Once I got passed the baseball play-by-play, the story actually picked up. Now his usual kind of story, but good nonetheless.

Good "up-lifting" story in a very short read.

Tried three times. Couldn't get past the first chapter. Perhaps a love of baseball is a requirement.

Started but not finished.

A short fictional story about a baseball hitter's brilliant career for the Chicago Cubs was cut short by one mediocre pitcher of the Mets. Not a big baseball nut, I find the story shallow and pointless.

A great read. Really was not sure what to expect but turned out pretty good overall.

A very good read. I enjoyed this book I would recommend this book for all to read.

I got this book out of the library because it is a Grisham. I know nothing about base ball, so, I was very surprised and impressed with this story. Grisham This is much, much more than a baseball story. It is a story of redemption, tolerance, and forgiveness. Grisham weaves together a wonderful story - that is not law related.

There are several faces to John Grisham. There is the author of taut legal thrillers; the man who pens legal adventures for young readers, and the writer of quiet, reflective novels examining people, their histories, memories and aspirations. Grisham is clearly a talented practitioner in all these arenas, but the third category (Playing for Pizza, The Painted House and now Calico Joe) contains his best work. Calico Joe is a wonderful story partly about baseball, but mostly about a man’s struggle to come to terms with his dysfunctional family history.

Calico Joe is a great book which reminds me of a recent book by S.King about a similar mythical player with a short-lived but great major league career. Grisham combines great real players with a couple of fictional ones to create a bad horrible fitional event that ends up with all party's semi "feeling good" in the end. A good fast read.