Selected Shorts

Baseball!

By: John Updike, T. C. Boyle

Narrated by: Jack Davidson, Fritz Weaver

Selected Shorts is an award-winning series of classic and contemporary short fiction read by acclaimed actors. The readings are recorded live at Peter Norton Symphony Space in New York City. The Selected Shorts radio series is a co-production of Symphony Space and WNYC, New York Public Radio, and is heard on public radio stations nationwide.

In this collection of timeless classics:

Roger Angell and A. Bartlett Giamatti's "Play by Play"

John Updike's "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu" read by Jack Davidson

Rolfe Humphries' "Polo Grounds" read by Fritz Weaver

Robert Francis' "Pitcher" and "Base Stealer" read by Arthur French

Robert Fitzgerald's "Cobb Would Have Caught It" read by Jonathan Hadary

Roger Angell's "Game Six" read by the author

Yusef Komunyakaa's "Glory" read by Isaiah Sheffer

W.P. Kinsella's "The Thrill of the Grass" read by John Shea

Ken Kalfus' "The Joy and Melancholy Baseball Trivia Quiz" read by Jack Davidson

T.C. Boyle's "The Hector Quesadilla Story" read by Jerry Zaks

A. Bartlett Giamatti's "The Green Fields of the Mind" read by the author

©2006 The Symphony Space, Inc. (P)2006 The Symphony Space, Inc.

A gem

I listen to audiobooks while I and my dogs ramble for an hour or so every afternoon. This year has been blessed by a number of great games as the season closes. I purchased this book as a wamup to the evening of playoff baseball. John Updike's essay on Ted Williams last at bat is a real gem; the real treat is every poem and essay is flawlessly executed by the readers and the content is even better. Bart Giamatti reading the closing essay was perfect. Listen to this book....

Love the stories, not the format

If you could sum up Selected Shorts in three words, what would they be?

baseball, live, endearing

What did you like best about this story?

Loved the readings! Baseball fans will laugh and tear up at the nostalgic look back at these stores. Remember, some of these were contemporary for the period this was recorded. My how some things have changed. And, how some things have not.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I loved the live performances. The audience interaction/reactions are a welcome part of each story. I did not like all the wasted intro/lead-in time. Just read the stories. Edit out the other.

Good stories, poor narrations

Of all the titles in the Selected Shorts series, I was looking forward to this one the most. And ended up being the most disappointed. Roger Angel and Bart Giamatti hosted the program and therefore end up reading and speaking a lot. They are definitely not professional narrators. They are not even good amateur narrators.