Two for the 4th, part 2 - Review of "The Only Way is the Steady Way"

Part two of the July 4 doubleheader for this blog is a review of a book of baseball essays I read on a train ride to...a baseball game.  Going to see a baseball game, America's Pastime, during the weekend of July 4 and reading a baseball book just seemed to be the right thing to do.  Here is my review of "The Only Way is the Steady Way"

Title/Author: "The Only Way is the Steady Way" by Andrew Forbes

Rating: 5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review: Usually when I read a book of essays or short stories, the final result ends up being a mixed bag – some good, some not so good and some in between those two areas.  This one doesn't fall into that category as I was enjoying every single word of this collection of mostly baseball essays by Andrew Forbes.

I say "mostly" because not every part of every essay is about baseball.  There are some very personal and moving sections about Forbes' family life, a little social commentary and other personal observations.  They are all related to baseball by the end of the essay, but they do give a snapshot into not only Forbes' personal life but also how much the game of baseball plays into his life.

Residing in Ontario, Forbes is a Toronto Blue Jays fan and some of the writing deals with them – the Jose Bautista bat flip in the 2015 postseason is one of the better topics when he writes about his team.  But he saves his best work for his writing about Ichiro Suzuki and how his success in Major League baseball after an excellent career in the Japanese leagues shows how much that one player affected him.

This is not to say Forbes writes only about Ichiro in glowing terms, although he mostly does so.  This is also not to say that this book is ONLY about Ichiro, although he is the subject of many of the essays.  Instead, the book is best viewed as a tribute to baseball and a reminder of how important it is in the lives of those who play the game, watch the game or otherwise enjoy the game.  Ichiro is the main illustrator of how this is done, and Forbes does a great job of conveying that message in short sections that will be enjoyed by anyone who fits the above categories. 

I wish to thank Invisible Publishing for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Only-Way-Steady-Essays-Baseball/dp/1988784662/