Let me start out by offering an apology to the people that bought over 40,000 copies of this book when it was originally published in 2001, to Algonquin Press (one of the publishers I trust the most) who republished the book in 2011, to HighBridge Publishers who very generously sent me an audio copy of the book, and last, but certainly not least, Stanley G. West, author of <i>Blind Your Ponies</i>. The book just didn't do it for me. It wasn't the basketball play by plays (there were a <i>lot</i>, or the hard luck overcoming adversity that peppered the lives of so many of the townsfolk in Willow Creek, that town even further than the end of the pavement. And honestly, it wasn't the flourishing overuse of adjectives. It just didn't gel for me. I'm sorry. But I did listen to the very end -- all 15 disks (aka 574 pages.) And at the end, I came away liking a 6'10 Norwegian and a three-legged cat.

True, I'm not a huge basketball fan, but I am a people observer, a lover of good characterizations and the chance to people watch in Willow Creek was too good to pass up. But there was too much of a Hallmark movie in the plot for me, a little too much scrappy-band-of-losers overcomes all odds. (Keep in mind that I've been accused of being too optimistic, so if it was too much for me, I can't help think I'm not alone.) Mr West did bring together some interesting characters, and give them backgrounds, mysteries and story arcs that would have made many a creative writing teacher proud. The end result was that the dimpled leather sphere kissed the backboard, took a lazy roll around the rim of the well, but didn't let the crowd, holding its collective breath in hope and anticipation, head the gentle swish, like a mother brushing her child's hair as she watches it sleep, of the ball slipping into the well.

PS I wasn't too keen on the audio actors voice depictions of some of the younger characters.


Original post: Audio version (CD) received April 2 from HighBridge Publishers and LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Thank you so much. Have heard mixed reviews on this one, however am looking forward to a good "ear-read" of the book. :) (Posted on 12/8/12)