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Title: Hoopla by Harry Stein ISBN: 0-312-38983-3 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: April, 1986 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.14 (7 reviews)

Rating: 2
Summary: Huck Finn With A Lobotomy -- On 'Ludes!
Comment: What sinks this book is that Harry Stein can't stop reminding himself that, darn it, he is SMARTER than Buck Weaver! Well, gee, I suppose so -- but I doubt the historical Buck was quite as dumb as the clod who narrates this book in such a banal, blundering way, like Huck Finn with a lobotomy on 'ludes.

Like most middle class white guys, Harry Stein apparently has some real guilt feelings about class privilege, and tends to overcompensate with ritualized paens of worship for blue collar athletes. The idea is to write about baseball players like they are gods, to prove that, darn it, you DO believe in the American dream. One man is as good as another, etc. etc. Then, of course, you oh so subtly (well, not so subtly if you're a clod like Harry Stein) reveal that -- SURPRISE!!!! -- these gods of the diamond are really just TOO weak-willed and naive -- not evil, you undertand, but just hopelessly dumb. Like children, in fact. So the status quo makes sense after all. Good thing the REAL heroes in our society are deskbound guys like us!

An insult to baseball, the American working class, and last but certainly not least to Mr. George D. Weaver, HOOPLA is the literary equivalent of a bunt that rolls foul. A nuisance, but not worth chasing down.

Rating: 5
Summary: A great summer book
Comment: Hoopla was the most satisfying baseball novel I have ever read. There are two main characters and they take turns writing chapters. The first is fictitious sportswriter, Luther Pond looking back at his career from the perspective of the 1970s. The other character is real-life Black Sox player, Buck Weaver and his experiences in baseball before and after the scandal that rocked baseball.

The book is billed as a novel about the Black Sox, but it's not just an account of that season, but a reflection of the careers of two men who wound up in the middle of that notorious event.

Luther Pond begins his story as a cub reporter covering the famous boxer, John L. Sullivan, who himself is covering a big boxing match featuring the first black heavyweight champion, Jack Johnson. Pond learns that Sullivan is now fat and alcoholic and doesn't even write his own copy for the newspaper. Pond goes on to demolish the legend of other athletes too by digging into Ty Cobb's past and uncovering information that suggests he also had his hand in fixing ballgames.

Buck Weaver is portrayed as a young cocky player who passivity gets him caught up in situations not of his making. Ultimately it gets him kicked out of baseball.

What really made the book work for me is that Stein writes with a style that is somewhere between Ring Lardner and Damon Runyon, two men who were both sportswriters at this time, but would later go on to greater glory through their fiction. For me that style captures the time as well as the story.

Some books you enjoy all the way through and some you enjoy more in reflection. Hoopla is definitely one you'll enjoy all the way to the finish.

Rating: 5
Summary: Buck Weaver tells it as he lived it.
Comment: I've been reading all the materials I can possibly track down on the 1919 World Series, the Black Sox, and Buck Weaver for some time and this book rates with the best of them. Hoopla is a timeline, recording the thoughts and memories of one of the Black Sox most prominent figures; George "Buck" Weaver, and intertwines them with the ficticious actions of the author. The chapters written by Weaver brought more realization to the events surrounding the 1919 World Series than any other material I've discovered. Buck writes with a humorous slang and much emotion as he describes a turn of events from his first days in the big leagues through the 1921 decision to ban him for life. Stein's fictional character also adds depth to this period of time lending a sports writers perception to the storyline. The 1919 World Series in all its fascination has been described a million times over, but to read it straight from the horses mouth gives it pure life. Anyone interested in this time period and or the events I've mentioned should sincerely enjoy this awesome book.