless accountant. Somehow the Jew in this Protestant place.

Ray is a man possessed by love. Love for his family, love for the sprawling farmland of Iowa, and most importantly, love for the game of baseball. It's this love that makes Ray take chances with all three. Spurred on by a mystical voice Ray builds a left field out in part of his cornfield. But, the voice doesn't stop there. Soon it has Ray driving to Vermont to kidnap J.D. Salinger and from there the adventure really begins. Battling debt, childhood devils, and indecision Ray leans on his ever-understanding wife (and later, Salinger) to build a cornfield stadium that only a few can understand. It's a magical story, perfect for Christmastime when the season is all about dreams and believing in the impossible. ( )