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David Carkeet
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The Greatest Slump of All Time Hardcover – January 1, 1984

by David Carkeet (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 8 ratings
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Nine major-league baseball players, suffering from clinical depression, lead their team toward tragic triumph
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    232 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harpercollins
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1984
  5. ISBN-10
    0060152508
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0060152505
  7. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harpercollins; First Edition (January 1, 1984)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 232 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060152508
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060152505
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.2 ounces
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 8 ratings

About the author

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David Carkeet

David Carkeet

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David Carkeet was born and raised in the Gold Rush town of Sonora, California. He went to college at U.C. Davis and Berkeley, then to graduate school at U. of Wisconsin and Indiana U.--thus the southern Indiana setting for "Double Negative," his first novel. He lived in St. Louis for 30 years, where he set "The Full Catastrophe" and "The Error of Our Ways." He now lives near Montpelier, Vermont, and you can probably guess where he set his newest novel, "From Away." He is married with three grown daughters. More info at davidcarkeet.com.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
8 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Fredric G. Posner
5.0 out of 5 stars Sticks with you
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2024
Verified Purchase
This book has stuck with me for thirty plus years! It’s not just an unusual and well crafted baseball yarn; it’s a literary gem in its own - psychoanalytical - right!
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lawprof
4.0 out of 5 stars A Baseball Delight
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2013
Verified Purchase
What could be better than a novel about a team with more neuroses than your most troubled friend? Any baseball fan has probably felt that his favorite team or player(s) is experiencing the same things that are plaguing these guys. I read this about 20 years ago. Even though it is out of print, I thought it was worth the search and it has proven to be.
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Dharma
5.0 out of 5 stars Carkeet's Home Run
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2009
The Greatest Slump is one of the greatest baseball stories. A hapless team of talented misfits struggle with their lives and psychological problems as they make their way through a winning season. Professional baseball has never been funnier. A classic of sports "anti-psych". Carkeet writes better than almost anyone else in America, and in this novel he pins the favorite pass-time on the point of his pen and shakes it until we are all splattered in laughter.
2 people found this helpful
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reenum
2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth it
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2007
I wanted to like this book.

The main problem for me was that this book had no discernible plot. It was just Carkeet moving from one quirky player's problems to another quirky player's problems. I only read until page 50, and the book's plot had not start moving at that point. Not a good sign.

I also didn't like the tone of the writing. Carkeet seems very taken by his quirky style and cleverness. It overwhelms the book, and is ultimately what keeps the plot bogged down in minutiae.

Perhaps his existing fans will like this book, but I found it boring and unenjoyable.
2 people found this helpful
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Texan
5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Enjoyable Slump
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2001
I've read Kinsella, Malamud, Harris, Lardner... and this remains my favorite piece of baseball fiction -- and it's well up the list on favorite reads, period. You'll laugh a lot, and think about it long after you've put it down. The characters are vividly drawn, the dialogue crackles, and while the story has its exaggerated comedic moments (there's an amazing no-hitter that remains a personal favorite), the tone is realistic and the details ring true. Carkeet never makes fun of his characters -- ok, almost never -- but he sure makes them fun.
Highly recommended, and if you enjoy this, you'll also enjoy his novels on linguist-for-hire (I'm not making this up) Jeremy Cook, _Double Negative_, _The Full Catastrophe_, and _The Error of Our Ways_.
8 people found this helpful
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Plez@net-link.net
5.0 out of 5 stars Triumphant baseball novel affirms life, explores depression.
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 1998
In a stroke of what may be coincidence, all the key players on a National League contender fall into clinical depression. Each teammate despairs in the face of crushing personal challenges that threaten to make the each day too horrible to endure. Yet the team's collective talent and years of mechanical "good habits" propel the club ever higher toward a seemingly inevitable and fatal humiliation. Life, friendship, honesty and humility eventually prevail. This book has a message for young male professionals and those who would understand them.
4 people found this helpful
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Big D
4.0 out of 5 stars Inside the Lockroom and On the Couch!!
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2006
Interesting, fun-to-read book about a mismatched bunch of eccentrics, some of them would-be psychos, who come together to form a pretty good baseball team without losing their hangups, uncertainties, fears, hopes, dreams and odd-ball ways.

At times a laugh-out-loud book, always a fun, "can't-put-it-down" book especially for lovers of baseball, the game and all the personalities and stories that surround it. Not for the baseball purist, however, just the fun lovers. As with life and most good books, it has a serious side mixed with humor, compassion, anger and, always, emotion. Good Read...(Out of Print, but worth trying to find...)
2 people found this helpful
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