Heart of the Order
Encyclopedia
Heart of the Order is a 1986 novel
written by Tony Ardizzone
. It was published by Henry Holt and Company
and won the Virginia Prize for Fiction and named one of the 10 Best Sports Books 1986 by The National Sports Review.
's North Side with "blood on his bat." In an open letter to his son, Danny recaps his life and explains how an accidental death, guilt, Catholicism
, amnesia, a good glove, a good level swing, and the love of a fat woman with beautiful eyes can shape a life. Profoundly influenced by the accidental death of a neighborhood kid during a ball game (one of Danny's line drives struck him in the Adam's apple), Danny "suffers" the schizophrenic presence of the dead boy throughout high school, the minor leagues, and major league baseball. Bacigalupo's story begins with a flippant, jocular tone; however, it quickly hits a comfortable, engaging stride, describing the thrills, agonies, and occasional epiphanies of growing up Catholic, Italian, poor, and naturally athletic.
"The wisdom and humor of the novel's narrative voice and the stylistic risks that have transformed this straightforward story into art."
- Novelist David Bradley
, winner of 1982's PEN/Faulkner Award
"Ardizzone's nonstop stream of comic but revealing baseball metaphors elevates dugout chatter to something approaching poetry. This is one of the rare books that can make you laugh out loud, all the while scoring some serious points about the games that really matter."
-John Harvey
of Sports Illustrated
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by Tony Ardizzone
Tony Ardizzone
Anthony V. Ardizzone is an American novelist, short story writer, and editor.-Biography:Ardizzone was raised on the North Side of Chicago. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in 1971 and from Bowling Green State University with an MFA in 1975...
. It was published by Henry Holt and Company
Henry Holt and Company
Henry Holt and Company is an American book publishing company. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt...
and won the Virginia Prize for Fiction and named one of the 10 Best Sports Books 1986 by The National Sports Review.
Plot
The main character, Danny "Kiss of the Wolf" Bacigalupo, a baseball player from ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's North Side with "blood on his bat." In an open letter to his son, Danny recaps his life and explains how an accidental death, guilt, Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
, amnesia, a good glove, a good level swing, and the love of a fat woman with beautiful eyes can shape a life. Profoundly influenced by the accidental death of a neighborhood kid during a ball game (one of Danny's line drives struck him in the Adam's apple), Danny "suffers" the schizophrenic presence of the dead boy throughout high school, the minor leagues, and major league baseball. Bacigalupo's story begins with a flippant, jocular tone; however, it quickly hits a comfortable, engaging stride, describing the thrills, agonies, and occasional epiphanies of growing up Catholic, Italian, poor, and naturally athletic.
Reviews
"Ardizzone writes with razor-sharp beauty. There's an electricity, an excitement in his prose. Heart of the Order is upbeat but never trite, an honorable novel about love, decency, and redemption. As they say on the old diamond, Tony Ardizzone can play some". -John Hough Jr from The Philadelphia InquirerThe Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
"The wisdom and humor of the novel's narrative voice and the stylistic risks that have transformed this straightforward story into art."
- Novelist David Bradley
David Bradley (novelist)
David Henry Bradley, Jr. is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of Oregon and author of South Street and the The Chaneysville Incident, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1982....
, winner of 1982's PEN/Faulkner Award
"Ardizzone's nonstop stream of comic but revealing baseball metaphors elevates dugout chatter to something approaching poetry. This is one of the rare books that can make you laugh out loud, all the while scoring some serious points about the games that really matter."
-John Harvey
John Harvey
-People:*John Harvey , English stage and film actor*John Harvey , American actor*John Harvey , Retired National Football League running back...
of Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...