THE UNIVERSAL BASEBALL ASSOCIATION, INC, J. HENRY WAUGH, PROP., by Robert Coover
With
the exception of CATCH 22, I don't know of another book that knocked me
out in quite the way this one did when I was young(er). Written in
1968, it overflows with creativity, humor, and pathos. Maybe it's not
forgotten, but I rarely hear it mentioned.
J. Henry Waugh is an
unhappy accountant who entertains himself by inventing a game that he can
escape to at the end of the day. Every action in the game is ruled by
the dice. Waugh does not get to intervene. He is, of course, no more in
charge of what happens in the game then he is in what happens in his
life. He finds this out when his star pitcher is killed by a pitched
ball. (Yes, his game even allows for such events; it's that complex)
This fictional event has impact on Waugh's real life in horrible ways.
Cleverly,
Coover allows the players, managers and baseball executives to come to
life, making the book much less static than this might sound. Is Waugh a
God? If so, he has little power over his invented world and even less
over his real one. It is chance that rules Waugh's game and his world.
Until....This is a great book.
Friday, October 17, 2025
FFB-THE UNIVERSAL BASEBALL ASSOCIATON-Robert Coover
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10 comments:
I admit, Patti, I'd never heard of this one before, but it sounds great. I should look it up.
Gosh, it's been years since I was reminded of this one. In this era of fantasy sports games and computer and video games, I wonder why the book is not better known to today's audience. (I just looked it up; it's still available in paperback, but that edition was printed in 2011.)
And it's one I've been meaning to read for decades, while reading other Coover work...Algis Budrys's rave review when it was new put me onto it.
And you have noted, Patti, that you weren't a fantasy reader...this is widely admired in that community. Literal fantasy baseball...and not the only one, but one with its own niche, still. (I did read Budrys's review some years after they, both novel and review, were published).
A friend told me about this around 1980 or so and I read it then. It was exactly the kind of book I would like, and even though I don't remember more than the basics, I do remember really liking it. Good choice.
What a strange title. Thanks for reviewing this here. I do know of Robert Coover, I have a copy of Noir, unread. But I knew little (or nothing) about anything else he has written.
I looked for a copy of this book and I found that New York Review Books is publishing a new edition in March 2026. I have already preordered a copy.
I remember my son playing a sort of game like this (relentlessly) as a kid. The sound of those dice will be with me forever.
Patti, I doubt it was the same game (but maybe?), but I also had a game like that with dice. I had different teams, and I kept a book with the games.
"Rotisserie" baseball, the immediate inspiration, was for more "hardcore" adult and elder kid enthusiasts...
Algis Budrys's review, from the April 1970 issue of GALAXY SF magazine: https://archive.org/details/Galaxy_v30n01_1970-04/page/n105/mode/2up --I read it first in Southern Illinois U Press's BENCHMARKS: GALAXY BOOKSHELF collection of Budrys's columns in '85. I have my copies of THE PUBLIC BURNING and PRICKSONGS AND DESCANTS by Coover (though the latter might actually be among my house-destroyed books), but have yet to hold a copy UNIVERSAL BASEBALL as yet. High time.
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