3.0
The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.
ByPublisher Description
Considered one of the best baseball novels of all time, this black comedy about a discontented businessman's obsession with a fantasy baseball league of his own creation is "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" meets William Gaddis meets John Updike's Rabbit, Run.
Somewhere in a "major-league" American city, there lives a man named J. Henry Waugh—no-account accountant, barfly, and country music fan. The most important part of Waugh's life, as far as he is concerned, is lived in his head, where he is sole proprietor of the Universal Baseball Association, which is now entering its fifty-sixth season. The games are played with dice and scorecards, and the players are just numbers and names, but for Waugh they're more real than the dreary office, the dive bar, and the dingy apartment in which he spends his days. Still, being sole proprietor is a lonely business, and when a few rolls of the dice spell tragedy for the rookie pitcher Damon Rutherford—a player Waugh believes will reinvigorate the game—the whole association is imperiled, along with the sanity of its isolated creator.
Robert Coover's fiction was a map of America, and The Universal Baseball Association is smack-dab in the center of it. Baseball, in Waugh's world, is an escape, and Waugh is nothing if not an all-American escapist with a capacity for denial so profound that it can only be called optimism.
Somewhere in a "major-league" American city, there lives a man named J. Henry Waugh—no-account accountant, barfly, and country music fan. The most important part of Waugh's life, as far as he is concerned, is lived in his head, where he is sole proprietor of the Universal Baseball Association, which is now entering its fifty-sixth season. The games are played with dice and scorecards, and the players are just numbers and names, but for Waugh they're more real than the dreary office, the dive bar, and the dingy apartment in which he spends his days. Still, being sole proprietor is a lonely business, and when a few rolls of the dice spell tragedy for the rookie pitcher Damon Rutherford—a player Waugh believes will reinvigorate the game—the whole association is imperiled, along with the sanity of its isolated creator.
Robert Coover's fiction was a map of America, and The Universal Baseball Association is smack-dab in the center of it. Baseball, in Waugh's world, is an escape, and Waugh is nothing if not an all-American escapist with a capacity for denial so profound that it can only be called optimism.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. Reviews
3.0
“I didn't really know what to expect with a title like this one. One part some dude playing a seemingly harmless organized game of baseball on paper with dice, ending with our creations outlive us whether we like it or not. Developing into ritualic chaos.
I enjoyed the mundane parts of Henry's life the most. This bizarre relationship he has with his baseball and dice. Opposite to the actually created baseball players living out the games, while the technical sports jargon is not for me, seeing how I don't necessarily care for baseball or its play by play. I found myself wanting to get back to the Henry parts.
His constant need to get back to his "game" is a relatable, sad and cringe part of Henrys life. That being said the negativity towards his job I loved in the book. Sure, I think this baseball dice game is kind of silly, but who am I to judge another man's hobby. That hobby is still more useful and beneficial then stinky old work. I understand that by the end of the book that said hobby is what brings this guy into a state of insanity and ruin. But duality I suppose?
Chapter 6 is everything that I loved in the book. The best chapter by far. The back and forth between Henry and his friend Lou is crazy cringe and funny but also there is a sadness and uncomfortable tone throughout that makes it a highly engaging piece of writing.
Something I didn't really care for is the sexual undertones and themes throughout the novel. Perhaps I didn't understand the rapey vibe of it all.
One of the strangest novels that I have ever read. Difficult to organize my thoughts on and give a rating to. Such highs but also crushing lows. That's my best reasoning I can explain my rating of 3/5.”
About Robert Coover
Robert Coover (1932–2024) was born in Charles City, Iowa. He attended Indiana University and, after a four-year stint in the US Navy, the University of Chicago. For more than thirty years, he taught literature and creative writing at Brown University. He was the author of many novels and story collections—among others The Origin of the Brunists (forthcoming from NYRB Classics), Pricksongs and Descants, and The Public Burning.
Ben Marcus is the author of five books of fiction: Notes from the Fog, The Flame Alphabet, Leaving the Sea, Notable American Women, and The Age of Wire and String. He lives in New York City.
Ben Marcus is the author of five books of fiction: Notes from the Fog, The Flame Alphabet, Leaving the Sea, Notable American Women, and The Age of Wire and String. He lives in New York City.
Other books by Robert Coover
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