Friday, March 12, 2010

Review and Giveaway reminder - EASTERN STARS

Only one more week to enter....
Spring training has started, and I'm sure there is at least one player from San Pedro de Marcoris playing today.

Here's my review................

Author:Mark Kurlansky
Format: paperback galley 288 pgs
Subject; baseball; sugar cane; poverty
Setting: San Pedro de Marcoris, Dominican Republic
Genre: non-fiction
Source: ARC from publisher
Challenge: Completing ARCs

This is a fact-filled report of the town of San Pedro de Marcoris in the Dominican Republic. The author takes us back almost to Columbus, and marches forward through every 'owner/exploiter' of the town, explaining how economic circumstances changed as the sugar cane industry went thru a series of ups and down. The story presents more the history of baseball and stories of individuals and their struggles with baseball teams, terms, contracts, etc. I was especially interested in the impact the US embargo on Cuba has had on this whole issue, something I never realized before. There is also some discussion about how much impact baseball had on the town, and there is an excellent chronological listing of all the players who came to Major League american baseball from this town.

While I was personally disappointed not to find any mention of players from other towns in the DR, the author never stated that he intended otherwise. A good solid book for someone doing research on socio-economic development in the Dominican Republic, or someone who is a die-hard baseball trivia fan. Especially if your favorite team has one of the dozens of natives of San Pedro de Marcoris.

So step up to the plate and enter to win by clicking here.

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