From Perth to Sacramento
Regular readers of the Bookshelf know I rarely offer my own reviews of baseball fiction. I find it too subjective and my education and skills in critiquing the genre too inferior. But once in awhile a book will find its way here that bears some mention. Nick Henning’s American Dream is one of those.
It’s not that it’s destined to be a classic on the scale of The Natural or The Great American Novel (nor, on the other hand, it’s certainly not The Big R or 64 Intruder). It’s more for the subject matter: the lot of an Australian minor leaguer.
According to Baseball-Reference.com, there have been 24 Australian-born major leaguers. Henning’s Damian Hughes aspires to be one of those select few. But rather than offer a narrative of the protagonist’s exploits on the diamond, Henning — a native of Sydney — deals primarily with what it must be like to be a “stranger in a strange land.” Although the Aussies (and I hope that’s not a pejorative for that nation’s citizens) don’t have the language difficulties that befall many players from Asian and Latin American countries, they are still far from home and have the same adjustments to make as other foreign players. Adjusting to local customs, living with host families while missing your own, dealing with sloppy, boorish roommates are all part of the pro baseball experience. Some can handle it, others have too hard a time. And this doesn’t even consider the stress of the often capricious nature of how the front office controls your fate.
This is where Henning’s strength lies. He paints Hughes as a believable character, for the most part (although there are a few relatively graphic sex scenes towards the end of the book that seemed somewhat forced and out of place given the rest of the story, as if the author felt it necessary to include to round out his ballplayer).
Because there is little about Hughes’ accomplishments on the field, the end of the novel seems to come too quickly as he faces the crossroads of his career. Some books seem to go on and on, as the writer tries to impress with his breadth of detail. In this case, I wish Dream had been longer to include more “action” sequences.
Are these serious flaws? Depends on your point of view. But despite a few stumbles — I wouldn’t classify them as full-bown errors — The American Dream offers a unique chance to see ourselves as others see us.
is available on Amazon.com,
Comments on this entry are closed.