Listening for Somersaults

R.G. Moyles is a professor of English at the University of Alberta and
the co-author of Imperial Dreams and Colonial Realities: British Views
of Canada, 1880-1914.

In “Baseball as a Personal Metaphor,” Shel Krakofsky insists that
“[w]ith all of its symbolism, ritual and contemplative pace of
existential anxiety, baseball is fertile Jewish ground, the most holy of
sports.” I had never thought that it was, but after reading these
witty, wonderful stories about baseball and Jewishness—as interlocked
metaphors—I believe it! “The rules are acknowledged yet each
congregation, each individual has different dimensions and barriers to
his or her observance. And those fences—that very word—are
physically reflected in every ball park. For while the dimensions and
rules of the game are universal, each field’s fence is not. Each fence
has a different height, a different distance and a distinctive
texture.”

Moreover, whether or not one is convinced by Krakofsky’s apologia,
these marvelous stories themselves have a great deal to offer. They can
be relished for their humor, for their sense of tradition, for their
poignant (yet never melodramatic) treatment of human ambition and
failure, and for their originality. And no one should miss “Travelling
with W.P. Kinsella,” one of the cleverest stories I have read in a
long, long time. Without any doubt, Krakofsky is a storytelling wizard.
He deserves to be read, as much for what we can learn about ourselves as
about Jewish baseball fanatics. This book is very highly recommended.