Swap

by Sam Moffie

Baseball's Wildest Trade Ever – Wives! Sheldon Marsh isn't happy. Hearing impaired, half-Jewish and battling a politically corrupt world in a decaying rust-belt city, his life is definitely on the decline. To make matters worse, he's been demoted from the Major Leagues to the bushes. So what's his solution? Trade in his battle-ax wife for a teammate's sexy temptress. But can he pull it off? Will it bring him the happiness he is seeking? Inspired by the real life wife-swapping incident involving two former New York Yankees, this hilarious tale shows readers how to cope with life's most unconventional choices.

302 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

A lifelong baseball fan, Youngstown, Ohio resident Sam Moffie graduated from Wittenberg University. He manages two sports bars, serving on the front lines of America’s most heated debate topics: sex, sports and politics. Sam has three children, one son-in-law, one grand daughter, two dogs, two cats and one1 strike-out at marriage.

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the story of Sheldon Marsh who lives in Youngstown, Ohio. Growing up Sheldon’s passion was baseball. After playing as a Major League and then Minor League pitcher he was co-owner of a bar in Youngstown with his mother. During his baseball career he met and married Eleanor.

Eleanor - Sheldon’s wife is usually depressed because of her childhood. Marrying and moving away was going to be her escape from her past. It didn’t work.

Tom - Sheldon’s best friend. They don’t have a thing in common and Sheldon’s not sure why they are such good friends but they are always there for each other. Tom has a major problem with fidelity. The fact that he is married doesn’t stop him at all.

Lucy - Tom’s wife is very active in political circles. She is busy and has a very productive life. She was totally shocked when she discovered Tom’s infidelity.

An idea begins to form in Sheldon’s head. The more he is around Lucy the more he thinks he wants to be with her rather than Eleanor. The idea grows - Why not swap partners? The Epilogue tells us what happens to the characters after the Swap but we never here about thoughts or reactions at the first mention of it.

Swap has an interesting, possibly fun concept but I found that the whole book was from Sheldon’s point of view. Nowhere did we actually hear from the other participants. How did they feel? What did they think of their situations? Each individual had a part of the book devoted to them but it wasn’t from their perspective. Knowing their feelings about their situations and how they felt about their lives would have made a more interesting read.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam Moffie can tell a good story. That there were a few movie trivia tid-bits I picked up for the next time I'm stuck in a conversation where I need to impress someone.

That reading politically incorrect novels in a politically correct world is refreshing.