Box Socials - by W P Kinsella (Paperback)

About the Book

"Originally published in Canada by HarperCollins ... in 1991"--Colophon.

Book Synopsis

"A whimsical portrait of 1940s-era small-town life, crowded with everything from owl-calling contests to raucous, five-day Ukrainian weddings. It's a delightful comic ramble, written in quirky, digressive style. . . . Richly textured."--Los Angeles Times

Here's the story of how Truckbox Al McClintock, a small-town greaser whose claim to fame was hitting a baseball clean across the Pembina River, almost got a tryout with the genuine St. Louis Cardinals--but instead ended up batting against Bob Feller of Cleveland Indian Fame in Renfrew Park, Edmonton, Alberta. Along the way to Al's moment of truth at the plate, we learn about the bizarre, touchingly hilarious lives and loves of just about anyone who ever passed through New Oslo, Fark, or Venusberg.

Full of the crackle of down-home folk tales, by turn randy, riveting, and heart-breaking, Box Socials is the triumph of Kinsella's career.

Praise for Box Socials

"Wonderful . . . Charming and funny . . . If you've never been to a box social, go to this one."--Fannie Flagg, The New York Times Book Review

"A sweeping comic work . . . Welcome to the seductively poetic fictional world of W.P. Kinsella."--People

"A story filled with nostalgia about a time when the game was played on real grass and was called on account of darkness. . . . A down-home style that resembles the humorous voice of Garrison Keillor."--The New York Times

From the Back Cover

With the award-winning, bestselling, universally acclaimed Shoeless Joe (the basis for the movie "Field of Dreams"), W.P. Kinsella established himself as a storyteller of unsurpassed wit and an unforgettably whimsical voice. But Kinsella's new novel, Box Socials, is easily the best book of his career. Set in the small towns, ball fields, barns and bedrooms of Alberta, Canada, and populated by some of the quirkiest, rowdiest, hottest-blooded folks in fiction, Box Socials paints a brilliantly comic, full-color portrait of North American life in the 1940s. Here's the story of how Truckbox Al McClintock, a small-town greaser whose claim to fame was hitting a baseball clean across the Pembina River, almost got a tryout with the genuine St. Louis Cardinals - but instead ended up batting against Bob Feller of Cleveland Indian fame in Renfrew Park, Edmonton, Alberta. Along the way to Al's moment of truth at the plate, we learn about the bizarre, touchingly hilarious lives and loves of just about anyone who ever passed through New Oslo, Fark, or Venusberg. Narrator Jamie O'Day, the young wide-eyed offspring of downwardly mobile hillbillies, plunks us down in the middle of the wild six-day Ukrainian wedding of Lavonia Lakustra and her Little American Soldier. He introduces us to the luscious Velvet Bozniak, who knows more about sex than any girl has a right to and who is determined to share all her wisdom with Jamie. And of course he attends a slew of box socials, whist drives, and community dances, where the women gossip and flirt while the men tank up on Heathen's Rapture and haul off to engage in the only sport they know aside from baseball - fistfights. Full of the crackle of down-home folktales, by turns randy, riveting and heart-breaking, Box Socials is the triumph of Kinsella's career.

Review Quotes

"A whimsical portrait of 1940s-era small-town life, crowded with everything from owl-calling contests to raucous, five-day Ukrainian weddings. It's a delightful comic ramble, written in quirky, digressive style. . . . Richly textured."--Los Angeles Times

"Wonderful . . . Charming and funny . . . If you've never been to a box social, go to this one."--Fannie Flagg, The New York Times Book Review

"A sweeping comic work . . . Welcome to the seductively poetic fictional world of W.P. Kinsella."--People

"A story filled with nostalgia about a time when the game was played on real grass and was called on account of darkness. . . . A down-home style that resembles the humorous voice of Garrison Keillor."--The New York Times

About the Author

W. P. (Bill) Kinsella was the author of some 24 books and more than 200 stories. He was best known for his baseball fiction: The Thrill of the Grass; Go the Distance; The Iowa Baseball Confederacy; The Dixon Cornbelt League; Box Socials; and Shoeless Joe, his multi-award-winning novel that became the classic movie Field of Dreams, nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Kinsella's other books include Dance Me Outside (also made into a feature film); Scars; Born Indian; The Moccasin Telegraph; The Fencepost Chronicles; The Miss Hobbema Pageant; and Red Wolf, Red Wolf, from which the story "Lieberman in Love" was adapted for the screen and went on to win an Academy Award for Best Short Feature. He died in 2016.