Rating: 
Summary: contractual sniping aside...
Review: ...the fact that this great work has been published previously (first in Harper's back in 1992, then in altered form as the Prologue to Underworld in 1997) does not alter the fact that it is great. Pristine. Phrase-perfect. Sustained in tone. It speaks in your voice, American. Buy it for your old man who loves baseball but has no patience for this contemporary-lit mishegoss. Buy it for that girl you're trying to impress who loved White Noise but can't stand baseball. Buy it for the 12-year-old nephew you're trying to turn on to the glories of great fiction. Buy it. Oh yeah, and if you haven't actually read it yourself, do that too. It's the 50th anniversary of Bobby Thompson's homer, for chrissake.
Rating: 
Summary: phony delillo
Review: although don delillo is one of my favorite writers i didn't like underworld and this new release of the first chapter of that pretentious novel is part of the reason why. the only reason to release this chapter in book form is to squeeze more profit from what was clearly a novel written to be a best seller. underworld was a fat, diffuse, complacent and superficial book; the chapter on bobby thompson's homerun never closed with the moment, never really overcame the fact that we all know what's going to happen next and how famous those people are, never got over its own hype. by contrast note the body artist which is intensely focussed, dense with meaning, utterly honest. real delillo.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Brilliant & Breathtaking Novel Opening Ever
Review: And I really believe that. This is the opening section of *Underworld* (1997), and it originally appeared in Harpers--so, when I saw it in stores, I thought "why re-release this as a BOOK?"Then, I read it. It stands on its own as a novella--and it's not *just* about baseball, either, so don't let that mislead you or put you off. It's about *everything*. Maybe you don't wish to read the lengthy *Underworld* (though the themes and characters and plotlines here run through the entire novel)--but at LEAST read THIS. And while I own the novel, I'm pleased to own this, too--and if you like DeLillo and wish to turn others on to his work, this is what you give them. I've given copies to several people, and use this brilliant work in my "Writing a Novella" Creative Writing class. I don't test the students, or ask them to try to emulate the work--I just ask them to read it. Their jaws drop open every time, just as mine did--and does.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Brilliant & Breathtaking Novel Opening Ever
Review: And I really believe that. This is the opening section of *Underworld* (1997), and it originally appeared in Harpers--so, when I saw it in stores, I thought "why re-release this as a BOOK?" Then, I read it. It stands on its own as a novella--and it's not *just* about baseball, either, so don't let that mislead you or put you off. It's about *everything*. Maybe you don't wish to read the lengthy *Underworld* (though the themes and characters and plotlines here run through the entire novel)--but at LEAST read THIS. And while I own the novel, I'm pleased to own this, too--and if you like DeLillo and wish to turn others on to his work, this is what you give them. I've given copies to several people, and use this brilliant work in my "Writing a Novella" Creative Writing class. I don't test the students, or ask them to try to emulate the work--I just ask them to read it. Their jaws drop open every time, just as mine did--and does.
Rating: 
Summary: Pafko at the Wall
Review: Canonization of a modern classic, or contract fulfillment? A mere eight months after the slender "The Body Artist" comes the even slenderer "Pafko at the Wall": first published ages ago in Harper's magazine, then reappearing in revised form as the first section of DeLillo's lumbering, intermittently brilliant novel "Underworld." Now, on the fourth anniversary of "Underworld"'s publication, here it is again. Granted, it's a tour de force, and deserves as wide an audience as possible, but the thought of Scribner expecting readers to pay as much for this as they could pay for 800-plus pages of "Underworld" in paperback--or two copies of the "Underworld" hardcover from nearly any superstore remainder table in the United States--boggles the mind.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Brilliant & Breathtaking Novel Opening Ever
Review: First things first - this is a brilliantly-evoked account of the Giants/Dodgers playoff game that ended with the "Shot Heard Round the World". It is also the opening section of DeLillo's novel Underworld. Like most of the other reviewers of this book, my main beef is "Why should one bother to buy this extract?" In context, this is only the beginning of a long exploration of American history in the 50 years that separate us from that game - particularly the Cold War, which could be said to begin on that day with news of the Soviet Union's atomic test reaching the US. The historic baseball goes weaving from hand to hand binding the stories together. If you're a DeLillo fan, then, don't buy it for yourself. If you want a taster of his work, perhaps buy it as an entry-level sample but be prepared to fork out for it all over again if you decide you need to read the full novel. Best of all, buy it as a gift for someone who's unlikely to be a DeLillo reader, now or in future, but is a fan of baseball and/of 50s Americana. It's great stuff, but its appeal in this format is just pretty limited.
Rating: 
Summary: DeLillo for non-fans
Review: First things first - this is a brilliantly-evoked account of the Giants/Dodgers playoff game that ended with the "Shot Heard Round the World". It is also the opening section of DeLillo's novel Underworld. Like most of the other reviewers of this book, my main beef is "Why should one bother to buy this extract?" In context, this is only the beginning of a long exploration of American history in the 50 years that separate us from that game - particularly the Cold War, which could be said to begin on that day with news of the Soviet Union's atomic test reaching the US. The historic baseball goes weaving from hand to hand binding the stories together. If you're a DeLillo fan, then, don't buy it for yourself. If you want a taster of his work, perhaps buy it as an entry-level sample but be prepared to fork out for it all over again if you decide you need to read the full novel. Best of all, buy it as a gift for someone who's unlikely to be a DeLillo reader, now or in future, but is a fan of baseball and/of 50s Americana. It's great stuff, but its appeal in this format is just pretty limited.
