Battle Creek

Rating:
Summary: Bestselling author CHRISTOPHER TILGHMAN writes:
Review: "Battle Creek is a baseball novel, but it's not about triumph and tragedy, winning and losing. It's about the sweet hopelessness of sport and the enduring dreams of people who play games because they love the smells, the sounds, their teammates, the chance for transcendence despite the costs. From now on, every time you drive past a baseball game on a summer evening or see a table full of men in uniforms drinking their postgame beers, you'll think of this lovely, poignant novel and you will understand." --Christopher Tilghman, author of Mason's Retreat

Rating:
Summary: A powerful piece of work and a good story
Review: "Battle Creek" is an incredibly powerful piece of work. Scott Lasser masterfully brings the reader into the minds of his characters, displaying them as real, living people with their own life stories, emotions, and styles of thinking. Absent are trite portrayals of almost superhuman protagonists battling some dark and sinister antagonist; Lasser's style is realistic and down-to-earth. The book was not poignant because it was preachy, but rather because it made me feel as if I could relate to the characters.

That said, poignant books are often lacking in plot. Not so for this one, though. Even if the reader is not interested in baseball, the book still tells a great story. It is a skillful writer who can write such a moving book and keep it entertaining. Scott Lasser excels at this tricky art.

Rating:
Summary: A superb read, even if you're a luke warm baseball fan
Review: "Battle Creek" is the best book that I have read in a long time. As a native Michigander now living in Tennessee, the book made me nostalgic for southern Michigan in the summer time.But more than that, it gave me insight into a sport that I don't know a whole lot about, and it gave me insight into the men who play the game of baseball. The characters were richly developed and the story flowed easily. I found myself really pulling for the characters, especially Luke James. To all of you who are looking for something different, read "Battle Creek." You won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: A superb story about the relationships between men .
Review: A superb and finely written novel about the lives of a group of men on an amateur baseball team. An incisve description of their interpersonal relationships and the women in their lives kept me riveted. The book reads easily and the conclusion is fabulous.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat disappointing...
Review: An ardent baseball fan, I found this book to be something of a disappointment. While the book certainly lacks little in its description of the details of the game and those involved in it, the plot and characters never seem to ascend beyond cliche. The ending, too, left me wanting for something not just more, but better. A decent first effort for Lasser, but the there are many in the catalog of written works about baseball that I have found more engrossing and enjoyable than Battle Creek.

Rating:
Summary: a must read for all real baseball fans
Review: as i follow my detroit tigers through a season of hardships, i am very ecstatic to come across a great baseball story. this story takes you back to the days when baseball was truly the american past time without the distractions of nike and egos. the days when a ball player was truly a ball player and he did it for the love of the sport. i would recomend this book to anyone who has a love for baseball or is searching for the true meaning of baseball. this story will put a smile on the face of a true fan!

Rating:
Summary: Best book this year
Review: Battle Creek is the best novel I've read this year! Action, suspense and fine writing ditinguish this book. Then there's this: BATTLE CREEK is actually about people with REAL lives. What a concept! Scott Lasser is off to a terrific start and I can't wait till his next book . If you're looking for a single novel to read this year, this is the one. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Lasser explores price of victory in touch 'em all novel
Review: Battle Creek joins Bang the Drum Slowly and The Natural in its exploration of the lure and costs of baseball on the American psyche. Focusing on the final season of generationally-sandwiched head coach Gil Davison, the novelist Scott Lasser is at his best when the themes of competition and success mingle with the tensions engendered in families which do not function well. His descriptions of his terminally ill father are, to me, the strongest aspect of the novel.

In addition, his evocative narrative of actual games reveal a man who knows and respects the beauty of baseball. Unfortunately, the women who populate his novel are distressingly unidimensional: either poetically detached or built like centerfolds (with little personality or intelligence to attract them to readers who would prefer "real" women to affected groupies).

Nevertheless, I commend the novel for its exploration into the darker sides of our character, our obsessions with winning and our delusions as to how much victory truly means.

Rating:
Summary: Lasser explores price of victory in touch 'em all novel
Review: Battle Creek joins Bang the Drum Slowly and The Natural in its exploration of the lure and costs of baseball on the American psyche. Focusing on the final season of generationally-sandwiched head coach Gil Davison, the novelist Scott Lasser is at his best when the themes of competition and success mingle with the tensions engendered in families which do not function well. His descriptions of his terminally ill father are, to me, the strongest aspect of the novel.

In addition, his evocative narrative of actual games reveal a man who knows and respects the beauty of baseball. Unfortunately, the women who populate his novel are distressingly unidimensional: either poetically detached or built like centerfolds (with little personality or intelligence to attract them to readers who would prefer "real" women to affected groupies).

Nevertheless, I commend the novel for its exploration into the darker sides of our character, our obsessions with winning and our delusions as to how much victory truly means.

Rating:
Summary: A poignant read
Review: Battle Creek works well on two levels; as a poignant chronicle between three generations of men and as an exciting baseball story. Scott Lasser writes knowingly of his subjects and effectively uses baseball as a metaphor for life.