The Entitled

by Frank Deford

Hardcover, 2007

Status

Available

Publication

Sourcebooks Landmark (2007), Edition: 1, 336 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. HTML: "The Entitled is a baseball masterpiece, like The Natural and Field of Dreams." —Mike Schmidt, Baseball Hall of Fame From legendary six-time National Sportswriter of the Year and NPR commentator Frank Deford comes a richly detailed, page-turning tale that takes you deep into America's game. Howie Traveler never made it as a player-his one major league hit and .091 batting average attest to that. He was cursed with that worst of professional maladies, the ill fortune of almost. Now after years of struggling up the coaching ladder, Howie's finally been given his shot as manager of the Cleveland Indians. But whether Howie can spot a small flaw in a batter's swing won't matter if he can't manage his superstar outfielder Jay Alcazar, a slugger with enormous talent (and an ego to match). No crisis on the field fazes Jay and no woman off the field rejects him. But one night at a hotel Howie sees something at Jay's door he wishes he hadn't...and it leaves Howie with an impossible choice. Praise for THE ENTITLED: "I loved The Entitled...reminded me of the many people I've known and played with-pure baseball." —Lou Piniella, Manager, Chicago Cubs "Frank Deford is not just an immensely talented sportswriter, he's an immensely talented American writer." —David Halberstam "In men like Traveler and Alcazar we find the beating heart and struggling soul of baseball..." —Jeff MacGregor, Sports Illustrated; author of Sunday Money "Engrossing...Readers are exposed to a richly textured understanding of baseball and, no less, of estrangement, ambition, mendacity and the search for one's destiny-notwithstanding the cost in human or financial terms." —Library Journal "...proves once again that Deford can play at the highest level in any league." —Michael Mewshaw, author of Year of the Gun "Deford scores another hit with this novel of athletes behaving badly...tackles timely and provocative issues without flinching." —Publishers Weekly.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member DonCapone
Deford Hits a Dinger

Technically, and according to the subtitle ("A Tale of Modern Baseball"), The Entitled is a baseball novel. But calling this just a baseball novel is like saying The Road is just a post-apocalypse novel. There is so much more to it. It's literature.

The lead character of The
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Entitled is an old-school lifetime minor leaguer, Howie Traveler, who finally gets his shot to manage in the big leagues with the Cleveland Indians. His lifelong dream is compromised, though, when he catches his star player Jay Alcazar (possibly) raping a woman. Now Howie has a moral dilemma. Does he protect his player and his job, or does he come out against the player and jeopordize his career in the process?

This is also the story of Alcazar. It would have been easy to have him be a cartoon character, the selfish, "entitled" superstar modern ballplayer. But Deford gives him a complex character, too, and there is a nifty subplot with Alcazar returning to Cuba to locate family that was left behind when his parents escaped with the infant Jay.

Deford does an excellent job of mixing up the chapters, changing the POV, and feeding the reader the background on the individual characters in a non-linear fashion. And Deford's baseball knowledge and observations are spot-on. You can understand what he's saying, and the nuances of baseball even if you are not a fan. That is the beauty and the art of his writing.
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LibraryThing member KApplebaum
One of the better novels I've read in quite a while.
LibraryThing member ehines
A well-constructed novel that tells a story that could have been filled with cliches, but Deford is interested in telling a story of particular people in particular situations. A very well done novel that transcends the subject, though it has plenty of insight into that subject as well.
LibraryThing member dmrbooks
the best baseball book ever.
LibraryThing member zimbawilson
They just don't make sports writers like Frank Deford anymore. I shouldn't call him a sports writer really because Deford can and has written on many topics and he is just a great American writer period. This is a baseball story at it's base but it is really much deeper than that. Deford touches on
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everything from rape to Fidel Castro to the World Series but finds a way to tie them all together to tell not only a very compelling story that never lags but to do so in a literate style that you just don't often see these days in fiction especially sports fiction.
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LibraryThing member clark.hallman
The Entitled, by Frank Deford, begins with Howie Traveler, who had spent a lifetime in baseball as an unimpressive player and then as a long-time coach and manager in the minor leagues. He finally landed a major league manager position with the Cleveland Indians when he was in his mid-fifties.
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Unfortunately, he expects to be fired at the end of his second season with the Indians. However, before that unfolds, Deford takes the reader through a wonderful story that reveals the life stories of Howie Traveler and his star player, Jay Alcazar, along with the development of their complex relationship with each other. In addition, the reader experiences how much the game of baseball demands from those who struggle for success as players and as coaches and managers in the minor leagues and then in the major league. Howie’s dedication and endurance are inspirational, but his perseverance cost him and his family a difficult price. I really liked this book. Deford is an adept storyteller. He includes very colorful and interesting characters that struggle with personal challenges. He also incorporates much informative discussion about baseball and its implications for players, coaches, managers, and even sports writers into the story. If you love baseball, you should definitely read this book. Even if you only casually like baseball and/or played baseball when you were young, you should not hesitate to read this book. Even if you don’t care about baseball, I would still encourage you to read this engrossing story.
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LibraryThing member nmele
I occasionally listen to Frank Deford on NPR as I wake up, but I am not a fan of his. Sometimes I agree with him, sometimes I do not. This novel strikes me as realistic and quite engaging. If you are, like me, a baseball fan, you will enjoy it, and if you are not, you might enjoy reading it and
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also learn something about baseball and its attractions for us.
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Language

Original language

English

Barcode

7147
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