Rating:
Summary: A good read but why bother?
Review: Having suffered through all of Underworld, and having concluded that I should have stopped reading right after the excellent prologue (which essentially comprises this book), I was amused to see that DeLillo has released this as a "novella". Compelling reading to be sure, but why bother? I suppose this book is easier to carry around and read in bed than the beginning of Underworld, amounting to less than a hundred pages. But it is difficult to justify spending good money on a prologue to a longer novel with an eerie, attractive cover depicting the World Trade Center, that can be found for less money on bookstore bargain racks throughout the country. Like P.T. Barnum once said, . . . "there's a sucker born every minute."
Rating:
Summary: "THOMSON AT THE BAT"
Review: I haven't read Underworld, so when I bought this book, all I knew was that it was about "the shot heard round the world" and that was good enough for me. Having grown up in Brooklyn and having lived in a house with three brothers and a father who were all avid Giant fans, this is something I've heard about my whole life. I wasn't even walking in 1951 so I certainly don't remember that day but what I do remember is it's being discussed in my home, ad nauseam, for as long as I can remember. In honor of my now deceased father and my very alive three brothers, (who followed the Giants and remained Giant fans as they went on to San Francisco), I have taken it upon myself to learn more about that fateful day in Dodger history when Giant fans all over New York roared in unity as Bobby Thomson's strike of the bat ended the Dodger season in 1951. DeLillo's attention to detail is so vivid that I actually felt as if I was hearing Russ Hodges announce the game. The book is full of nostalgic remembrances especially when he talks about one of the Giant sponsors - Chesterfield cigarettes. Between innings, Hodges actually instructs the audience to stay right where they are and "light up a Chesterfield." Can you imagine saying that today? And I found that the trivia about the large CHESTERFIELD sign in centerfield lighting up the "E" when an error was made is stuff my brothers don't even know about. I can't wait to hit them with all this info when we get together this holiday season. As a matter of fact, I've already asked one of my brothers if he knew who was playing left field when Thomson hit the ball and he didn't know. So much for the baseball trivia experts in my family. I also enjoyed DeLillo's portrayal of the young Cotter Martin as he struggled to grab Thomson's ball from under the seats and his race out of the Polo Grounds as he clutched the much sought after ball. While I thought I would enjoy the Frank Sinatra/Jackie Gleason references, I found them to be the least desirable part of the book. The bottom line is that I enjoyed the book and now feel quite comfortable discussing this episode in baseball history with the best of them. I did have one question though -- If Bobby Thomson was "hot" that day and already had two hits (one of which had driven in a run), why did Branca take the chance of pitching to him? With men on second and third, I would think he would have walked him and taken his chances with the then rookie "Say Hey" Willie Mays. After finishing this book, I did some further research on this game and found that others have asked this same question. I guess I did learn something growing up as the only girl in that family of all boys. By the way, they're all getting a copy of this book for Christmas this year. It's a definite MUST for the "true" New York Giant fan.
Rating:
Summary: "THOMSON AT THE BAT"
Review: I haven't read Underworld, so when I bought this book, all I knew was that it was about "the shot heard round the world" and that was good enough for me. Having grown up in Brooklyn and having lived in a house with three brothers and a father who were all avid Giant fans, this is something I've heard about my whole life. I wasn't even walking in 1951 so I certainly don't remember that day but what I do remember is it's being discussed in my home, ad nauseam, for as long as I can remember. In honor of my now deceased father and my very alive three brothers, (who followed the Giants and remained Giant fans as they went on to San Francisco), I have taken it upon myself to learn more about that fateful day in Dodger history when Giant fans all over New York roared in unity as Bobby Thomson's strike of the bat ended the Dodger season in 1951. DeLillo's attention to detail is so vivid that I actually felt as if I was hearing Russ Hodges announce the game. The book is full of nostalgic remembrances especially when he talks about one of the Giant sponsors - Chesterfield cigarettes. Between innings, Hodges actually instructs the audience to stay right where they are and "light up a Chesterfield." Can you imagine saying that today? And I found that the trivia about the large CHESTERFIELD sign in centerfield lighting up the "E" when an error was made is stuff my brothers don't even know about. I can't wait to hit them with all this info when we get together this holiday season. As a matter of fact, I've already asked one of my brothers if he knew who was playing left field when Thomson hit the ball and he didn't know. So much for the baseball trivia experts in my family. I also enjoyed DeLillo's portrayal of the young Cotter Martin as he struggled to grab Thomson's ball from under the seats and his race out of the Polo Grounds as he clutched the much sought after ball. While I thought I would enjoy the Frank Sinatra/Jackie Gleason references, I found them to be the least desirable part of the book. The bottom line is that I enjoyed the book and now feel quite comfortable discussing this episode in baseball history with the best of them. I did have one question though -- If Bobby Thomson was "hot" that day and already had two hits (one of which had driven in a run), why did Branca take the chance of pitching to him? With men on second and third, I would think he would have walked him and taken his chances with the then rookie "Say Hey" Willie Mays. After finishing this book, I did some further research on this game and found that others have asked this same question. I guess I did learn something growing up as the only girl in that family of all boys. By the way, they're all getting a copy of this book for Christmas this year. It's a definite MUST for the "true" New York Giant fan.
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