{"product_id":"the-universal-baseball-association-inc-j-henry-waugh-prop-paperback","title":"The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eRobert Coover\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eBen Marcus\u003c\/b\u003e (Introduction by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eConsidered one of the best baseball novels of all time, this black comedy about a discontented businessman's obsession with a fantasy baseball league of his own creation is \"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty\" meets William Gaddis meets John Updike's \u003ci\u003eRabbit, Run\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSomewhere in a \"major-league\" American city, there lives a man named J. Henry Waugh--no-account accountant, barfly, and country music fan. The most important part of Waugh's life, as far as he is concerned, is lived in his head, where he is sole proprietor of the Universal Baseball Association, which is now entering its fifty-sixth season. The games are played with dice and scorecards, and the players are just numbers and names, but for Waugh they're more real than the dreary office, the dive bar, and the dingy apartment in which he spends his days. Still, being sole proprietor is a lonely business, and when a few rolls of the dice spell tragedy for the rookie pitcher Damon Rutherford--a player Waugh believes will reinvigorate the game--the whole association is imperiled, along with the sanity of its isolated creator. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRobert Coover's fiction was a map of America, and \u003ci\u003eThe Universal Baseball Association \u003c\/i\u003eis smack-dab in the center of it. Baseball, in Waugh's world, is an escape, and Waugh is nothing if not an all-American escapist with a capacity for denial so profound that it can only be called optimism.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRobert Coover\u003c\/b\u003e (1932-2024) was born in Charles City, Iowa. He attended Indiana University and, after a four-year stint in the US Navy, the University of Chicago. For more than thirty years, he taught literature and creative writing at Brown University. He was the author of many novels and story collections--among others \u003ci\u003eThe Origin of the Brunists \u003c\/i\u003e(forthcoming from NYRB Classics), \u003ci\u003ePricksongs and Descants\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Public Burning\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eBen Marcus \u003c\/b\u003eis the author of five books of fiction: \u003ci\u003eNotes from the Fog\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Flame Alphabet\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLeaving the Sea\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNotable American Women\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Age of Wire and String\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in New York City.\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 264\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.56 x 7.96 x 5.13 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 17, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52022422569261,"sku":"9798896230182","price":20.15,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0938\/3185\/6429\/files\/the-universal-baseball-association-inc-j-henry-waugh-prop-paperback-8015083.webp?v=1777435086","url":"https:\/\/ishookbooks.com\/products\/the-universal-baseball-association-inc-j-henry-waugh-prop-paperback","provider":"iShook Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}