I first read Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella over 20 years ago, probably not long after it was published. I was reading a lot of sports books in those days, but this offering was an entirely different animal altogether.
Sure, this book is about baseball, but it's also about magic, the existence of heaven, family, faith, redemption, and destiny. In other words, this book has it all.
Enjoy the "Costnerized" movie version Field of Dreams, if you must, but do take the time to read the novel. It's much better.
The collector in me was satisfied as well recently when I was able to acquire an American first edition of this classic for around $100. While the $200-$300 values showing for this edition don't even come close to matching the $5000 plus prices seen for Bernard Malamud's The Natural, one has to think that America's insatiable devotion to their pastime can only cause the price to go up.
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