Synopses & Reviews
This is a story about coming of age in America by way of the baseball diamond. Lefthander Henry Wiggen, six feet three, a hundred ninety-five pounds, and the greatest pitcher going, grows to manhood in a righthanded world. From his small-town beginnings to the top of the game, Henry finds out how hard it is to please his coach, his girl, and the sports page—and himself, too—all at once. Written in Henry's own words, this exuberant, funny novel follows his eccentric course from bush league to the World Series.
Also available in Bison Book editions are Bang the Drum Slowly, It Looked Like For Ever, and A Ticket for a Seamstitch, the other three volumes in the Henry Wiggen series.
Review
"Even those whose knowledge of baseball is elemental will find the book worth reading. For let there be no doubt about it, this is a distinguished and unusual book."—New York Times San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"It's greatly to Mr. Harris's credit that he makes his story credible, lends it a good deal of suspense and. . . gets the reader to thinking that Henry Wiggen deserves a fine future in baseball and out."—New York Herald Tribune New York Times
Review
"Even those whose knowledge of baseball is elemental will find the book worth reading. For let there be no doubt about it, this is a distinguished and unusual book."-New York Times
(New York Times)
Review
"Mr. Harris's novelistic achievement is a considerable one. He has taken a long, serious, and penetrating look at American mores and morals. And he has done this while telling a highly dramatic, colorful, and absorbingly exciting action story."—Saturday Review New York Herald Tribune
Review
"As the temperature warmed up in recent days, there was no better way to prepare for the season than to reread Mark Harriss The Southpaw, one of the finest sports books I know. . . . Harris loves the game itself, and he never loses sight of its value to America." —George Vecsey, The New York Times George Vecsey
Review
"Cheers to Mark Harris, who gives us by far the best 'serious baseball novel published."—San Francisco Chronicle The New York Times
About the Author
Mark Harris (1922-2007).