The Smell Of Astroturf In The Afternoon: The Lost Last Masterpiece Of B.T. I-70

Rating:
Summary: Can baseball and poetry mix? Yes.
Review: This is quite a unique book. It is a departure from the typical baseball travelogue where a writer talks about which park has the best hot dogs or worst nachos. SMELL is the story of America's Road Poet Laureate, the late B.T. I-70, and his adventures in seeing a game in every major league ball park in 1992 from Boston's Fenway Park to the All-Star Game in San Diego. Why is it published now? Because (as the subtitle says) it was lost and now found. But, there is more to this book than a simple road trip story. The narrative is peppered with notes inserted by the editors (and devotees of I-70) in 1994 to clarify certain aspects of I-70's life. The publishers of the work also insert their own clarifying notes from 2004 to update the reader on what has happened to the stadiums since I-70 travelled. The dueling quality of the notes from the editors and publishers is humorous and part of this book's charm. SMELL is an interesting book for the baseball and poetry fan. Where else can one read a poem that is twenty-four haiku about the history of the Red Sox? This book is not for everyone, but it is literally a diamond (sorry, couldn't resist) in the rough.