The Red Sox Reader, Edited By: Dan Riley

People can’t seem to stop writing about the Boston Red Sox. They write newspaper articles, magazine articles, books, and just about anything else you can think of. To keep track of it all would be a full-time job. Reading it all would take even longer. Thankfully, Dan Riley has helped you out. He has sorted through the mountains of reading material available, and selected a few key pieces to share. He has found the top 28 pieces of Red Sox literature, and combined them into a single volume. The featured authors include: Thomas Boswell, Peter Gammons, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David Halberstam, Stephen King, Bill Lee, Dan Shaughnessy, John Updike, George F. Will, and many others.

This book first came out in 1987. A revised edition (the one I read) came out in 1991. The Boston Red Sox, and their fans, were in a different place in 1991. They were in a MUCH different place in 1987. So, the tone of this book reflects that. While “The Curse” wasn’t quite a common phrase, there is a good helping of doom and gloom in the writings. I wonder what a revised 2012 version of the book would be like. As with any compilation, it’s hit or miss depending on the author. Some made me want to read everything else they had ever written, while other made me glad they only had one sample in the book. One nice point comes from the fact that it’s a collection of different authors. Unlike collections of a single writer, the style doesn’t grow stale over an entire book. With several short articles in one place, I found this the perfect book to bring on my trip to Pittsburgh. The many break points made it easy to not lose my flow when I got on a plane, or off. So, if you have a time period coming up that would allow several short chances to catch up on some reading, this is a wonderful option.

Rating: 3 bases