Going the Distance: The Life and Works of W.P. Kinsella

by William Steele

This frank and authoritative biography explores the life and often controversial work of W.P. Kinsella, the author who penned iconic lines such as “If you build it, he will come.” Kinsella’s work was thrust into the limelight when, in the spring of 1989, his novel  Shoeless Joe  was turned into the international blockbuster  Field of Dreams . With the success of  Shoeless Joe , Kinsella’s other works began to gain more attention as well, including a popular series of short stories narrated by a young Cree, Silas Ermineskin. Although many readers praised the stories for their humour and biting social commentary, Kinsella’s success reignited criticism of his appropriation of Indigenous voices for his own benefit, and of what some claimed was overt racism. For Kinsella, this censure was mitigated by the commercial success of the Silas Ermineskin stories. After scraping by as a taxi driver and restaurant owner, and later as a writing instructor, Kinsella took great satisfaction in being able to make a living from writing alone. Achievement in his professional life was tempered by chaos in his personal life, including health problems, failed marriages and a tumultuous romantic relationship with writer Evelyn Lau that resulted in a highly public libel lawsuit. When long-term kidney issues resurfaced causing acute pain, Kinsella made his final arrangements. Never one to shy away from controversy, he made it clear to his agent that his decision to end his life by physician-assisted suicide must be mentioned in the press release following his death. Though friends and family would remember him as stubborn, complicated, curmudgeonly, honest, loyal and a host of other adjectives, Kinsella answered, “I’m a story teller [and] my greatest satisfaction comes from leaving [while] making people laugh and also leaving them with a tear in the corner of their eye.” Having been granted full access to Kinsella’s personal diaries, correspondence and unpublished notes, and with hours of personal interviews with Kinsella, his friends and his family, biographer William Steele offers insight into Kinsella’s personal life while balancing it with the critical analysis and commentary his fiction has inspired.

Genres: Baseball, Biography, Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

Published April 21, 2019

Reviews

[Jay French · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been a big Kinsella fan since I read his novels mixing magic realism and baseball, with locations very near to where I grew up. I read all his baseball books, and most of his Silas Ermineskin books. Certainly his characters were interesting, but the thought of local baseball becoming folklore really was the draw for me. Hearing stories about the irascible Kinsella added to the allure. What an interesting author to follow. In this biography, you learn about Kinsella’s life, including the many years he was not foremost an author. You learn of his youth, living with just his parents in remote rural Canada, lacking friends and likely building a strong imagination. Kinsella had a strong personality, and perhaps not surprisingly becomes a good salesman early in his career, then owns a pizzeria. Though writing throughout his life, he focuses on writing after profiting from his pizzeria. The book follows his career through his award-winning years and until his death.

On reflection, what you notice in this book is the extreme level of detail. The biography author had access to the author and was able to write in great details about things like classes, high school girlfriends, a substantial lovelife with quite a few partners, and book reviews. While I enjoyed this rare level of personal detail to some extent, there was quite a lot on his love life, more than I wanted to know. And he wasn't what I'd call a nice guy - he seemed to hate the people he worked for, especially college administrators. Describing him as a curmudgeon might by putting too light a touch on the subject, at least when it came to some areas like authority. I was also left with the feeling that the author used very few sources. Kinsella kept track of his life and his business of writing, and his wives (at least one of them) created substantial biographic and bibliographic references, including tracking book reviews and media mentions, many of which are discussed in this volume. What I didn’t notice was a lot of third party interviews related to the subject, and it feels like something is missing. If I had to guess, the author is an introvert, and this impacted the story he told, using Kinsella-provided written sources to an overwhelming extent. Despite that, this tells the story of a unique author. I found the story so varied that it kept my interest throughout. I liked the subject, and that kicked up my rating of the book.

A bonus to me is that the small college my daughter is attending, Augustana in Rock Island, hosted Kinsella during the summer after he wrote the novel that Field of Dreams was based on. Nice comment, and I missed it when it happened.

[Rick Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm biased because I am lucky enough to have had this guy as an instructor once upon a time, back when he was teaching at Desolate U. (Unfortunately, I was too immature at the time to have benefited as much as I should have from his advice and interaction, but I did enjoy the class even so, at least partly because of the after-school entertainment that became part of the routine.) This biography is a treat because it provides a long, loving look at a man who was a hugely important part of Canadian literature in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Sadly, circumstances and just plain bloody time made him less of a literary lion in this century, but his legacy remains pretty powerful and significant. In light of the current SJW movements that seem hell-bent on dulling Western civilization into a torpor of political correctness, it is entertaining to imagine Bill Kinsella at his finest and fiercest, lighting into the debates and shredding his opponents with wit, style, and (whenever possible) scathing invective. His Silas Ermineskin stories are still capable of attracting criticism like a non-PC lightning rod, but the fact remains that they are, for the most part, just solidly entertaining.
Steele concludes his bio with Bill's last response to the question of how he thought people would remember him. "Though friends and family would remember him as stubborn, complicated, curmudgeonly, honest, loyal and a host of other adjectives, Bill answered, 'I'm a story-teller [and] my greatest satisfaction comes from leaving [while] making people laugh and also leaving them with a tear in the corner of their eye.' " That's essentially it.
Kinsella himself didn't think he had a very interesting life and claimed that his writing was the only thing that should claim the reader's attention. That isn't true, actually, as this biography attests. But if it motivates anyone to pick up the novel that became Field Of Dreams, or encourages the curious reader to notice that the man who wrote Shoeless Joe had a whole bunch of other material to get lost in, then it will prove to be a worthy read of its own.

