Product Description

Mark Friedman's debut novel is an unflinchingly honest portrait of the relationship between siblings, the heartbreaking tale of two brothers whose lives lead to vastly different fates. The narrator, Joe Columbus, tells the story of his brother CJ's remarkable success as a professional baseball player in an effort to explain not only CJ's apparently charmed life but also his own failures - his envy, his crumbling marriage, his missteps and cowardice. A richly imagined story that explores both the grand and enduring allure of our national pasttime and the complications of our lives - our longings, losses, and regrets - COLUMBUS SLAUGHTERS BRAVES is a dark and comic and ultimately redemptive novel. Like W. P. Kinsella's SHOELESS JOE Joe and Michael Shaara's FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME, this is a poignant and compassionate work that introduces readers to a gifted and extraordinarily perceptive writer.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1577362 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-07
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .55" h x 5.22" w x 8.08" l, .49 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

From Publishers Weekly
An older brother's fleeting superiority gives way to destructive resentment as his younger brother rises to stardom in this poignant, darkly comic tale of family politics, denial, self-knowledge, destiny and baseball. Joe Columbus is an ordinary man, coping with marital strain and questioning his effectiveness as a high school teacher in suburban Maryland. Joe's younger brother, CJ, is a baseball superstar playing third base for the Chicago Cubs the most popular sports figure in America at the age of 23 and a decent, likable guy as well. The rift between Joe and CJ goes back to their boyhood days in Pasadena, Calif., when CJ's little league coach spots him as a budding prodigy. From that day on, the brothers seem to Joe to be hopelessly mismatched. In a candid, reflective, sometimes self-mocking first-person narrative, Friedman gives us Joe's own story of his sense of the omnipresence of CJ's success, his struggle with his baser instincts and the tragedy that will force him to overcome it all. Friedman mostly steers clear of clich?s and the maudlin, and while the other characters can be sketchy, Joe is a vivid, memorable protagonist. The authenticity of his voice and the clear reporting of his hard-won insights are the strengths of this promising first novel. 4-city author tour; optioned for film by MGM. (Mar. 29)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In this first novel, the resentful, envious narrator, Joe Columbus, has watched his younger brother, C.J. Columbus, climb steadily toward inevitable stardom in major league baseball, while his own life is starved and half-lived. He is a teacher, and he lives in a state of armed neutrality with his wife, an overworked young lawyer. But when C.J. is found to have a fast-moving leukemia, Joe remains at his brother's side all the way, never achieving understanding, perhaps, but at least a kind of peace. This is not a likable book, but it's a valuable story about how hate diminishes us, "halving yourself...folding into yourself...until you are packed so tight that hate is the only thing you can be certain of." Recommended for most libraries.
- Marylaine Block, Librarian Without Walls, Davenport, IA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"Friedman's vivid prose takes us on a journey that is at turns funny and uncomfortably real...For a rookie novelist, Friedman has hit a sharp double down the line." (Newsday )

"This taut novella from Mark Friedman explores the psychological consequences of being one notch ahead in the birth order from a scarily talented, perennially blessed, and eventually iconic bazillionaire baseball star. This is an unsparing ode to brotherly hate, a manipulative little book that's also flawless in its portrayal of a decent guy's daily struggle against feeling like a total scrub. " (The Los Angeles Times )

"'Columbus Slaughters Braves' is a deep, troubling look at sibling rivalry framed by one brother's otherworldly talent and another's unhealthy resentment of him and it...This book won't leave you smiling, but it will make you think...and feel." (The Chicago Tribune )