\s mYevtew KALEIDOSCOPE - University of British Columbia

BOOKS IN REVIEWmediocrity awaiting his big chance, theday when he'll make the "Bigs." Ultimatelythe stories are not really aboutbaseball, but about rural North America,small towns in Iowa and Alberta. Thecharacters in these stories have a disturbingsameness, misunderstood men tryingto sustain their dreams in a world ofbitter, unfeeling wives and girl friends,women who don't really understand thegame, who don't share the dream. It's amale world; women are seen as invaders.Even when the hero does make it to the"Bigs," the women don't understand. In"Barefoot and Pregnant in Des Moines,"for example, the hero, after desperatelytrying to preserve his relationship withhis wife, acknowledges at the end, bitterly,that the story's title describes wherewomen deserve to be.. . . It's now the last game of the playoffs.It's gone five games, just as Kinsellasaid it would, and the Cubs are battingin the fourth, safely ahead by three runs.And I'm suddently remembering thewords to various "Acts of Contrition," inspite of myself.Fortunately, one need not judge Kinsella'scollection on his "waiting for theBigs" stories, for the second type of talehe tells is far more engaging: baseballfantasies, a category that includes "TheLast Pennant before Armageddon." Inone story Kinsella tries to decide whetherto trade his life for that of a recentlydeparted Thurman Munson; in anotherhe joins the legendary 1951 Giants as apinch-hitter and resident literary critic.Magically and wonderfully, the Giantsbecome scholars, far more worried abouthow to interpret The Great Gatsby thanabout winning the pennant. BernardMalamud, in fact, is a frequent dugoutvisitor. Yet another tale chronicles thelives of twins who began playing catchin their mother's womb. But perhaps themost delightful of the stories is the titletale. It takes place during the 1981 baseballstrike, when a group of loyal baseballfans patiently re-sod a stadium recentlydoomed to artificial turf. Piece by piece,they bring in squares of sod and bringback the thrill of the grass. And here,baseball does truly become a microcosmof the human condition, and Kinsellaand his gang of true believers find amagnificent way to fight back at all thatis plastic and artificial and phoney in thisever-so-convenient age."Armageddon's" climax takes placewhen the Cub manager, who knows ofthe fateful bargain, must decide whetherto take out an obviously tiring pitcherand save the game, thus ending theworld. And here comes another, real-life,manager, Jim Frey: Sutcliffe, the Cubpitcher, is clearly tired and the Cubs'three-run lead is in jeopardy. And he'sgoing to leave him in. He knows, thankGod!It's a few hours later now. Sutcliffegave up the home-run and the Padres aresafely ahead. The Cubs return to theirproper role as gracious losers. And Ireturn to my review.I liked the book generally, though Idid find it a bit silly and unbelievable attimes.ESPRIT/EAU-DE-VIEKIERAN KEALYANTONINE MAILLET, Crache à Pic. Leméac,$14.95.As THE DIZZYING GYRATIONS of theweathercock above the world of Cracheà Pic signify, the wind is unfathomablein its ways. Whirling about, with neithercentre nor circumference, ever moving àl'improviste, this free-wheeling spiritteaches a strategy for survival to a peopledeprived of everything but its own soul.Maillet's scripture is a carousal of punningwith John 3:8, the Biblical text169