Shoeless Joe Book

3.5 to 4 Stars

Usually the book is better, in this case I think it was the movie.

Shoeless Joe was made into the movie Field of Dreams. While the book was pretty good, the movie tidied up the narrative quite a bit, streamlined the messy parts, and hit the high emotional moments just right to hit home. In fact, if you remember the movie and all the key tear-jerking moments . . . they are all there in the book, just kind of glossed over.

Also, this is 100% a book about baseball for people who like baseball. If you do not like baseball, there is no point in reading it. Back to the movie; they did a fairly good job at making it accessible to people who do not like baseball even though that is a key plot point. The book, however, is in-your-face baseball lore, baseball statistics, baseball gameplay, etc. I can't even say give it a try even if you don't care for baseball. Nope . . . if you don't have a passion for baseball, do not waste your time.

I do like baseball and overall I enjoyed the book. But now I need to go do a re-watch of the movie because of all the fond memories I now have of it being better than the book. And, I better get my tissues ready!