Calico Joe

Paul Tracy, a fan grown up, tells the tale--fact and fiction woven seamlessly by Grisham--of phenom Joe Castle, who mesmerizes baseball fans for a brief time in the 1970s. Tracy watches Calico Joe burst into the majors to captivate fans. Erik Singer makes the most of the story's few characters. He doesn't miss a pitch, so to speak--all vocal tones, from Southern lilts to snarling disgust, sound fully credible. He especially excels with the characters of a boy and his father. In sum, Singer's narration more than distinguishes the characters--it gives them identities, like players on a team. M.B. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

June 25, 2012
In his latest, Grisham takes another break from blockbuster legal suspense to explore the world of athletics. Decades after the fact, Paul Tracey looks back on the fateful events of the summer of 1973 involving his drunken and abusive father, Warren—a pitcher for the New York Mets—and a red-hot Chicago Cubs rookie nicknamed Calico Joe. Narrator Eric Singer portrays both Joe and Warren—the former innocent and earnest, the latter a bully—with energy and passion. The narrator lends Arkansan Joe an accent and cadence that are equal parts aw-sucks nonchalance and deer-in-the headlights wonder. In his portrayal of Warren, Singer effectively channels the character’s vitriol both on and off the field; the scenes involving Warren’s abusive coaching sessions with young Paul pack a particularly powerful emotional punch. Singer’s rendering of the labored speech of an aging Joe in the later portion of the book may seem heavy-handed in some respects, but remains compelling nonetheless. A Doubleday hardcover.