Rating: 
Summary: Terse, well reseached story of Cuba and baseball
Review: Tim Wendel has produced an evocative novel that is about much more than baseball or Castro. His descriptions of pre-revolutionaly Havana, his manipulative young Fidel, his convincing baseball descriptions, and his intriguing plot add up to such a compelling book that I missed my subway stop three times on one week. I've followed baseball for many years and have travelled in Cuba three times. Turning Wendel's pages, I could literally smell the streets and countryside again, and taste the bittersweet leather of my old Musial first baseman's glove. Wendel really takes you there. I should know. I recently finished my Cuban novel, SANTIAGO RAG, set in 1898, also available on Amazon.com
Rating:
Summary: Even the casual baseball fan will enjoy it.
Review: Tim Wendel is an excellent writer. I am not a baseball fanatic, but I certainly had more of an appreciation for the game after reading this well written, intriguing book. The writer's passion for baseball oozes out of every page. He also gives the reader an interesting tour of Cuba --its culture, history, politics, landscape and love of baseball. The whole premise of the book is creative and imaginative. Wendel is successful in making the reader believe that Fidel Castro really did had a wicked curveball that could have landed him in a major league baseball career if he hadn't been such a die-hard revolutionary. It was interesting to see an author tackle the challenge of writing a book of fiction about a current political figure like Fidel Castro. I will closely follow Tim Wendel's writing career and will be eager to read his next book.
Rating: 
Summary: A great story to share with friends
Review: Tim Wendel knows how to spin a great tale, combining baseball, history, romance, and insightful glimpses of Cuba past and present. Although it's historical fiction, some of the characters may remind you of people you know, and baseball as played in the story has parallels to office politics. Yet, there's enough fantasy and action for the escapist reader. This is a book to share with your friends, whether or not they're into baseball.
Rating:
Summary: A spirited pleasure that inspires the imagination.
Review: Tim Wendel paints an admirable picture of a time and revolution that is all too foreign and almost forgotten to those of us under thirty. Fidel Castro, thanks to the media, has always represented a disenchanting aspect of life. Wendels prose allows the reader to see another side to this powerful leader of a country that we as American citizens know far too little about. Through fiction we can formulate our own pictures and thoughts concerning what happened to this island only ninety-three miles away during a politically frustrating time period. We are allowed the pleasure of retracing the steps of destiny with an American, Billy Bryan, as he journeys back to Cuba in hopes of finding closure to a whole other life he lived while playing minor league baseball there. In his waning years as a catcher, he has one last chance to remain in baseball as the personal pitching coach to a fine new prospect by the name of Fidel Castro. Castro however, is just starting to execute his political views on Cuban society. Through his association with Castro, Bryan meets and falls in love with a propaganda photographer, Malena Fonseca. Bryan's journey through the evolution of Cuba with Castro and Fonseca leave the reader satisfied with both historical content and fantasy well served by Wendel. Castro's Curveball is thoughtless. One does not have to struggle in understanding how the plot unfolds. Fiction is supposed to be a dream and Wendel does not allow the dream to end until the reader, unfortunately, finishes the book.
Rating:
Summary: A four-bagger!
Review: Tim Wendel works the inside of the human condition with superb variety, surprising the reader with a deft mix of history, romance and a deep love of the game.
Rating: 
Summary: A "base hit!"
Review: Tim Wendel's "Castro's Curveball" scores one for originality. Taking either a common myth or a known fact about Fidel Castro's prospect as a baseball player, Mr. Wendel puts his readers into the heart felt journey of an old man's past; a past full of regret, remorse and lost love. A past, that with the help of his daughter Cassy, Billy Bryan may finally be able to put to rest. As a old man, Billy Bryan will regret ever meeting the famed revolutionary Fidel. Especially when he has to revisit his memories of a lost love named Malena, and his glory days of playing "America's favorite pastime" in a country that is the antithesis of all that is pure, and free. But soon a change occurs. It is a change, much like real life, that comes with the help of others. Mr. Wendel makes us see that the things we most often dislike and oversee in life awake us to the good times we failed to enjoy and observe. Mr. Wendel's goal for writing this book was, "What if?" What if Castro did try and go on to become a major league baseball player in the United States? Given that we have little or no information about him doing so, I think Mr. Wendel does a good job of offering us a possible outcome. With lucid prose, a strong plot and intriguing characters, Tim Wendel makes "Castro's Curveball" a good catch!
