The Very Best of W. P. Kinsella Archives

November 19, 2014

Tachyon 2015 preview: THE ESSENTIAL W. P. KINSELLA

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized baseball, canada, collection, elizabeth story, field of dreams, indians, native american, shoeless joe, short stories, The Very Best of W. P. Kinsella, Thomas Canty, w. p. kinsella

For the rest of the week, we’re showcasing what to expect in the first half of 2015 from Tachyon Publications.

Coming March 17, 2015:

The Essential W. P. Kinsella

by W. P. Kinsella

Cover art by Thomas Canty.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story.

W. P. Kinsella, the author of Shoeless Joe (the basis for the cult classic film Field of Dreams), is one of the finest storytellers in baseball’s history. He is also a critically-acclaimed short fiction writer whose satiric wit has been celebrated with numerous honors.

This retrospective collection includes four stories that were previously uncollected, a Shoeless Joe piece, and many stories that are out of print. In addition to many of his baseball tales are his notorious First Nation narratives of indigenous Canadians, and a literary homage to J. D. Salinger. Alongside the “real” story of the 1951 Giants and the afterlife of Roberto Clemente, are the legends of a pirated radio station and a hockey game rigged by tribal magic.

Representing his finest work, The Essential W. P. Kinsella is a living tribute to a legendary raconteur.

Table of Contents

The Alligator Report—with Questions for Discussion
Beef
Brother Frank’s Gospel Hour
Distances
Do Not Abandon Me
Doves and Proverbs
The Firefighter
First Names and Empty Pockets
The Fog
The Grecian Urn
How I Got My Nickname
How Manny Embarquadero Overcame and Began His Climb to the Major Leagues
Indian Nation Cultural Exchange Program
The Job
Kmart
King of the Street
Last Surviving Member of the Japanese Victory Society
Lieberman in Love
The Lightning Birds
The Line Tree
Marco in Paradise
The Night Manny Mota Tied the Record
Out of the Picture
Punchlines
Risk Takers
Searching for January
Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa
Truth
Waiting on Lombard Street
Wavelengths

August 28, 2014

THE VERY BEST OF W. P. KINSELLA is about life and the human condition, often with a bit of the “fantastic” thrown in

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized baseball, canada, collection, cree, elizabeth story, first nation, indians, Marty Halpern, More Red Ink, native americans, shoeless joe, short stories, The Very Best of W. P. Kinsella, Thomas Canty, w. p. kinsella

On his always interesting More Red Ink blog, copy editor Marty Halpern discusses his latest project, The Very Best of W. P. Kinsella.

That scanning project is short story collection The Very Best of W. P. Kinsella, forthcoming in 2015 from Tachyon Publications.

And the project is indeed huge: approximately 138,000 words of fiction, all of which has to be scanned, then cleaned up and formatted, and finally copy edited.

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There are a few other baseball stories in this collection, but you don’t need to know anything about baseball to enjoy these tales: baseball merely serves as a backdrop to these stories, which are about life and the human condition, often with a bit of the “fantastic” thrown in. My favorite story in the collection is “K Mart” – but don’t let the title fool you: it’s the story of lost childhood love, nostalgia, and survival, all amidst the backdrop of a neighborhood dirt-lot baseball game, a game that seemed endless (to the children playing it), but only lasted throughout the summer months.

W. P. Kinsella is also well-known for his “First Nation” stories about the indigenous Cree on the Hobbema Reserve near Edmonton, Canada. These stories reflect the Cree’s destitute and disadvantaged culture, yet add an element of humor by exploring the convoluted situations (and shenanigans) they get into trying to survive in a world dominated by white people. But even with the element of humor, there is a sadness to all of these stories. What is especially delightful about these stories is that Kinsella’s characters – Silas (the narrator), Frank Fencepost, Mad Etta, Bedelia Coyote, Sadie One-wound, and Rufus Firstrider, to name just a few – appear in all the stories. By the time you finish reading this collection, you’ll certainly consider them acquaintances, if not friends.

Read the rest of Halpern’s insightful commentary at More Red Ink.

For information about The Very Best of W. P. Kinsella, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Thomas Canty.

Design by Elizabeth Story.

July 15, 2014

Legendary raconteur W. P. Kinsella joins the 2015 Tachyon lineup

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized baseball, collection, elizabeth story, field of dreams, first nation, j. d. salinger, roberto clemente, shoeless joe, short stories, The Very Best of W. P. Kinsella, Thomas Canty, w. p. kinsella

W. P. Kinsella, the author of Shoeless Joe (basis for the famed film Field of Dreams), joins the 2015 Tachyon lineup with The Very Best of W. P. Kinsella.

One of the finest storytellers in baseball’s history, Kinsella is also a critically-acclaimed short fiction writer whose satiric wit has been celebrated with numerous honors, including a Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship, the Order of British Columbia, and three honorary doctorates.

This retrospective collection, including four stories that were previously uncollected, represents Kinsella’s finest work. In addition to many of his baseball tales are his notorious First Nation narratives of indigenous Canadians, and a literary homage to J. D. Salinger. Alongside the “real” story of the 1951 Giants and the afterlife of Roberto Clemente, are the legends of a pirated radio station and a hockey game rigged by tribal magic.

Eclectic, dark, and comedic by turns, The Very Best of W. P. Kinsella is a living tribute to a legendary raconteur.

Cover art by Thomas Canty.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story.