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Shoeless Joe Audiobook
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(3.56) - 18 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Shoeless Joe, the soul-stirring novel on which the movie Field of Dreams is based, is more than just another baseball story.
W. P. Kinsella captures the spiritual dimension that baseball represents for its most determined devotees in this tale on love and the power dreams have to make people come alive.
“Shoeless Joe” was the great Joe Jackson, one of the eight members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox, who were banned from baseball for throwing the World Series.
One day, while out in his cornfield, Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella hears the voice of a baseball announcer saying, “If you build it, he will come.” “He,” of course, is Ray’s hero, Joe Jackson. “It” is a baseball stadium, which Ray carves out of his cornfield. In doing this, he also inadvertently provides us with an amazing and somewhat nostalgic story on America's perhaps most beloved national pastime, baseball.
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"I loved reading this book. Kinsella's writing style is beautiful! There are a few more characters than in the movie and the characters are more developed. I hope to find more of Kinsella's books. We bought this copy, used, on Amazon, for one cent. "
— Denise (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“A moonlit novel about baseball, dreams, family, the land, and literature.”
— Sports Illustrated -
“Not so much about baseball as it is about dreams, magic, life, and what is quintessentially American.”
— Philadelphia Inquirer -
“Wild…romantic…unconventional…A triumph of hope.”
— Boston Globe -
“[Grover Gardner’s] unobtrusive reading lets the full color of the words speak for themselves.”
— Library Journal (audio review) -
“Grover Gardner…uses a gentle tone for Ray Kinsella, who, despite being close to losing his farm, rarely seems stressed…Gardner fits the first-person approach, helping the listener cheer for Ray to overcome his plight.”
— AudioFile -
“Kinsella plays with both myth and fantasy in his lyrical novel…Kinsella spins baseball as backdrop and metaphor, and, like his predecessors, uses the game to tell us a little something more about who we are and what we need.”
— Amazon.com
Awards
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Winner of the Books in Canada First Novel Award
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Winner of the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship Award
Shoeless Joe Listener Reviews
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" Way too treacly for my tastes. "
— Cathy, 6/7/2011 -
" The source of "Field of Dreams". A quick, warm, good-feeling read. "
— Shorel, 5/23/2011 -
" Love you, Iowa. Hate you, magical realism. "
— Nancy, 4/24/2011 -
" It was interesting to read this after watching "Field of Dreams" several times. It was an enjoyable sports book, and I think it helped me enjoy the movie even more. "
— Andy, 3/24/2011 -
" I read the book 20 years ago, well before the movie was made. While I liked the movie, it lack the sense of magic that was present in the book. "
— Jeff, 3/4/2011 -
" Wonderful story. It's fun to see how it compares to the movie, "Field of Dreams", which is one of my favorite movies. "
— Elizabeth, 2/24/2011 -
" k, I'll be nice and give it two stars. I didn't really enjoy the book. The movie that it's based off, Field of Dreams with Kevin costner, I'd stick with the movie. It was an ok book, but it was too wordy for me. I would stick with the movie. "
— Nichole, 2/7/2011 -
" This book was the basis of the Field of Dreams. I enjoyed reading it with my family. "
— Sandy, 1/9/2011
About W. P. Kinsella
W. P. Kinsella (1935-2016) was a Canadian novelist, short-story writer, and poet who won numerous awards for his work, including the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship and the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humor. In 1993 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, their highest civilian honor. He is best known for his novel Shoeless Joe, basis for the award-winning motion picture Field of Dreams.
About Grover Gardner
Grover Gardner (a.k.a. Tom Parker) is an award-winning narrator with over a thousand titles to his credit. Named one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards, was chosen Narrator of the Year for 2005 by Publishers Weekly, and has earned more than thirty Earphones Awards.