{"product_id":"the-universal-baseball-association-inc-j-henry-waugh-prop","title":"The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.","description":"\u003cbody\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eTitle: \u003c\/b\u003eThe Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor: \u003c\/b\u003eRobert Coover\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN: \u003c\/b\u003e9798896230182\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/b\u003eNYRB Classics\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished: \u003c\/b\u003e2026\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding: \u003c\/b\u003ePaperback\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage: \u003c\/b\u003eEnglish\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber of Pages: \u003c\/b\u003e272\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Note: \u003c\/b\u003eNew from the publisher\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher Description: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eConsidered one of the best baseball novels of all time, this black comedy about a discontented businessman's obsession with a fantasy baseball league of his own creation is \"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty\" meets William Gaddis meets John Updike's \u003ci\u003eRabbit, Run\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJ. Henry Waugh is an unhappy accountant, a frequent patron of his local watering hole, and a fan of country music. He's also the sole proprietor of the Universal Baseball Association, currently entering its fifty-sixth season. Waugh is getting a little weary of his game--a game of dice, numbers, names, and other forms of accountancy--when a rookie pitcher, Damon Rutherford, comes around to restore his faith in the meaning of it all. But then tragedy strikes in this comic novel, a roll of the dice that imperils the whole association, which can only be redeemed by another tragedy--one set into motion by its heretofore unmoved mover, Mr. J. Henry Waugh. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRobert Coover's second book is not so much about baseball as it's played on the diamond as about the game that we play in our heads. The protagonist Coover creates is an all-American escapist à la Walter Mitty, out of touch with the world around him, but he is, besides that, and like the novelist, a creator and destroyer of worlds. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA box of nested narratives and stylistic tour-de-force, \u003ci\u003eThe Universal Baseball Association \u003c\/i\u003eis an exploration of various national pastimes--not least among them a capacity for denial so limitless it can only be called optimism.\u003c\/body\u003e","brand":"NYRB Classics","offers":[{"title":"The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. | Robert Coover | Paperback | 9798896230182 | New | Fiction 1712807","offer_id":48693777793176,"sku":"1712807","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0492\/1609\/4360\/files\/41Cr3pQvJ_L.jpg?v=1773756080","url":"https:\/\/roundaboutbookstore.com\/products\/the-universal-baseball-association-inc-j-henry-waugh-prop","provider":"Roundabout Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}