Editor’s Note: It’s a good time to read – we’ve a deep need to feel connected, need something to do when almost everything is closed, or perhaps just require distraction from anxiety and fear. So we’re asking Mainers to tell us, in their own words, what they’re reading and why. This week we bring you LOGAN PUCK, a Portland resident and lecturer in political science at Southern Maine Community College.
Cover courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux
“This has been a trying time for sports fans like me who are feeling lost without the daily rhythms of checking last night’s box score, following the latest chatter about my team’s fortunes, and settling in for two to three hours in the evening to watch a game. Reading “The Cactus League” has helped to fill this void. The story revolves around Jason Goodyear, a mentally deteriorating all-star outfielder. The book is structured almost like a series of short stories; each chapter follows a different character with some connection to the player. Focusing less on the intrigue of the play on the field, the novel centers instead on all the people and things that happen around the game. It’s obviously a great book for baseball lovers, but I think it can appeal non-sports fans as well. Baseball is what drew me to the book, but it’s the individuals and their stories that kept me engaged right through to the end.”
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