What Do I Read Next?
- Similar to Shoeless Joe, Kinsella's second novel, The Iowa Baseball Confederacy (1986), features mystical themes of magic and religion intertwined with baseball rituals. The story follows a man who, while attempting to prove the existence of a minor league in Iowa during the early 1900s, is transported back in time to experience and engage in it firsthand.
- Say It Ain't So, Joe!: The True Story of Shoeless Joe Jackson (2nd ed., 1999) by Donald Gropman is a well-researched and engaging biography of Shoeless Joe Jackson. The author contends that Jackson was not involved in the 1919 Black Sox scandal.
- The Boys of Summer (1972) by Roger Kahn is a celebrated work of baseball literature. Kahn, a lifelong Brooklyn Dodgers fan, traveled with the team as a young journalist in 1952 and 1953. His memoir offers touching narratives about the players' lives after their careers ended.
- Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series (1962) by Eliot Asinof is the most thorough examination of the infamous scandal. The book provides a vivid and gripping account.
- The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield does for golf what Shoeless Joe did for baseball. This novel not only revolves around golf but also uses the sport as a metaphor for life, drawing inspiration from the religious philosophy of the ancient Indian text, the Bhagavad Gita.
- Many critics consider The Natural by Bernard Malamud (1952) to be the finest baseball novel ever written. The protagonist, Roy Hobbs, is a blend of Joe Jackson, Babe Ruth, and Eddie Waitkus. His bat, Wonderboy, is a reimagining of Jackson's famous bat, Black Betsy.
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