[Ken Heard · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Steele has done a good job chronicling the life of a Canadian author who admits his life was extremely boring. W.P. Kinsella is best known for his work "Shoeless Joe," which became the basis for the 1989 Kevin Costner movie "Field of Dreams."

However, Kinsella had done so much more and despite being a self-proclaimed atheist, he often used religious themes in his work. In his "Iowa Baseball Confederacy," he writes of the 1908 Chicago Cubs, the last Cubbie team to win a World Series (before 2016), which comes back to play in a 2,000-inning baseball game with a local team. In it, he uses the theme of holding on to memories and the past life to boost the morale and spirit of an Iowa town. He also penned more than 40 other stories about baseball and its magic and fantasy and he was known for writing the voice of the Canadian Cree Indian tribes.

Steele is able to capture an interesting life. Kinsella's rise to some decent income is well-written and Steele is very patient in his writing of it. He admits to being a fan, but Steele is fair and he portrays Kinsella in all manners. Kinsella seemed to be an egotistical ass at times, hating the Calgary university where he worked and expecting awards galore for his work. He also was horrible in relationships, going back and forth with women in dysfunctional trysts galore.

Kinsella felt he didn't get the credit and accolades he deserved and he is probably correct. In a time when the braindead works of John Grisham and James Patterson filled the bestseller lists, Kinsella's writing remained more obscure and off the charts.

If you're an aspiring writer, this is a good inspirational book to read. Kinsella showed that persistence and constant writing paid off and, contrary to his own admission, made for an interesting life.

[Phil Della · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because I have followed this author's career as best I could, but I missed a lot. Now I feel caught up. I found the style of writing to be simplistic at first, but as I moved through the chapters that distraction no longer bothered me. I have not read a book so swiftly as I did this one; perhaps that's because I'm a writer and this subject is of great interest to me. I won't make any pronouncements on Kinsella himself, weather he is to be honoured or held up as one of our best. This book takes a friendly portrait of him and that shows. Still, the abrasiveness that characterizes this prickly pear of a man is laid bare. He was a go-getter, competitive and opinionated. He scorned religion and ridiculed believers. He had his enemies, his nasty public battles, his failed loves. But he had many fans and a continuous chain of wives and lovers. He is a polarizing personality and I now have a much fuller picture of him to add to my personal memories. Much appreciated.

[Judith Squires · Rating 4 out of 5]

If any writer can be described as singular or unique, in my opinion it would be the great W. P. Kinsella. I discovered "Shoeless Joe" before it came the iconic movie, and was blown away by this fellow's incredible imagination. At that time I lived in west central Illinois and made a couple of trips to Dyersville, Iowa to see the wonderful movie location. I also read the marvelous "Iowa Baseball Confederacy" and "The Thrill of the Grass." Now I will set about reading the other stories. I took years for Kinsella to become a successful author, but I am so thankful he found a publisher. Thanks to William Steele for doing a fine job of chronicling the life of this remarkable person.

[Chip Rickard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great biography about author W.P. Kinsella. I learned quite a bit about him that I didn't know. For instance I didn't know he wrote so many books/short stories or that he got such a late start writing. I thought it was interesting that Steele put reviews of each of Kinsella's works in the book. It also appears he had some problems with the way he wrote about indigenous people - something that goes on these days. I admit I was a little confused when Kinsella was adapting Shoeless Joe into novel form. I wasn't always sure which novel(s) Steele was referring to. But all in all I think Steele caught the essence of Kinsella and didn't sugarcoat negative things about him.

[Stuart Shiffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and thoroughly researched biography of W.P. Kinsella, author of Shoeless Joe, the book that became Field of Dreams. Kinsella was not your typical writer although perhaps in a quirky way he was in fact typical. But the author does a great job of capturing details of his life. If you are a Field of Dreams fan as I am, you will find this book enjoyable and enlightening.

[Ron Wilson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. Not at all what I was looking for regards to the life's work behind "Field of Dreams.". Very disappointing.

[Paul Long · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinsella's life was successful, yet uneven. The same can be said for this biography.