Reader’s Diary

Nicholas A. Basbanes

This might better have been subtitled “the reading habits of famous, mostly literary, people”. It’s not so much the story of books that have “stirred the world” as it is of books that were read by people who did the stirring. Not that it’s uninteresting; the interview with David McCullough on the reading habits of American presidents is particularity good. It does, however, lack the cohesiveness of Basbanes’ earlier books-about-books. His failure to include any discussion of religious works, other than a chapter devoted to Elaine Pagels’ unorthodox treatment of the Bible, is a glaring omission.

Sinclair Lewis

The stories collected in this anthology were written for popular magazines throughout Lewis’ career. They all take place in Lewis’ fictional Minnesota: Gopher Prairie, Zenith, and other towns and cities familiar to readers of his longer and better-known works. Aside from geography, they’re tied together by Lewis’ trademark sympathy for his often-hapless characters.

There are two amusing stories in which Lewis himself appears as a writer. In one he returns to Gopher Prairie and visits the Kennicotts and in another he interviews Georg Babbit. The best, least dated stories in the book are “Things”, the tale of a family owned by their possessions, and “He Loved His Country”, the story of a German immigrant and his suspicious neighbors.

Sam Walker

I like books about other peoples’ obsessions. I also enjoy “amateur takes on the pro” accounts. And I like playing and reading about games. I’m not much of a baseball fan. “Fantasyland” appeals to me three out of four ways; Sam Walker’s batting .750 as far as I’m concerned.

Walker, a Wall Street Journal sports reporter (they have sports reporters?) tried to beat the biggest names in fantasy baseball during the 2004 “Tout Wars” season. “Fantasyland” is an account of his quixotic quest. He used his press pass and a staff. Yes, he hired two assistants: a NASA scientist to be his “numbers guy” and a produce warehouse worker with a history degree to be his “people guy”. During the season he met some interesting folks: ball players, scouts, managers (real and fantasy) and baseball geeks.

Did his expenditure, access, and cunning prevail? To reveal much more would be to reveal too much. Suffice it to say that this is a fun and fascinating book. Just as you don’t have to play Scrabble to enjoy “Word Freak“, you don’t have to enjoy fantasy baseball to enjoy “Fantasyland”.