Calico Joe: A Novel
Written by John Grisham
Narrated by Erik Singer
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
A surprising and moving novel of fathers and sons, forgiveness and redemption, set in the world of Major League Baseball…
Whatever happened to Calico Joe?
It began quietly enough with a pulled hamstring. The first baseman for the Cubs AAA affiliate in Wichita went down as he rounded third and headed for home. The next day, Jim Hickman, the first baseman for the Cubs, injured his back. The team suddenly needed someone to play first, so they reached down to their AA club in Midland, Texas, and called up a twenty-one-year-old named Joe Castle. He was the hottest player in AA and creating a buzz.
In the summer of 1973 Joe Castle was the boy wonder of baseball, the greatest rookie anyone had ever seen. The kid from Calico Rock, Arkansas dazzled Cub fans as he hit home run after home run, politely tipping his hat to the crowd as he shattered all rookie records.
Calico Joe quickly became the idol of every baseball fan in America, including Paul Tracey, the young son of a hard-partying and hard-throwing Mets pitcher. On the day that Warren Tracey finally faced Calico Joe, Paul was in the stands, rooting for his idol but also for his Dad. Then Warren threw a fastball that would change their lives forever…
In John Grisham's new novel the baseball is thrilling, but it's what happens off the field that makes Calico Joe a classic.
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Reviews for Calico Joe
487 ratings53 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is a gentler, easier read than Grisham's legal fiction. I was able to predict the plot before it happened, which might bother some readers. The narrative jumps between the past and the present. The past is tied to a young baseball fan who happens to be the son of a major league pitcher.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Excellent book! I loved baseball as a little girl and followed major league teams and collected baseball cards. I recognized many of the names of the baseball players mentioned in the book and it was fun to read because of that. However, you do not need to know baseball or how the sport is played to thoroughly enjoy the book. Calico Joe is told from the perspective of Paul, the son of a major league baseball pitcher, Warren Tracey. Paul wants to idolize his father, but his father is abusive and drinks and criticizes everything about 11-year-old Paul, who plays baseball as a pitcher. During the same summer, a rookie, Joe Castle is breaking all kinds of records and leading the Cubs to a winning season. Paul follows everything about Joe Castle and is excited to see if play the night his father is pitching. What Paul's father does that night on the baseball field changes all of their lives forever.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Paul Tracey has had little contact with his father over the years until he gets a call saying his father is dying. Paul knows that this will have little impact on his life but feels it is time to close some open wounds from his past. "After a few minutes, I admit the truth - life without Warren will be the same as life with him." Paul revisits his childhood as the son of a major league ball player and the son of the most hated man in baseball in 1973. Paul will travel many miles to try and make Warren face up to the wrongs that he did in the past and get closure for themselves and for the man who Warren ruined everything for.John Grisham steps outside his norm of writing legal thrillers and delivers this touching story. You don't have to like baseball to enjoy this story.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not one of Grisham's best. Admittedly, it was odd to have the primary character be female - but overall the story was a bit weak - it just did not "grab" me like most of his have done. Seem like the author is running a bit hot & cold lately.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book is somewhat entertaining and is well written. The book includes enough historical facts to make the story believable. The characters are somewhat stereotypical and the ending is unlikely. The story would best be appreciated by a baseball or sports fan. I mildly recommend this book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A baseball story by John Grisham...who knew? Grisham did a great job with the baseball characters, interweaving actual ball players from the time. The story is really about family and relationships...wrapped in baseball. It unfolds nicely and keeps the listener's interest. One of the heroes, Joe Castle, is almost too good to believe, but believe we do. Joe's antagonist is a ball player pitcher and dad that you must hate. The story of the two is heart warming and facilitated by the pitcher's son.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Baseball is just the setting. The story is really about a man coming to terms with his father and being able to bring about a pivotal point in his father's dying days. I am sure that baseball could become the backdrop for just about any part of life's learning experiences, but if you pick this up expecting a "baseball" story you may be disappointed. I was, a little, and thus gave it 3.5 stars rather than 4.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5John Grisham tells the story of an amazing baseball rookie and his fate during the 1973 baseball season. Told by a young man who used to love baseball, it's really two stories. The chapters alternate between his childhood and the journey he takes later on to right the wrong done by his father 30 years earlier. While reading this, I sometimes held my breath for the boy and sometimes, like the fans, for Joe.Baseball is a great summertime subject. I recommend this story for the thrill as well as the tragedy.