The Iowa Baseball Confederacy

Like in Shoeless Joe, baseball is at the heart of the novel, which uses magical realism to blend events and individuals past and present with the author's love of the game.

An almost subconscious knowledge of the events of 1908 shared by both Gideon and his father has been the root cause of their life long obsession as they strive, unsuccessfully' to validate what they believe to be the truth.

Gideon is married to Sunny, with whom he is deeply in love in spite of her habit of disappearing for long periods without an explanation other than her desire to be free.

He accepts these periodic disappearances philosophically, and we learn of the parallel to his mother Maudie who was working in a traveling show when she met and married Gideon's father.

When Gideon discovers that his neighbor John Baron once played in the Confederacy, he becomes convinced that some sort of rift in time can take him back to 1908 and provide the ultimate proof of the game against the Cubs.

The game against the Cubs starts normally enough, but instead of the professionals crushing the local farmhands, it becomes a titanic struggle between two well matched teams, neither of whom will give way.

While his lyrical writing about baseball is the core of the book, it is intertwined with the power of obsession, influence of dreams in shaping our destiny, the role of family, and the tragedy of love and loss.