“If you build it, he will come” is probably the most famous line from W.P. Kinsella’s baseball fairy tale Shoeless Joe
The are many views on Shoeless Joe Jackson and the Black Sox scandal. Some will say that Joe was a proud, but ignorant man who was taken advantage of by the system and the gamblers. Others will say that Joe knew exactly what he was doing and deserved the punishment he received. And I will say, that for the purpose of this book, it doesn’t matter. For while the book is titled Shoeless Joe and starts with Joe appearing in a little patch of outfield in Ray Kinsella’s corn field, the book has nothing to do with Joe Jackson and he only exists to deliver a truth to us all.
Ray Kinsella is an unlikely small-town farmer. As a big city kid who moved to Iowa for school and stayed for love, he is trying his best to support his wife and daughter on a family farm that just can’t work any more. His brother-in-law is trying to support his family by helping his corporation buy up all the land around (and including) Ray’s farm for a bigger corporate run farm that is more efficient and profitable. So when Ray hears a voice telling him “If you build it, he will come”, he is faced with a decision that could wreck his family. But believing in his inner voice, Ray starts building a baseball field in his corn field. After he gets a left field built, Shoeless Joe Jackson shows up and promises that other’s will show up if he finishes. So, of course Ray finishes and the ghosts of the Black Sox and other early baseball players show up and start playing games on his field. His wife knows he’s crazy, but loves and supports him (and she’s the main problem I have with the book since she’s pretty much portrayed as a cardboard cutout that says “whatever you want” to Ray all the time).
Ray then hears the voice tell him to “Ease his pain” and that drives him on a road trip to kidnap J.D. Salinger (yes, the J.D. Salinger) and take him to a Red Sox game. A voice at the game telling both of them to “Go the distance” takes them to a small mining town in Minnesota whose most beloved late citizen was Doc Archibald “Moonlight” Graham, who appeared in half of an inning in a MLB game and never touched the ball or even got to stand at the plate and never made it back to another MLB game. After Ray takes a moonlight walk and meets Moonlight Graham, he and Salinger head back to Iowa, stopping to pick up a young ball player along the side of the road named Archie Graham. Our motley crew is rounded up with Kid Scissons, the oldest living Chicago Cub.
As Ray and his new found gang head home, they are met their by Ray’s twin brother Richard who had a fight with their Dad twenty years earlier and left home, never to be seen again. He’s arrived with the his carnival trailer and his long time girlfriend. With our world in place, we can now watch the magic as the story shifts from baseball to family. The magic on the field is shown to only be a placeholder for the magic that is off the field. This is shown by Kid Scissions lies coming out and realizing no one cares. The magic continues with Richard starting off blind and then he can see. A rejuvenated Salinger realizes that the road back to public life is through the magical baseball field. And finally, the true prophecy is revealed and brings the characters full circle.
Shoeless Joe is an effortless book to read and is full of wonder and magic. You don’t have to love baseball to enjoy it (although it doesn’t hurt), but only to be willing to let the magic sweep over you and take you away. Kinsella has done a masterful job of getting us to follow these characters while misdirecting our attention. When he does the final reveal, you realize that the journey you’ve been on has prepared you for the finale even as you never expected it to. The big complaints I have with the book are with Ray’s wife and her family. They are all basically cardboard cutouts that stand in for love, hate and fear. They are too prominent in the book for this and should have been fleshed out more. But Kinsella has saved his characterizations for the baseball world. And, in the end, given Ray what he really wanted, not what he thought he wanted. It’s a lyrical, magical, loving look at life and baseball that can be enjoyed by all. Highly recommended.