If Wishes Were Horses
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Author Description
An entertaining romp about love, loss, crime, and baseball, from the bestselling author of Shoeless Joe.Washed-up pitcher Joe McCoy, in a strange twist of fate, has wound up as a fugitive running from the FBI. Without many other options, Joe goes home to Iowa to try to seek out the only two men who just might be able to help him—Ray Kinsella and Gideon Clarke… “Continuing his series of bestselling baseball sagas…W.P. Kinsella brings nomadic pitcher Joe McCoy to the role of protagonist. Romping from bed to bed, he flops through a career of eight wins and 23 losses, tries journalism without much success, kidnaps a diplomat’s baby, helps stick up a burger joint, and comes to terms with his life as his teenage sweetheart lies dying in hospital…a good read…What makes the book complex and more than just a comedy is time shifting as Kinsella goes from present to past and on to dreams of what might have been. The technique gives the story depth, brings motivation into view, and reveals McCoy’s character to be that of a man in fear of the world. Thus the struggle to break rules, his contempt for cleanliness, the law, and accountants.”— Quill & Quire
Menrva's Summary
THE PULSE
After a series of disastrous life choices, washed-up pitcher Joe McCoy finds himself a fugitive from the FBI and seeks refuge with two men who might hold the key to his salvation. McCoy navigates a chaotic existence defined by failed relationships, petty crime, and a lackluster professional baseball career. As he retreats to his Iowa roots, he must confront the reality of his past while his former sweetheart faces a terminal illness. The narrative employs a non-linear structure, weaving between the present, past, and speculative dreams to examine the internal state of a man perpetually at odds with societal norms.
INSIDE THE PAGES
- Non-linear narrative structure shifting between past, present, and dream sequences
- Exploration of the protagonist's deep-seated fear of societal expectations
- Integration of baseball as a thematic backdrop for personal failure
- Episodic progression featuring diverse settings from burger joints to hospital rooms
- Character-driven focus on a man defined by his contempt for authority and law
- Use of dark humor to balance themes of loss and criminal desperation
- Epistolary or reflective elements detailing the protagonist's internal monologue
- Examination of the tension between reality and what might have been
THE COLLECTIVE ECHO
Critics have noted that the work functions as a complex character study rather than a straightforward comedy. The narrative technique of time-shifting is frequently highlighted as the primary mechanism that provides depth to McCoy’s otherwise erratic behavior. Readers often observe that the book successfully balances the absurdity of the protagonist's criminal exploits with the somber reality of his personal losses. The prose is recognized for its ability to reveal the motivations of a man who is fundamentally in fear of the world around him.
Page Count:
216
Publication Date:
1997-01-01
Publisher:
Harpercollins
ISBN-10:
0006481140
ISBN-13:
9780006481140
Fiction
Contemporary
Humor
Sports
Subjects
Baseball
