Moneyball by Michael Lewis

Bought: March 2010
Read: March 2010

I really enjoyed Home Game, so despite my assertion long ago that I didn't want to read Moneyball for fear that it would hinder my enjoyment of the game. This, I think was founded more in a misunderstanding of what the book was all about. The way Michael Lewis writes can make a dull subject interesting, but this wasn't a dull story. The characters involved are well fleshed out and their motivation is clear. Lewis allows you to really feel like you're in the room with Billy Beane and in his head in a lot of ways. Reading it eight years after the primary draft that the book discusses (2002) also helped, as names like Swisher, Teahan, Span, Kazmir, Fielder, Blanton, Papelbon and Youkilis have a different meaning now than they did at the time of the draft (also drafted by the Twins that year: Neshek, Crain, Peterson.)

I raced through this book and really had a good time doing it. A lot of economic talk is there, but it's really about baseball. A useful way to discuss at least on a very superficial level the economic concepts involved. I think I'm going to pick up Liar's Poker as well based on this reading, but I'm not certain when I'll get around to reading it. We'll see. I do a lot better with books that have audiobook versions, since I can listen to them while watching Nathaniel, but the other problem is that I can usually read a book faster than I can listen to an audiobook. But that requires time to read.

Home Game, by Michael Lewis

Bought: Borrowed from Library 3/20/2010
Read: Finished 3/22/2010 at about 11:00 AM.

I went to the library hoping to pick up a good movie on Sunday. (We succeeded, actually, nabbing Citizen Kane) but also looked for a few books. I found a copy of Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem, but decided it was too long (500 pages). I was actually looking for a copy of Moneyball, which was recommended in the Hornby book, but in looking for Michael Lewis, I found Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood. Since I haven't the slightest idea of what I'm doing as a father eight and a half months in, I thought this might be a good book to pick up. I knew from the reviews of Lewis' other books that he could make seemingly dull topics relatively interesting, so I thought this would be a good bet. I was right. From the first 15 pages of the introduction, I was hooked. The book isn't long; only 190 pages, but I said that I wanted to make sure I got through it quickly, because I'm notorious for missing due dates and accruing library fines. I needn't have worried. By the end of the first hour of reading it, I was around page 90. I don't know if it's increased speed because of law school, if it's just light reading, or if it was just enjoyable, but I raced through this book, laughing along the way. I wanted to reach the break between part II and part III last night, so I read for a little while in bed and roused my wife with laughter a couple of times as she drifted off to sleep. I made up for it this morning by taking the baby into the living room to play and letting her sleep in a bit for the first time in over a year.
I gave the book to her to read this morning also. It's about being a father and not knowing what you're doing, but it's so fun and enjoyable that I think anyone reading it with the least idea of what parenting might be like will enjoy it. I'm looking forward to getting Moneyball. I like baseball, so if it's anywhere close to as good as Home Game, it should be a blast.