Synopsis
Like W. P. Kinsella's SHOELESS JOE and Michael Shaara's FOR THE LOVE OF A GAME, PROSPECT is a "gentle, big-hearted" (Kirkus Reviews) novel steeped in the lore and mythology of baseball. At its center stands Pete Estey, a lifelong baseball scout who finds himself divorced, retired, and prematurely consigned to a retirement home, where his only diversions are the nightly ballgame on the radio, his memories, and his droll observations of his fellow pensioners. When an attendant at the home presents him with one last prospect for the major leagues, though, Pete discovers it to be the most important of his career.
"Perceptive and engaging" (Los Angeles Times), PROSPECT tells the story of an unlikely kinship and an even more unlikely success and explores the boundless possibilities for rebirth both on and off the field.
Publishers Weekly
Like Mark Harris's Bang the Drum Slowly , this wonderful first novel uses the world of baseball to examine life's larger issues. Pete Estey is a retired baseball scout who, though relatively healthy (albeit tired and depressed), has chosen to live out the string in a rest home in Florida. At Fair Haven he meets Louise Brown, an elderly black woman who works at the home as a volunteer. Louise tries to interest Pete in her great-nephew, ``the ballplayer.'' Pete is skeptical, says he's retired anyway. But when a fire forces Pete out of Fair Haven he goes to live with Louise, who introduces him to Jack Brown, and Estey's interest in the young ballplayer brings the retired scout back to life. Related in alternating chapters by Pete and Louise, the narrative recounts their efforts to get Jack a tryout with the Washington Lions. To do so they have to circumvent the modern-day scouting system (which assumes that if the computers don't know about a ballplayer, the player isn't worth knowing). Littlefield writes convincingly from the points of view of both his appealing characters, conveying the reality of old age without pity or false sentiment. The pacing near the end of the book sags slightly, but this remains a strong, heartfelt work. Major ad/promo; author tour. (Apr.)