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enjoyed this. Loosely based on the true story of the only man in baseball to die from a beanball and some of Grisham's own experience with the sport. A nice change from all the legal thrillers.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I wish the story was told from Red Castle's or Charlie Castle's point of view. The story was told by a relative of a truly horrible person. The inability of Calico Joe's villain to apologize struck very close. The baseball parts were well done. This could have been a heartwarming, good vs evil novel. It was depressing.1,635 members; 3.69 average rating; 3/19/2022
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/55670. Calico Joe, by John Grisham (read 17 Jan 2020) This book has 1398 members who have it on LibraryThing and 81 reviews thereon. It is a fictional story relating very unlikely exploits in major league baseball which uses real names of players and somewhat suggests it tells of actual events in 1973. The author shows he knows something about the attraction of major league ball for youth who 'discover' it. I discovered it when I was 9 years old and in the next season, 1938, I was an avid fan of the Cubs (and remain their fan today) and knew every major league player and saved newspaper accounts of Cubs games. I was overjoyed when they won the pennant that year. So that aspect of this book resonated with me, though the extraordinary feats of Calico Joe did not because they were so fantastic that one could not believe them possible. The story depicts a super hero and a despicable pitcher who beans Joe. One hopes for a stunning outcome but I was disappointed and conclude that the story had nothing to tell me. As one who has read many Grisham books, some of which I enthused over, I conclude this book is a disappointment.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5John Grisham knows how to write a fluid story, with prose that keeps moving and never leaves you confused about what's happening. This novella is a nice baseball story, interweaving fiction into the 1973 Major League baseball season, in a nice, seamless way.It's narrated by Paul Tracy, the son of a miserable, alcoholic, philandering major league pitcher in the 1970s. It's set in 2003, with flashbacks to a fateful 1973 season in which an impossibly talented rookie nicknamed "Calico Joe" bursts upon the scene with the Cubs and sets pretty much every record in the books in his first weeks in baseball. In 2003, Paul's father is diagnosed with terminal cancer, and the narrator goes on a quest to right a wrong done by his father to Joe in '73.The story unfolds clearly, and by the time we learn exactly what happened in 1973 we've already guessed it easily enough. The book is gauzy, and Joe is a throwback baseball-novel protagonist in the tradition of The Kid From Tomkinsville and The Natural- not a particularly nuanced character, but a square-jawed, humble, absurdly skilled young man. And the narrator's father is pretty one dimensional too.Good airplane read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved it. It was hard getting through the baseball scenes when you knew what was coming... it was a FAST, soppy story... I'd even read it again!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If you are a baseball fan, this is a great read. It's a small book so doesn't take very long.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Nice job and a nice change from the barristers. Not as much depth as Painted House but the baseball theme links the two.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The writing is spectacular in this short book from John Grisham, great characters that you won't soon forget.
If you like baseball then I recommend it.
If you don't like baseball but are a Grisham fan (this is not one of his legal thrillers) then I recommend it.
If you don't like Grisham or baseball you might want to pass. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Quick and easy read. The ending was unsatisfying and the characters were a little too black and white but as a baseball fan I enjoyed the story.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quickest read in a long time. Mr. Grisham has put together a baseball book that kindles the spirit of baseball and the relationship between father and son. Now this wouldn't be your ideal relationship by far, but being a husband and father of two it helps reinforce the effort you place in being a good dad and husband or makes you long to be better.
The descriptions and approaches during the moments when Joe Castle are playing baseball is great. It's just enough to satisfy a baseball obsessed fan and not too much for those new to the game.
Overall a great easy read and I'd recommend this to anyone wanting a good flashback at the height of baseball n the 70's, even if it's fictional. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quickest read in a long time. Mr. Grisham has put together a baseball book that kindles the spirit of baseball and the relationship between father and son. Now this wouldn't be your ideal relationship by far, but being a husband and father of two it helps reinforce the effort you place in being a good dad and husband or makes you long to be better.
The descriptions and approaches during the moments when Joe Castle are playing baseball is great. It's just enough to satisfy a baseball obsessed fan and not too much for those new to the game.
