Box Socials

by W. P. Kinsella

Overview

“A whimsical portrait of 1940s-era small-town life, crowded with everything from owl-calling contests to raucous, five-day Ukrainian weddings…delightful.”—Los Angeles Times

This is the story of how Truckbox Al McClintock, a small-town greaser whose claim to fame was hitting a baseball clean across the Pembina River, almost got a tryout with the genuine St. Louis Cardinals—but instead ended up batting against Bob Feller of Cleveland Indian fame in Renfrew Park, Edmonton, Alberta. Along the way to Al's moment of truth at the plate, we learn about the bizarre, touchingly hilarious lives and loves of just about anyone who ever passed through New Oslo, Fark, or Venusberg. Full of the crackle of down-home folk tales, by turns randy, riveting, and heartbreaking, Box Socials is a triumph.
 
“Wonderful…Charming and funny…If you've never been to a box social, go to this one.”—Fannie Flagg, The New York Times Book Review

“Kinsella, whose classic Shoeless Joe found another incarnation in the movie Field of Dreams, evokes the atmosphere of small-town ball fields and other aspects of rural life in this colorful, comic reminiscence of multi-ethnic farm society in Depression-era Canada.”—Publishers Weekly

“A story filled with nostalgia about a time when the game was played on real grass and was called on account of darkness.”—The New York Times

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780795350948
Publisher:	RosettaBooks
Publication date:	05/21/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	195
Sales rank:	1,049,936
File size:	481 KB

About the Author

W. P. (Bill) Kinsella was the author of some 24 books and more than 200 stories. He was best known for his baseball fiction: The Thrill of the Grass; Go the Distance; The Iowa Baseball Confederacy; The Dixon Cornbelt League; Box Socials; and Shoeless Joe, his multi-award-winning novel that became the classic movie Field of Dreams, nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Kinsella's other books include Dance Me Outside (also made into a feature film); Scars; Born Indian; The Moccasin Telegraph; The Fencepost Chronicles; The Miss Hobbema Pageant; and Red Wolf, Red Wolf, from which the story "Lieberman in Love" was adapted for the screen and went on to win an Academy Award for Best Short Feature. He died in 2016.

Date of Birth:

May 25, 1935

Date of Death:

September 16, 2016

Place of Birth:

Edmonton, Alberta

Education:

University of Victoria

Website:

http://wpkinsella.com

Editorial Reviews

Kinsella, whose classic Shoeless Joe found another incarnation in the movie Field of Dreams , evokes the atmosphere of small-town ball fields and other aspects of rural life in this colorful, comic reminiscence of multi-ethnic farm society in Depression-era Canada. Purporting to tell ``the story of how Truckbox Al McClintock almost got a tryout with the genuine St. Louis Cardinals of the National Baseball League,'' narrator Jamie O'Day leads the reader on a rambling tour of the rural Alberta hamlets near which he and Truckbox grew up, the closest being a town called Fark. Inheriting storytelling talent from his father, a transplanted South Carolina carpenter whom he often quotes, Jamie also passes along insights picked up while eavesdropping on the gossip meetings of the ``Fark Female Farmerettes.'' With humor and tenderness Kinsella evokes the social rites of the Norwegian-, German-, Ukrainian- and English-speaking hillbillies, their courtships and heartbreaks, fistfights and philanderings, through a series of weddings, dances, whist drives and box socials. Jamie's teenage memories poke gentle fun at small-town society and at adulthood itself while still celebrating his coming-of-age--the real story here, despite Truckbox McClintock's brush with athletic fame. (May)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Fans of Kinsella's baseball novels (e.g., Shoeless Joe , LJ 4/1/82) will be surprised by this latest novel. A nostalgic look at a way of life long dead, it is best read aloud to be appreciated. Indeed, it is best understood as an oral tale like Mark Twain's ``Story of the Old Ram.'' The narrator keeps promising he will tell us about the day Truckbox Al McClintock got to play against Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians. He keeps on promising this from time to time, but first he has to tell us all about the residents of the Six Towns area of Alberta during those Depression and World War II days. The way of life is epitomized by the box socials, which both, as the narrator's mother says, ``teach social skills,'' and, as his father says, ``fill every human social need, mayhem being one of the most dominant.'' If not taken as an oral tale, the narrator's repetitive style could be tedious. Despite the caveat, this is strongly recommended for fiction collections.--Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Davenport, Ia.

Library Journal

YA-- A story about rural life in Alberta, Canada in the 1940s. Here, people must rely on one another for almost all aspects of their daily lives, despite their ethnic diversity and foibles. Kinsella shows how they react to their neighbors' indiscretions, to cultural differences, and to the strengths and weaknesses of individual members of their communities. He adeptly captures the special flavor of small-town life, where everyone knows everyone else's business, and the pace of life before the communication explosion. This includes the social aspects, such as the auctioning of lunches at ``box socials.'' A baseball theme weaves a common thread through the lives of the characters. The author uses an unusual, repetitive style of writing; at times he begins almost every paragraph in certain sections with the same words, or repeats entire phrases or sentences, using them as adjectives modifying some new piece of information. While some readers might find it annoying, others will be amused. The book also gives good insight into the history of a specific area of North America during the time of mass European immigration and societal integration.-- Rose Calio, R . E . Lee High School, Springfield, VA

School Library Journal

"A whimsical portrait of 1940s-era small-town life, crowded with everything from owl-calling contests to raucous, five-day Ukrainian weddings. It's a delightful comic ramble, written in quirky, digressive style. . . . Richly textured."--Los Angeles Times

"Wonderful . . . Charming and funny . . . If you've never been to a box social, go to this one."--Fannie Flagg, The New York Times Book Review

"A sweeping comic work . . . Welcome to the seductively poetic fictional world of W.P. Kinsella."--People

"A story filled with nostalgia about a time when the game was played on real grass and was called on account of darkness. . . . A down-home style that resembles the humorous voice of Garrison Keillor."--The New York Times

From the Publisher

A whimsical portrait of 1940s-era small-town life, crowded with everything from owl-calling contests to raucous, five-day Ukranian weddings. It’s a delightful comic ramble, written in quirky, digressive style…Richly textured.”

|Los Angeles Times

[Gardner’s] narration conveys a sense that he enjoys talking about the characters as much as Kinsella enjoyed inventing them.” 

Kliatt

A sweeping comic work…Welcome to the seductively poetic fictional world of W. P. Kinsella.”

People

Wonderful…Charming and funny…If you’ve never been to a box social, go to this one.”

 New York Times Book Review Fannie Flagg

A story filled with nostalgia about a time when the game was played on real grass and was called on account of darkness…A down-home style that resembles the humorous voice of Garrison Keillor.”

New York Times