501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die
At long last!
Like the next baseball season, 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die, published by the University of Nebraska Press (the "official link"), is a few months away from "Opening Day," but you can still get the latest news right here.
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In the weeks and months ahead I'll be conducting interviews, including audio (and perhaps video) podcasts, with some of the authors whose works appear in the book. There will be other surprises, too (including to me, since I haven't thought of them yet). So check out the 501 blog often and remember to like us on Facebook.
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You'll also find announcements regarding my appearances and interviews, as well as links to reviews and features about the 501 project. So don't be a stranger.
From Amazon
From Barnes and Noble
What they're saying about 501
I don’t know whether Ron Kaplan took any performance-enhancing drugs, but he has accomplished something amazing. His book is the ultimate guide to baseball literature. If you love baseball or books or any combination thereof, you should pick this up now.
A. J. Jacobs, author of ​​
The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World​
​This is a book guaranteed to make a baseball fan feel worse than I (a Red Sox fan) did on the last day of the 2011 season. You thought you had a decent baseball library, you thought you were a well read fan . . . but no! You’re a rookie, and you haven’t read a fraction of all the memoirs, analyses, histories, and novels of baseball out there. But be of good cheer: a whole new world awaits, and Ron Kaplan has drawn you a treasure map.
Peter Sagal, host of NPR’s Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me!​
Ron Kaplan has remarkably and thankfully given us the tripleheader of baseball reference books. He has knowledgeably and entertainingly written a synopsis of, count ’em, 501 baseball books. This is a feat, and a very welcome one. A standing ovation for Ron Kaplan.
Ira Berkow, Pulitzer Prize winner and former New York Times sports columnist
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Ron Kaplan provides a meticulous, entertaining, and informative dissection of the best baseball books, a perfect volume for anyone who loves the game. Great stuff.
Dave Kaplan, director, Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center
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From biography, history, fiction, and instruction to books about ballparks, business, and rules, anyone who loves to read about baseball will find in this book a companionable guide.​
​H-Net
Sportswriter and blogger Kaplan's first book is a fun and useful guide for finding arguably the best baseball books among the mounds of titles relating to this book-inspiring sport. . . . The author's well-informed and well-written comments are compelling enough to make this either a worthwhile light read or a handy reference for all readers of baseball literature.
Library Journal, Feb. 15, 2013
And don't forget to visit Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf for more information about baseball literature and other media.