Sunday, July 22, 2012

Angels, Chimps, & Tater Mitts

Angels, Chimps, & Tater Mitts by Mike Ball (2012). Review copy provided by author.

Angels, Chimps, & Tater Mitts is Mike Ball's second collection of columns previously published under the title "What I've Learned So Far."  The topics range widely, as the title suggests, and have a midwestern feel, although Ball is decidedly liberal, thank heavens. Ball writes about fishing, Michigan sports teams, his work with Lost Voices (an organization that helps kids in juvenile detention facilities), his travels, and lots of other stuff. He avoids being overly sentimental, though I admit to getting misty a few times when he was talking about some of the kids he helped and what they had to say.  I laughed long and hard over his comments about Sarah Palin.  Of course, I mainly read the book to learn exactly what a Tater Mitt could be, and I recommend that you do the same.  All of the essays are short, so this is a great book to keep in the car when you're waiting for a kid to finish baseball practice or whatever.  It's easy to pick up and put down.  I wouldn't have minded a table of contents so I could go straight to favorite topics...maybe that will be a new feature in Part III?

3 comments:

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

It has been a while---a long while, now that I think about it---since I've read a book of essays and that's a shame.

Thank you for sharing this book with us!

Mike Ball said...

You are right about a Table of Contents - it is a feature of the eBook version of both I and II. Book III is in early production, and I'll see if we can do about it.

- mike

Mike Ball said...

... and thanks for the kind words!