A sweeping study of American baseball during World War II, from the players who enlisted to their replacements and the overall effects on the game.On December 7, 1941, as the battleships in Pearl Harbor smoldered, one of the most powerful athletes in America, Detroit Tigers MVP Hank Greenberg, made a tumultuous decision—to leave the baseball field for the field of war.His decision left baseball's place during the war uncertain as more and more ballplayers, ...

“Delightful . . . A treat for dictionary hounds and vocabulary-challenged word lovers everywhere.”—BooklistFor most of us, these prizewinning spelling bee words would be difficult to pronounce, let alone spell. We asked twenty-one of today’s most talented and inventive writers to go even further and pen an original tale inspired by one of dozens of obscure and fascinating championship words. The result is Logorrhea—a veritable dictionary of the we...

The Hugo Award-winning Electric Velocipede ran for twelve years, publishing twenty-seven issues over the course of its run. The magazine was nominated four years in a row for a World Fantasy Award. Its stories appeared in Gardner Dozois’ and Jonathan Strahan’s year’s best anthologies and were also shortlisted for the Sturgeon and Tiptree Awards.The Best of Electric Velocipede showcases a breathtaking thirty-four pieces of high quality work published during its run. If you’ve never ...

The story of Willie Mays's rookie year with the Negro American League's Birmingham Black Barons, the Last Negro World Series, and the making of a baseball legendBaseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays is one of baseball's endearing greats, a tremendously talented and charismatic center fielder who hit 660 career homeruns, collected 3,283 hits, knocked in 1,903 runs, won 12 Gold Glove Awards and appeared in 24 All-Star games. But before Mays was the "Say Hey Kid", he was just a boy. ...

The true story of "one of the most colorful—and neglected—underdog champions in baseball history" (Mark Frost, New York Times– bestselling author).The rip-roaring tale of baseball's most unlikely champions, featuring interviews with Henry Aaron, Bob Uecker and other members of the Milwaukee Braves, Bushville Wins! takes fans to an era baseball and the Heartland will never forget.In the early 1950s, the Ne...

A chilling short story prequel to Dean Koontz’s forthcoming full-length novel, INNOCENCE. Addison Goodheart is only eight years old, but he already knows he is not like other people.Addison Goodheart is a mystery even to himself. He was born in an isolated home surrounded by a deep forest, seeing no one but his mother, who barely accepts him. She is haunted by private demons and keeps many secrets – none of which she dreads more than the young son who adores her.Only in the...

Playfulness, spare elegance, and wit epitomize the poetry of Billy Collins.With his distinct voice and accessible language, America’s two-term Poet Laureate has opened the door to poetry for countless people for whom it might otherwise remain closed.Like the present book’s title, Collins’s poems are filled with mischief, humor, and irony, “Poetry speaks to all people, it is said, but here I would like to address / only those in my own time zone”–but also with quiet observation, int...

Sylvia Plath is one of the defining voices in twentieth-century poetry. This classic selection of her work, made by her former husband Ted Hughes, provides the perfect introduction to this most influential of poets. The poems are taken from Sylvia Plath's four collections Ariel , The Colossus , Crossing the Water and Winter Trees, and includes many of her most-celebrated works, such as 'Daddy', 'Lady Lazarus' and 'Wuthering Heights'.

I Had a Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story is an intimate memoir by a baseball legend—and a fascinating social history of twentieth-century America.The Classic New York Times BestsellerThe man who shattered Babe Ruth's lifetime home run record, Henry "Hammering Hank" Aaron left his indelible mark on professional baseball and the world. But the world also left its mark on him.With courage and candor, Aaron's revelatory life ...

The door to fantastic worlds, skewed realities, and breathtaking other realms is opened wide to you once more in this third anthology of the finest short fantasy fiction to emerge over the past year, compiled by acclaimed editor David G. Hartwell. Rarely has a more magnificent collection of tales been contained between book covers -- phenomenal visions of the impossible-made-possible by some of the field's most accomplished literary artists and stellar talents on the rise. Year's Best Fant...

Acclaimed sportswriter Allen Barra exposes the uncanny parallels--and lifelong friendship--between two of the greatest baseball players ever to take the field.Culturally, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays were light-years apart. Yet they were nearly the same age and almost the same size, and they came to New York at the same time. They possessed virtually the same talents and played the same position. They were both products of generations of baseball-playing families,...

William Louis "Bill" Veeck, Jr. (1914-1986) is legendary in many ways-baseball impresario and innovator, independent spirit, champion of civil rights in a time of great change. Paul Dickson has written the first full biography of this towering figure, in the process rewriting many aspects of his life and bringing alive the history of America's pastime. In his late 20s, Veeck bought into his first team, the American Association Milwaukee Brewers. After serving and losing a leg in WWII, he b...