R.A. Dickey’s new book coincides with him having a huge season. Think he might sell a few more copies after Tuesday’s All-Star game?
This isn’t a conventional autobiography of a baseball player. There were many bumps in the road for Dickey, to say the least.
It all makes for compelling reading. The Sports Book Review Center gave it 5 stars.
From the review:
Therapy and faith play a big part in the story. Dickey spent plenty of time talking with a Nashville therapist, and one of the lessons was to get Dickey’s demons more out in the open with honesty. This book, he writes, is part of that process. As for faith, everyone will have a personal reaction to the role it played in Dickey’s life. But if it helped him get through his struggles, good for him.
There aren’t many laughs in “Wherever I Wind Up,” but the pages go by pretty quickly considering the subject matter. It wouldn’t be surprising to see more books in Dickey’s future; a journal of a season probably would be quite revealing. In the meantime, any reader will come away impressed by Dickey’s resilience, and will be rooting for him by the time the last few works are reached.
Here’s the write-up on Amazon.
The Glass Castle meets Ball Four as Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey weaves searing honesty and baseball insight in this memoir about his unlikely journey to the big leagues.
An English Lit major at the University of Tennessee, Dickey is as articulate and thoughtful as any professional athlete in any sport-and proves it page after page, as he provides fresh and honest insight into baseball and a career unlike any other. Fourteen years ago, Dickey was a heralded No. 1 draft choice of the Texas Rangers, only to have an $810,000 signing bonus, and his lifelong dream, ripped away by an X- ray-and the discovery that he did not have an ulna collateral ligament in his right elbow.
Five years ago, he gave up a record six home runs in three innings to the Detroit Tigers-and was effectively consigned to the baseball scrap heap.
Sustained by his profound Christian faith, the love of his wife and children, and a relentless quest for self-awareness and authenticity, the immensely likable Dickey details his transformation from a reckless, risk-taking loner to a grounded, life- affirming big leaguer. He emerged as one of the premier pitchers in the National League in 2010-and the knuckleballing embodiment of the wonders that perseverance and human wisdom can produce. Dickey views his story as one of redemption. Readers will come to see it as something more-a uniquely American story of beating back demons, listening to your heart, and overcoming extraordinary odds.