the natural

by Bernard Malamud

I like baseball fiction and wanted to like this. But I couldn't. The main character was ultimately too damaged, and unredeemable. I couldn't connect to the women. The whole thing left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I haven't seen the movie but can't imagine it's much like the book.

more baseball books

In addition to Ring Lardner's You Know Me Al and Bernard Malamud's The Natural (in my stack), Jonathan Yardley recommends the following baseball books:

The Man Who Brought Joy to Mudville (By JONATHAN YARDLEY, September 25, 2006, Page C01)
Veeck -- As in Wreck, The autobiography of Bill Veeck

A Deal With The Devil That Still Pays Dividends (By JONATHAN YARDLEY, August 11, 2005, Page C01)
The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant by Douglass Wallop

Pitcher Jim Brosnan, Throwing a Perfect Game (By Jonathan Yardley, April 7, 2004, Page C01)
The Long Season by Jim Brosnan.

Also see Mark Harris's books.