"Casey at the Bat" from The Book of Guys

by Garrison Keillor

"In the Ernest Thayer original, it's a tragedy when Casey strikes out, but of course that depends on which ballpark you're in. In my version, the game is not in Mudville, it's in Dustburg, and people are overjoyed. When I wrote this, the line about the pigeons made me laugh out loud, and I almost laughed out loud at the line about the crowd grabbing hold of the bumpers and rocking him to and fro.  A cruel poem." -Garrison Keillor, from the introduction in The Keillor Reader

READ "Casey at the Bat" here >>>

"Casey at the Bat" is one of 21 stories included in The Book of Guys, which is marking 25 years since its original publication in 1993.

WATCH Garrison read "Casey at the Bat" aloud

As Garrison Keillor says, "Guys are in trouble these days.  Years ago, manhood was an opportunity for achievement and now it is a problem to be overcome.  Guys who once might have painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or composed Don Giovanni are now just trying to be Mr. O.K. All-Rite, the man who can bake a cherry pie, converse easily about intimate things, cry, be vulnerable, be passionate in a skillful way, and yet also be the guy who lifts them bales and totes that barge. Being all-rite is the wrong way to seend your life.  Guys are meant to be lovers and artists and adventurers, meant to be noble and free-ranging, bold, prosperous, good-humored, audacious.  So it's time for guys to free themselves from women, let women deal with their own lives, and stop feeling guilty.  It's time for women to take over the world so that guys can do this."

These 21 tales about guys and their troubles and foibles will have you laughing whether you are a man or a woman so sit back and enjoy.  Available as a book or as a book on tape (nominated for Best Spoken Word Audio).

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"Keillor takes delicious swipes at the media, fad causes, political correctness and American tabloid culture as he convincingly sketches the precarious state of his fellow males, longing for the days when they could just be guys." - Publishers Weekly

 

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