Rating:
Summary: A "base hit!"
Review: Tim Wendel's "Castro's Curveball" scores one for originality. Taking either a common myth or a known fact about Fidel Castro's prospect as a baseball player, Mr. Wendel puts his readers into the heart felt journey of an old man's past; a past full of regret, remorse and lost love. A past, that with the help of his daughter Cassy, Billy Bryan may finally be able to put to rest. As a old man, Billy Bryan will regret ever meeting the famed revolutionary Fidel. Especially when he has to revisit his memories of a lost love named Malena, and his glory days of playing "America's favorite pastime" in a country that is the antithesis of all that is pure, and free. But soon a change occurs. It is a change, much like real life, that comes with the help of others. Mr. Wendel makes us see that the things we most often dislike and oversee in life awake us to the good times we failed to enjoy and observe. Mr. Wendel's goal for writing this book was, "What if?" What if Castro did try and go on to become a major league baseball player in the United States? Given that we have little or no information about him doing so, I think Mr. Wendel does a good job of offering us a possible outcome. With lucid prose, a strong plot and intriguing characters, Tim Wendel makes "Castro's Curveball" a good catch!
Rating:
Summary: A "base hit!"
Review: Tim Wendel's "Castro's Curveball" scores one for originality. Taking either a common myth or a known fact about Fidel Castro's prospect as a baseball player, Mr. Wendel puts his readers into the heart felt journey of an old man's past; a past full of regret, remorse and lost love. A past, that with the help of his daughter Cassy, Billy Bryan may finally be able to put to rest. As a old man, Billy Bryan will regret ever meeting the famed revolutionary Fidel. Especially when he has to revisit his memories of a lost love named Malena, and his glory days of playing "America's favorite pastime" in a country that is the antithesis of all that is pure, and free. But soon a change occurs. It is a change, much like real life, that comes with the help of others. Mr. Wendel makes us see that the things we most often dislike and oversee in life awake us to the good times we failed to enjoy and observe. Mr. Wendel's goal for writing this book was, "What if?" What if Castro did try and go on to become a major league baseball player in the United States? Given that we have little or no information about him doing so, I think Mr. Wendel does a good job of offering us a possible outcome. With lucid prose, a strong plot and intriguing characters, Tim Wendel makes "Castro's Curveball" a good catch!
Rating:
Summary: Castro's Curveball tells a universal story
Review: Tim Wendel's book draws the reader in from the first page. Wendel's prose transcends the reader into another world--one that is lush, rich, and reminiscent of Hemingway's Cuba. Castro's Curveball is a universal story, one in which dreams built upon youthful hubris are scrutinized against the angst and backdrop of how life currently exists. Billy Bryan takes the reader on a journey to Havana, a place he knew in 1947 as an exotic, optimistic city--and sometimes painted lady. It was a romantic city, where he painfully lost his true love to a slight man with a mean pitch--an unknown but passionate radical named Castro. When Billy Bryan revisits Havana with his daughter years later, he discovers that he's left behind more than just a true love. Wendel's story constantly moves the reader forward in a Robert Parker style. One of the most memorable passages describes Billy Bryon's first encounter with Castro. This passage sets the stage for Bryon's fascination with Castro and how he becomes drawn into the revolutionary's world. I simply could not put this book down. I have no doubt that, when I visit Havana someday, I'll bump into Billy Bryan's spirit.
Rating:
Summary: A game, a revolutionary, a nation changed
Review: Wendel captures Cuba at its crossroads - the Carribean Las Vegas about to become a third world nation, frozen in time. The story line is one of hope - the hope of a career minor leaguer trying to make it to the bigs, as well as the hope of a revolutionary trying to change a country. Both characters brought together by the love of the game of baseball. Wendel captures the struggle of each, complete in the knowledge that a price has to be paid before the goal is ever, if ever, attained. The minor leaguer paying the price of having to play winter ball to improve; the revolutionary paying the price of having to gain momemtum from true grass roots politics. Wendel is masterful at showing how the love of baseball can bring together radically different people in a peaceful setting, and afterwards, just as at games today, everyone goes their own ways, each with a different opinion of what was the best thing about what happened that day at the ballpark. A great book that showed me why a person like Castro, so villified today, could reach out and gain the love and trust of his fellow countrymen. I recommend the book highly.
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