Review by mialanca17 -- The Fat Lady's Low, Sad Song
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mialanca17
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- Latest Review: The Fat Lady's Low, Sad Song by Brian Kaufman
Review by mialanca17 -- The Fat Lady's Low, Sad Song
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Fat Lady's Low, Sad Song" by Brian Kaufman.]
The Fat Lady’s Low, Sad Song is an easily digestible quick read that follows Parker Westfall’s journey, both as a person and as a baseball player, from the moment he signs for a minor baseball league to the end of an exceptionally turbulent season. Parker is a flawed, aging professional baseball player with a quick temper that finds himself tangled in a web of human connections, teamwork, and unexpected life affairs, as he attempts to navigate his way through life and hopes to score his last shot at playing for the major leagues.
Reading this book, it was clear to me that the author, Brian Kaufman, is a man passionate about baseball - the chapters describing the games were a delight to read. They were dynamic, interesting, and captured my attention effortlessly. Furthermore, I found the chapters that were inserted in the main storyline and had nothing to do with Peter, smart addition to the story. They gave the story depth and put it into context (they were also the most well-written parts of the novel). In addition to that, the book is edited exceptionally well and lacks any grammatical errors or typos. Certain plotlines (such as the one revolving around the first professional female player) had potential but were underdeveloped and ultimately anticlimactic.
However, the book is far from perfect. My main problem with it is its inconsistent writing; I couldn’t shake the impression that the author was set on a simple, everyday expression but still wanted to explore his artistic potential, inserting almost poetical sentences amid “locker room talk”. It felt out of place and it was hard to read. Dialogues are poorly written as well - they are stiff and sound nothing like an ordinary conversation (not to mention the jokes that almost always fall flat). My last complaint on the writing is the lack of showing and an abundance of telling - everything is explicitly stated, nothing is left for the reader to picture, guess, connect.
The book does have a targeted audience which consists mostly of adult baseball fans - the themes of career uncertainty and aging in the combination with swearing and beforehand mentioned “locker room talk” do require a more mature demographic. Unfortunately, the failure to deepen the plot revolving around Courtney lost the novel a portion of female readers that don’t follow baseball.
I would rate this book a two out of four stars. It is far from a masterpiece and I think there is a wide array of sport fiction more worthy of a reader’s time, but I cannot ignore the fact that the writing (and the story) do improve as the novel advances. Ultimately, if the reader is not expecting anything exceptional and is willing to sit through the underwhelming first half of the book, the combination of a pretty good ending, the improvement in quality, and the low effort required to get through it could result in an enjoyable read.
******
The Fat Lady's Low, Sad Song
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Fat Lady’s Low, Sad Song is an easily digestible quick read that follows Parker Westfall’s journey, both as a person and as a baseball player, from the moment he signs for a minor baseball league to the end of an exceptionally turbulent season. Parker is a flawed, aging professional baseball player with a quick temper that finds himself tangled in a web of human connections, teamwork, and unexpected life affairs, as he attempts to navigate his way through life and hopes to score his last shot at playing for the major leagues.
Reading this book, it was clear to me that the author, Brian Kaufman, is a man passionate about baseball - the chapters describing the games were a delight to read. They were dynamic, interesting, and captured my attention effortlessly. Furthermore, I found the chapters that were inserted in the main storyline and had nothing to do with Peter, smart addition to the story. They gave the story depth and put it into context (they were also the most well-written parts of the novel). In addition to that, the book is edited exceptionally well and lacks any grammatical errors or typos. Certain plotlines (such as the one revolving around the first professional female player) had potential but were underdeveloped and ultimately anticlimactic.
However, the book is far from perfect. My main problem with it is its inconsistent writing; I couldn’t shake the impression that the author was set on a simple, everyday expression but still wanted to explore his artistic potential, inserting almost poetical sentences amid “locker room talk”. It felt out of place and it was hard to read. Dialogues are poorly written as well - they are stiff and sound nothing like an ordinary conversation (not to mention the jokes that almost always fall flat). My last complaint on the writing is the lack of showing and an abundance of telling - everything is explicitly stated, nothing is left for the reader to picture, guess, connect.
The book does have a targeted audience which consists mostly of adult baseball fans - the themes of career uncertainty and aging in the combination with swearing and beforehand mentioned “locker room talk” do require a more mature demographic. Unfortunately, the failure to deepen the plot revolving around Courtney lost the novel a portion of female readers that don’t follow baseball.
I would rate this book a two out of four stars. It is far from a masterpiece and I think there is a wide array of sport fiction more worthy of a reader’s time, but I cannot ignore the fact that the writing (and the story) do improve as the novel advances. Ultimately, if the reader is not expecting anything exceptional and is willing to sit through the underwhelming first half of the book, the combination of a pretty good ending, the improvement in quality, and the low effort required to get through it could result in an enjoyable read.
******
The Fat Lady's Low, Sad Song
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Fat Lady's Low, Sad Song by Brian Kaufman
