I am a member of Blogging for Books and received George F. Will's book, A Nice Little Place on the North Side: A History of Triumph, Mostly Defeat, and Incurable Hope at Wrigley Field for review.
I chose this book because I grew up watching Cubs baseball with my Dad on WGN. My Dad was in a rotisserie baseball league and I would help him draft his teams every season. I would spend my mornings, during baseball season, going over every box score and had most players' stats memorized. But while I have stood outside of Wrigley Field, I have never actually been to a game there. I figured reading this book might give me a little insight in to things I didn't know about the Cubs and Wrigley Field.
While the book does have lots of facts and stories to tell, it is not all baseball. There are a lot of references to literature, economics and more. The author eventually relates (or tries to relate) these things to the Cubs or Wrigley but it reminded me of when I was in college having to write long papers and just trying to stick random stuff in there to get my word count up.
The back cover of the book said the author was giving us a "deeply personal look" at the Cubs and their home turf. I never felt that Will had that sort of connection. I also felt that a lot of the stories were just ones retold from other sources. I would have really liked some insider information or anecdotes from people who rarely speak to authors or the media. I suppose in this day and age, it is so easy to get information with the click of the mouse, that I was expecting a little more from a published book.
I also would have liked more pictures. There are several throughout the book (the Ronald Reagan pictures are my personal favorite) but it would've been neat to see different pictures of Wrigley Field over the years.
Overall, I think those who have a connection to the Cubs or MLB will find the book interesting but I think they will also be left wanting more.
Have you read this book? What'd you think?
Want another opinion on it? Go check out my friend Meg's review!
I read this book with Blogging for Books, too, and had the EXACT same thoughts. The author really tried to make some connections that weren't there. That being said, I still looooove the Cubbies. After our Panthers adventure, can we plan a Chicago Cubs weekend??? :)
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