The Iowa Baseball Confederacy
Posted by Rhubarb_Runner on Wednesday, July 4th, 2007 at 6:00 am
[contributed by: Big Mak]
The Iowa Baseball Confederacy
by W. P. Kinsella
Copyright © 1986, Houghton Mifflin
Hardcover, 310 pages (also available in paperback)
About the Author: W. P. Kinsella is the author of Shoeless Joe, the book that is the basis for the movie Field of Dreams. Kinsella has also published a lot of short story collections, mostly having to do with baseball and Iowa (I think we all see the theme here). Portions of The Iowa Baseball Confederacy initially appeared in some of those short story collections.
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The story follows Gideon Clarke, who has inherited an obsession from his father. His father was struck by lightning and imbued with an encyclopedic knowledge of a professional baseball league based in Iowa. The catch is that there is no evidence, anecdotal or physical that the Iowa Baseball Confederacy ever existed. Upon his father's death, that knowledge is transferred to Gideon as well as an obsession with finding proof of the league's existence. Finally, through the help of the only man who acknowledges that the Confederacy existed, Gideon is able to travel back in time to July 4, 1908 to witness an exhibition betwixt the Chicago Cubs and the Iowa Baseball Confederacy All-Stars. This game is as far as Gideon's knowledge goes. After that date the Confederacy ceased to exist. What happened at the game? It turns out nearly everything happens over the course of the longest extra-inning game you've ever heard of. I won't divulge too many details, but the story generally deals with obsession, love, and of course, the ever-constant game of baseball.
"Why not baseball?" my father would say. "Name me a more perfect game! Name me a game with more possibilities for magic, voodoo, hoodoo, enchantment, obsession, possession. There's always time for daydreaming, time to create your own illusions at the ballpark. I bet there isn't a magician anywhere who doesn't love baseball. No mere mortal could have dreamed up the dimensions of a baseball field. No man could be that perfect. … The field runs to infinity," he would shout, gesturing wildly. "You ever think of that, Gid? There's no limit to how far a man might possibly hit a ball, and there's no limit to how far a fleet outfielder might run to retrieve it. The foul lines run on forever, forever diverging. There's no place in America that's not part of a major-league ballfield."
That quote mirrors the fantastical mood of this story. For Kinsella, baseball is a magical game that has untold layers and reflections in American society. As the game drags on, attempts are made to influence it through business, politics, religion, and science, all for naught. Baseball is constant. As the game progresses, Gideon learns what is at stake for him and his obsession with the Iowa Baseball Confederacy. As Gideon is told in the early stages of the game, "Then you have learned one thing – that accomplishing your heart's desire is not all as wonderful as you expected."
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Personal notes:
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So far the SBG Library seems to have a decided lean toward non-fiction. For my contribution, I thought I would add something to the baseball fiction section of the library. I should write Shoeless Joe up too, but I just finished re-reading this one, so I'll start here.
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The Iowa Baseball Confederacy was a book that I considered my favorite for a while in junior high. Mostly because I really liked Shoeless Joe, but whenever I would name that book people would start talking about Field of Dreams (which I hadn't seen). So, being the contrarian that I am, I chose Kinsella's lesser known book as my favorite, even though I knew it probably wasn't as good.
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This book was a pretty easy read (I finished it in a couple of sittings). It was enjoyable the second time around, as when I read it the first time I was probably 12 or 13 years old, so this time I was able to appreciate a lot more of the book. There are a lot of unexplained and mystical events, which some people have found difficult to swallow. I would recommend Shoeless Joe before this book, but if you like Kinsella's style, this book has that in spades.
Please drop an email to SBGLibrary (at) hotmail (dot) com if you have a suggestion or a submission for the SBG Library.
Looking to buy this book? Click here: The Iowa Baseball Confederacy
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Here's something that I never knew: Kinsella is Canadian. He got a MFA from Iowa in 1978 at the age of 43. He then wrote Shoeless Joe in 1982 and The Iowa Baseball Confederacy in 1986. So, he was kind of a late bloomer, although he was an award winning writer as a kid.
I've read the IBC and I enjoyed it, although I'm not much into fantasy writing, which this, of course, is. I've also felt that Shoeless Joe was not as good as the movie. The tightening of the script for the movie, which eliminated characters and focused the storyline better, was a marked improvement over the book, I thought.
I'm gonna disagree with you here, counselor. Liked the book better than the film for a number of reasons. One, I read the book first. Rarely does a movie live up to or surpass the book, unless the book wasn't that good to begin with (see Mario Puzo's Godfather.) Two, I loved the idea of J.D. Salinger being coaxed out of seclusion. Salinger was a favorite of mine as a young man and I felt the James Earl Jones character was a cipher in comparison. Last but certainly not least, two words: Kevin Costner. Not a fan. At all.
I liked IBC, too, though not as much as Shoeless Joe. Blyleven would love it, though. As I recall, didn't both starting pitchers go the distance?
Nice to see the library get some books, by the way.
I instructed Rhu_Ru to limit the library to one new book a week. That way, the feature can keep going longer.
Specifically, I liked the elimination of the brother from the movie.
I don't remember them snuffing any family members in the movie.
So far, sticking to the instructions, especially since we'd have run out of books a couple weeks ago (hint, hint)
I also prefer the book over the movie, and I also read the book first. So maybe that's it.
But I enjoy fantasy writing, which I think is where you and I differ on this, SBG. Those elements that the movie eliminated by tightening the script were parts that made the book one of my favorites.
I liked the movie as well, but for very different reasons.
I read this book about twenty years ago and thought it was great. I need to re-read it, if I actually had time to read for enjoyment.
I'm glad I went back and re-read this one. It was different this time around, I remembered the game dragging on and on the first time, but this time it seemed to be much more concise. Scenes that I remembered vividly from the first reading turned out to be only a paragraph or two the second time. Perhaps I've become a more efficient reader in the last 15 years?
First, thanks Big Mak, for the great post adding this book to SBG Library! This is the part where I get out my ladle and trowel, and spread out the guilt thick and evenly over the rest of WGOM Citizens to try and get some more great books added. Ask BM - it's not that painful. And I'll do the formatting hard part.
I absolutely love the movie (except the hokey school board gathering). It's my understanding they couldn't use Salinger as a character in the film, which pushed the story into a little different direction. And I can put up with Costner when his romance is directed towards baseball and not a female.
I am definitely going to hit the library (the brick-and-mortar building, not this library!) and check this out this summer -- maybe during band camp week when I have some down time during the chaperoning thing.
Thanks again, BM!
I was pleasantly surprised with how many people had already read this book. If anyone is interested, there's some more thoughts on the IBC here.
Rhu_Ru is right, the submission was certainly very easy (alright, alright I'm saying it, stop poking me!) and it took almost no time on my part. If I can do it, anyone in the Nation certainly can as well.
*$5 changes hands*
Having not read any of Kinsella's work, I guess I'm significantly behind the Nation's curve. I'd never felt a great desire fueled by Field of Dreams to go absorb Shoeless Joe, but if Salinger takes over for the Jones character that intrigues me enough to give it a spin after I finish my Sam Cooke biography.
And I'm intrigued by that Sam Cooke bio you're reading. A fascinating and tragic figure, to say the least.
Quite the voice, too.
The bio I'm reading is Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke by Peter Guralnick. I've only just started it, so I couldn't evaluate it at all yet, but I do know it's quite highly recommended.