Home Game

by Paul Quarrington

Home Game

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Baseball, Humor, Sports

464 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Paul Quarrington was a novelist and musician, an award-winning screenwriter, filmmaker, and an acclaimed non-fiction writer. His last novel The Ravine was published in March 2008. His previous novel Galveston was nominated for the Giller; Whale Music won the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. Quarrington won the Stephen Leacock Medal for King Leary, a title that also won the 2008 Canada Reads competition. As a musician, he played in the band PorkBelly Futures; their self-titled second CD was released in April 2008; the first CD Way Past Midnight was extremely well received. His screenplays and story editing have won many awards, most recently the CFPTA Indie Award for Comedy for the series Moose TV, and he was in high demand as a story editor for feature films and television. Paul ’s filmmaking talents as writer / director were evident in his BookShorts short film, Pavane, which he adapted from The Ravine and was featured in the Moving Stories Film Festival September - November 2008. His non-fiction writing included books on some of his favourite pastimes such as fishing, hockey and music. He regularly contributed book reviews, travel columns and journalism to Canada’s national newspapers and magazines. Paul lived and worked in Toronto, where he taught writing at Humber College and University of Toronto, and sat on the Board of Directors for the Fringe Theatre Festival. Quarrington was also an (extremely) amateur magician and a would-be mariner.

Paul was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in May of 2009. He died at home, with his family.

Reviews

[Vera · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not Whale Music, but it's beautiful all the same. Melancholy, surreal, profound ... and funny. What more could you want?


Okay, that was unfair. Whale music was the first Quarrington novel I read and so it made a profound impression. But I also loved 'Galveston', 'Logan' and 'The Ravine' for different reasons. 'Home Game' is actually more complex and intriguing than any of those novels. So was 'The Spirit Cabinet', which I abandoned because of the animals. But that's just me.

BTW - I think The Author in 'Home Game' is Bernard Malamud, preparing to write 'The Natural'.

[Jocelyn H · Rating 4 out of 5]

So funny and quirky and original. Highly recommended!

[Deb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boo.

[Ian Giesbrecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is quality, uh, Canadian book stuff.