Rating: 
Summary: Tim Wendel captures the flavor of Havana
Review: Castro's Curveball provides fascinating insight into a city that few Americans have visited, Havana. Tim Wendel skillfully weaves a compelling story about an aging baseball player's romance with a fearless female photographer in Havana during the rise to power of Fidel Castro in the early 1950's. While the book captures Castro's single-minded ambition to change Cuba's political future, it does so without becoming bogged down by the details of a complex and volatile political revolution. Rather, the author focuses on the romance between the two main characters, and the romance of Havana. His detailed descriptions of the sights, sounds and smells of a beautiful but troubled city makes you feel as if you were there. Well worth reading even if you are not a baseball fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Hits it out of the Park!
Review: I found Castros' Curveball a wonderful ride through an amazing journey. Whether you are a history buff, a romantic, a sports fan or just an avid reader, there is a strong enough story to keep those pages turning. Tim Wendell should be comended for bringing these characters to life. I found myself wordering throughout the book -- is this fact or fiction?I HIGHLY recommend it. An excellent Bookclub selection!
Rating: 
Summary: Tim Wendel's Knuckleball
Review: I had high hopes for this book. The book describes itself as a fictionalized account of Fidel Castro's baseball career. I thought maybe the book might be bold enough to go as far as exploring what could have been if Castro made the major leagues. The book stops well short of these possibilities. Tim Wedel sticks close to events that could have actually happened in Cuba's last revolution. The only part of this book that maintained my interest was the story of the winter ball league in Cuba before the communist revolution. It was an interesting perspective of baseball. The image of Fidel Castro portrayed by Wendel, at times a combination of Sammy Sosa and Machiavelli, is hard to swallow. While the Castro begins to show dishonest tendancies toward the end of the book, he never seems care-free. It seems even harder to picture Castro in love. The bulk of the story does not even focus on baseball but on the competition between the main character and Castro for a women. This plot is set to the background of the beginning of Castro's revolution. The love story, which fails to maintain the reader's interest, is hard to image because we can't think of Castro as a man interested in love. The only way I would recommend this book to somebody is if they thought a story with Castro as part of a love triangle sounds interesting or palatable. Even for somebody who has been interested in the life of Castro I only finished the book because I was curious as to how it would end.
Rating:
Summary: Tim Wendel's Knuckleball
Review: I had high hopes for this book. The book describes itself as a fictionalized account of Fidel Castro's baseball career. I thought maybe the book might be bold enough to go as far as exploring what could have been if Castro made the major leagues. The book stops well short of these possibilities. Tim Wedel sticks close to events that could have actually happened in Cuba's last revolution. The only part of this book that maintained my interest was the story of the winter ball league in Cuba before the communist revolution. It was an interesting perspective of baseball. The image of Fidel Castro portrayed by Wendel, at times a combination of Sammy Sosa and Machiavelli, is hard to swallow. While the Castro begins to show dishonest tendancies toward the end of the book, he never seems care-free. It seems even harder to picture Castro in love. The bulk of the story does not even focus on baseball but on the competition between the main character and Castro for a women. This plot is set to the background of the beginning of Castro's revolution. The love story, which fails to maintain the reader's interest, is hard to image because we can't think of Castro as a man interested in love. The only way I would recommend this book to somebody is if they thought a story with Castro as part of a love triangle sounds interesting or palatable. Even for somebody who has been interested in the life of Castro I only finished the book because I was curious as to how it would end.
Rating:
Summary: a good read
Review: I loved the descriptions of the characters, which rang true, and felt the heat, history and mystery of Havana in this book. The story flowed easily, with just enough romance and atmosphere. Before I read the book, I didn't know (or care) anything about baseball, and especially Cuban baseball, so found it surprisingly interesting from that aspect. After I met someone who knew someone who played against ball against Castro, the main premise didn't seem so incredible!
Rating:
Summary: a good read
Review: I loved the descriptions of the characters, which rang true, and felt the heat, history and mystery of Havana in this book. The story flowed easily, with just enough romance and atmosphere. Before I read the book, I didn't know (or care) anything about baseball, and especially Cuban baseball, so found it surprisingly interesting from that aspect. After I met someone who knew someone who played against ball against Castro, the main premise didn't seem so incredible!
Rating:
Summary: Hits it out of the Park!
Review: in castro's curveball wendel combines the unlikely mix of baseball, love, politics, corruption and revolution. this memory driven tale of a american playing winter ball in cuba is astounding. billy bryan managed to overcome enormous obstacles even though he was never prepared to confront the consequences. in the end, he is finally able to find himself, acknowledge his his true love and come to terms with his past.
Rating:
Summary: A timely, well written story of life and love(s)
Review: Mr. Wendel has certainly driven one deep. This book is a great read, both in its storyline and also in Mr. Wendel's depiction of the Cuba that was, a delicious mix of beauty, deception, and unrest that would soon boil over and destroy the nation. Mr. Wendel does a great job in giving us Billy Bryan's perspective- a seventy-plus year old man, educated by the world and its cruel lessons. His narrative is simple, yet very insightful, and it struck a nerve. The baseball scenes are on the money, and Billy's true love, Malena, shows just enough of herself to make the reader want to know more. Castro,despite what others have said, gets about as much character analysis and development as he needs. Can anyone say "opportunist"? We see his type every day in the news. Again, Mr. Wendel has done a great job.
Rating:
Summary: Castro's Curveball
Review: This is the first summer where I've spent any time at all following baseball: I initially picked this book up purely because of the ball and glove on the cover. A few pages in, I was completely intrigued by Wendel's elaboration on the legend/myth of Castro being signed by the major leagues. This book was interesting in much the same way as Julia Alvarez's "Year of the Butterflies"; that is, it drew me into a part of history that I know little about and made me intrigued enough to want to read more on the topic.
Rating:
Summary: If you liked Casablanca...
Review: This story has a real Casablanca feel to it. I can already see the movie--the romantic, tropical aura of Old Havana, the reluctant hero, the passionate woman who compels the hero to action. Based on other reviews, lots of people liked this story for the plot and baseball scenes. I have to admit I fell for the mix of love and politics. Billy and Malena are great characters who face big choices. I think the author is really exploring notions of failure and regret. As a result, an air of melancholy and a certain poignancy pervade the story. Being an idealistic romantic at heart, I found those themes particularly compelling. There's a lot to ponder in this book. I highly recommend it.
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