Noah Gittell Book Signing – “Baseball : The Movie”
The Hickory Stick Bookshop is delighted to host film critic and sports writer Noah Gittell who will be here to sign copies of his new book “Baseball : The Movie” on Sunday June 2nd at 2 pm.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Featuring Field of Dreams, The Bad News Bears, A League of Their Own, and more this is a probing and entertaining work at the intersection of pop culture and sports.

Baseball has always been a symbol as much as a sport.  With a blend of individual confrontation and team play, a luxurious pace, and an immaculate urban parkland setting, it offers a sunny rendering of the American Dream, both the hard work that underpins it and the rewards it promises.

Film, America’s other national pastime, which magnifies and mythologizes all it touches, has long been the ideal medium to canonize this aspirational idea.

“Baseball: The Movie” is the first definitive history of this film genre that was born in 1915 and remains artistically and culturally vital more than a century later.  Writer and critic Noah Gittell sheds light on well-known classics and overlooked gems, exploring how baseball cinema creates a stage upon which the American ideal is born, performed, and repeatedly redefined.  Traversing history and mythmaking, cynicism and nostalgia, this thoroughly researched book takes readers on a multifaceted tour of baseball on film.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Noah Gittell is a culture critic who has written for publications including The Atlantic, The

Ringer, GQ, Esquire, The Guardian, and the Los Angeles Review of Books.  He is a regular film critic for the Washington City Paper and a frequent contributor to the BBC. He is also a mainstay at Smithsonian Associates, where he lectures several times a year on various film topics.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

“Finally, someone takes baseball movies seriously! Baseball: The Movie blends the passion of a fan with the rigorous analysis of a film critic to create a persuasive argument that the baseball movie matters–to baseball, to Hollywood, even to America.”

–Ben Mankiewicz, host, Turner Classic Movies

“There’s analysis and there’s storytelling. In my professional life, I practice them in the booth all season long. Noah Gittell not only masters each skill in Baseball: The Movie, but intertwines them seamlessly with humor, depth, and a personal perspective that makes it a must read for any movie lover, baseball fan, or curious observer of American culture.”

–Ron Darling, author, baseball analyst, and former MLB pitcher

“For most of my life, I’ve been waiting for a great book about baseball movies, because for nearly all my life I’ve been obsessed with both baseball and movies. Thanks to Noah Gittell, it’s been worth the wait. Gittell doesn’t just write brilliantly about baseball movies; he also places them in the context of American culture and society over the better part of a century. This book is a bravura, Oscar-worthy achievement.”

–Rob Neyer, author of Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Game

 

This event is free and open to the public.  If you are unable to attend this event, you may reserve signed copies of “Baseball : The Movie” by calling The Hickory Stick Bookshop at (860) 868 0525, or shop our website 24/7 at www.hickorystickbookshop.com.

Sunday, June 2, 2024 – 2:00pm to 3:30pm

2 Green Hill Road
Washington Depot, CT 06794