Rating: 
Summary: better than most baseball books
Review: This is a very good book but it ends up just a notch below Angell's other baseball books. I think the reason is that this book is essentially a biography and, thus, it gives the author a more limited scope. If your wish is to read a biography of David Cone, you could not pick a better author to do the job. If you want to enjoy the writing of Roger Angell, you may, at times, feel like David Cone gets in the way. What an interesting turn of events; a world class baseball essayist picks an all-star caliber NY Yankee pitcher to follow through a season. They both agreed that this would turn into a book after the season. The problem is that this turns out to be the worst season of Cone's career. Lesser participants would have probably dropped the idea in mid-season. However, this book turns out to be more than the recap of a swan song. Angell gives us the beginning and the middle of Cone's career to go along with the end. We see the highlights and not just the low lights. David Cone makes for an interesting subject but the reader often enjoys the sidebar stories more than the Cone stories. The beauty of Angell's writing is how he takes us on journeys through Baseball and the reader is able to see through the author's panoramic view. We may start with the Red Sox and end up with the Padres. In this book we keep coming back to the ups and downs of David Cone. There are times we would have preferred to linger at other places and with other personalities that Angell introduced us to. Still there is plenty here to keep the reader's interest. One last comment is on the publisher which is Warner Books. I am confused how it came to be that a lesser publisher would handle this project. The book may be well-written but it is of poor quality. My hardbound copy may not withstand another reading as it is already showing signs of coming apart. I recommend getting the paperback version (assuming there is one). I suspect the paperback will last longer than the cloth-bound edition.
Rating:
Summary: better than most baseball books
Review: This is a very good book but it ends up just a notch below Angell's other baseball books. I think the reason is that this book is essentially a biography and, thus, it gives the author a more limited scope. If your wish is to read a biography of David Cone, you could not pick a better author to do the job. If you want to enjoy the writing of Roger Angell, you may, at times, feel like David Cone gets in the way. What an interesting turn of events; a world class baseball essayist picks an all-star caliber NY Yankee pitcher to follow through a season. They both agreed that this would turn into a book after the season. The problem is that this turns out to be the worst season of Cone's career. Lesser participants would have probably dropped the idea in mid-season. However, this book turns out to be more than the recap of a swan song. Angell gives us the beginning and the middle of Cone's career to go along with the end. We see the highlights and not just the low lights. David Cone makes for an interesting subject but the reader often enjoys the sidebar stories more than the Cone stories. The beauty of Angell's writing is how he takes us on journeys through Baseball and the reader is able to see through the author's panoramic view. We may start with the Red Sox and end up with the Padres. In this book we keep coming back to the ups and downs of David Cone. There are times we would have preferred to linger at other places and with other personalities that Angell introduced us to. Still there is plenty here to keep the reader's interest. One last comment is on the publisher which is Warner Books. I am confused how it came to be that a lesser publisher would handle this project. The book may be well-written but it is of poor quality. My hardbound copy may not withstand another reading as it is already showing signs of coming apart. I recommend getting the paperback version (assuming there is one). I suspect the paperback will last longer than the cloth-bound edition.
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