Overall a great easy read and I'd recommend this to anyone wanting a good flashback at the height of baseball n the 70's, even if it's fictional. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/54.5 stars.John Grisham, obviously, is a very accomplished writer of most tense legal thrillers, all of which are best sellers. Every once in a while, he strays from that genre and writes simply fantastic day-in-the-life type books of which I I can't get enough. This is one of those books, and fits right along with "Playing for Pizza" and "A Painted House". Those two books weren't well received, but for some reason, I like those a whole lot more that the legal thrillers. There's something about how he captures emotions and passion of simple people, people with dreams and goals, people with problems, and how events often overcome both the dreams and the problems.This is a quick read about a young hot-shot ball player out of Calico Rock, Arkansas, his meteoric rise in the majors and the end of his career after just a few games in the summer of 1973. It is also the story of a young boy who idolized him, and the impact Calico Joe had on his life.Highly recommended for baseball fans, and fans of good, solid writing.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book was good, but was not as good as I had expected. It was a slow book and was hard to understand at first, but the plot was somewhat interesting so I kept reading. This was not as good as John Grisham's other books that I have read, but it was a refreshing change from the books that I have read lately.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I love baseball and I've very much enjoyed John Grisham's legal thrillers in past years. However, I wasn't necessarily expecting to enjoy a baseball novel by John Grisham. I'm not sure why. I suppose I assumed it would be a sappy, family-oriented, feel-good novel that wouldn't live up to his previous books. But I was wrong. I liked it. A lot. (And being a National League and Chicago Cubs fan myself, it didn't hurt that he highlighted the Cubs and Mets in this particular story.)This is a novel, but it read more like historical fiction or possibly nonfiction/memoir. In fact, often while reading it, I wanted it to be such. I easily found myself getting wrapped up in this story of a rising baseball star, tragically struck in the head by a pitch. The story is narrated by the son of a rival player, who idolizes not his father, but the young victim whose career ended way too early.I loved this book for many reasons -- being a big baseball fan myself only one of them -- but this story could easily appeal to anyone, even to someone with minimal to no knowledge of baseball. It wasn't a flawless story (a little excessive drama nearer the end, with the father/son confrontation), but definitely worth a recommendation.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was a quick and enjoyable read. No lawyers in this one, but I love baseball and enjoyed the interweaving of baseball facts with fiction.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A young journalist works to connect his pitcher father with the rising star of a player he destroyed. Well written and easy read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved this book so much! This was a blind-date with a book pick from my library for the summer reading program and I am SO happy I got this one. I am a baseball fan and have been forever and this book was wonderful at capturing the emotions that come along with being a sports fan that it was spectacular. The book is about a pitcher's son who is recapping some of his childhood but also in modern day trying to get his father to atone for some of his character flaws from those times. Along with that it is the story of baseball, a young boys life, and so much more. I began reading this book not knowing what to expect and within the first few pages found tears in my eyes. If you have ever loved a sport you know about the highs and lows that come with it and for me that really brings me back to sports in my life and the emotions with them - this book makes you reminisce.The main character tells the tale of his father and baseball effortlessly and at times in the style of an announcer and while he isn't and most of the facts and stats are fiction, as a reader you feel like you are there at a game. It was brilliant.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I tried to find some audio books that my husband would like for the trip. (He's not much of a reader.) Calico Joe differs from Grisham's typical legal thriller. Instead, Grisham recounts the early career of Calico Joe, a baseball player who lit up the lineup of the Chicago Cubs, and an aging pitcher, whose career is headed in the opposite direction. Told in flashbacks, Grisham tells a good story, and his books always work well for me on audio.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I'm really glad I read this! A nice story about the meteoric rise and fall of a baseball player in 1973. Though Joe is fictional, a great deal of his world, especially the players, are real and this adds a nice touch to the tale. As does the relationship of the father and son. My only "complaint" is that this a very quick read, more of a novella than a novel. In fact, towards the end of this book I came across this passage, "Would it be a book?" Red asks. "I don't think so. Probably a long magazine piece." That's exactly how I felt about this book. Good, but much too short.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In 1973, Paul Tracey was just another eleven year old baseball fan, with one slight difference from most. His father pitched for the Mets, but not very well. The only thing worse than his pitching abilities were his parenting skills. Paul was happiest when his dad was on the road, but he tried to remain loyal to the Mets. But when a boy wonder from Calico Rock, Arkansas named Joe Castle soared to baseball fame, all of America was mesmerized. Paul couldn't help but secretly cheer for "Calico Joe" with the rest of the country. But one terrible afternoon, with Paul in the stands, "Calico Joe" was at bat and Paul's dad was on the mound. Life changed forever for Paul, Joe, and all baseball fans that day.John Grisham is so renowned that it's daunting to review his novels. I know many of his readers become unhappy when he strays from the legal thriller genre, but Calico Joe only proves his storytelling genius. I know nothing of baseball so I can't tell you whether or not he's accurate on his descriptions of the game, but his story kept me spellbound. I could not put the book down until I knew what happened. Admittedly, part of it was predictable, but it was still good. The funny thing is that even when it has nothing to do with a courtroom or the law, you can still tell it's Grisham. His voice is unmistakable. 5 starsDisclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Goodreads First Reads book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It seems like the Cubs captures everyone’s attention, whether or not they are in a chase to be the World Series champions. In this tale, a rookie for the Cubs becomes their hope for the future. He stirs the hearts of his fellow players and fans, but especially captivates a young boy whose father happens to pitch for a rival team. When these two teams meet, the boy’s life is never the same, but then neither is his father’s nor his idol’s. Grisham’s tale of baseball is littered with names you will recognize, but it is his story of a young boy who grows up and tries to make things right that will capture your interest. And if you haven’t yet read this story, there is no better time than now to read about the would-be champs who in 2016 became World Champions.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Wer Baseball liebt, wird dieses Buch mögen. Alle anderen werden es nicht verstehen und sollten es meiden, weil hier über Traditionen dieser Sportart geschrieben wird.