The novel that inspired Field of Dreams: “A lyrical, seductive, and altogether winning concoction.” —The New York Times Book Review One of Sports Illustrated’s 100 Greatest Sports Books “If you build it, he will come.” When Ray Kinsella hears these mysterious words spoken in the voice of an Iowa baseball announcer, he is inspired to carve a baseball diamond in his cornfield. It is a tribute to his hero, the legendary Shoeless Joe Jackson, whose reputation was forever tarnished by the scandalous 1919 World Series. What follows is a timeless story that is “not so much about baseball as it is about dreams, magic, life, and what is quintessentially American” (The Philadelphia Inquirer). “A triumph of hope.” —The Boston Globe “A moonlit novel about baseball, dreams, family, the land, and literature.” —Sports Illustrated

Bobby Rogers has always had a driving ambition to be the best. As a teen, he excelled in baseball and dreamed of being recruited into the major leagues. But because Bobby also had a burning desire to make money, he decided to take another route that included Harvard Business School. Now it is 2010 and he is a hard-driving New York financial guru with a wife, a young son, and a desire to invest in something personally fulfilling. After he learns that investing in sports memorabilia might be lucrative, Bobby becomes hooked on collecting baseball cards. When a startling revelation leads him to focus on collecting cards of the legendary slugger Shoeless Joe Jackson, Bobby embarks on a quest that leads him from the Hamptons to Maryland's Eastern Shore and finally to Cuba to find a unique card. But after he lands a visit with former Senators pitcher Chico Marrero and has a frightening encounter with Fidel Castro, Bobby soon discovers that he is not just on a journey to locate baseball cards, but instead to gain deep insight into himself and what he really wants from life. In this exciting tale, an investor turned dedicated collector sets out on a pursuit of an elusive Joe Jackson baseball card that leads him to places he never imagined.

Another peek at baseball's good old days—or, in this case, bad old days—by veteran sports-historian Harvey Frommer. Frommer paints Shoeless Joe as a baseball natural ("Joe Jackson hit the ball harder than any man ever to play baseball"—Ty Cobb), an illiterate hick (his table utensils consisted of knife and fingers), and an innocent man snared by the greatest scandal in baseball history.

When Joe Stoshack hears about Shoeless Joe Jackson -- and the gambling scandal that destroyed the star player's career -- he knows what he has to do. If he travels back in time with a 1919 baseball card in his hand, he just might be able to prevent the infamous Black Sox Scandal from ever taking place. And if he could do that, Shoeless Joe Jackson would finally take his rightful place in the Baseball Hall of Fame. But can Stosh prevent that tempting envelope full of money from making its way to Shoeless Joe's hotel room before the big game?

Here are fascinating glimpses of the history of America's national pastime from an all-star lineup including Walt Whitman, E.L. Doctorow, John Updike, Philip Roth and Garrison Keillor. Revel in another ear through Walt Whitman's report of a rugged game played before the Civil War. Relive how Candy Cummings perfected the first curve ball, how baseball drew the color line in1 887, and how Bob Carroll uncovered Nate Colbert's hidden RBI record in 1972. All this and much, much more.

This career retrospective celebrates the 80th birthday of baseball's greatest scribe, W. P. Kinsella (Shoeless Joe), as well as the 25th anniversary of Field of Dreams, the film that he inspired. In addition to his classic baseball tales, W. P. Kinsella is also a critically-acclaimed short fiction writer. His satiric wit has been celebrated with numerous honors, including the Order of British Columbia. Here are his notorious First Nation narratives of indigenous Canadians, and a literary homage to J. D. Salinger. Alongside the "real" story of the 1951 Giants and the afterlife of Roberto Clemente, are the legends of a pirated radio station and a hockey game rigged by tribal magic. Eclectic, dark, and comedic by turns, The Essential W. P. Kinsella is a living tribute to an extraordinary raconteur.

When we go to a baseball stadium and cheer a person like Babe Ruth for hitting the ball harder, higher, further and more often than the other players, we are cheering him as our representative. We cheer people of exceptional accomplishment whose achievements are so highly visible and so obviously measurable because we, too, are faced with the complexity of the lives that we live and are challenged to perform feats of heroic proportions just to be able to say that we have lived our lives well when we come to the end. In the novel, Babe Ruth says, "There ain't nothin' like a game of baseball. There ain't nothin' like a beautiful summer day, with the clouds light and fluffy and the sun on the back of your shoulders and a nice liftin' breeze comin' down onto the field from out of the stands." The man who feels this way about the game he loves is a man who faces enormous challenges, digs deep down inside himself and finds whatever is needed in order to triumph in the game of life. This makes him a fitting representative for us all; we all hit spectacular home runs in out own quiet ways.