A good friend and mentor of mine, Charles Salzberg, sent along the following about two books of his. I invite any reader to check out this author’s work. His range is outstanding, and whether it’s an easy-to-read and even-easier-to-assimilate book on craft that delivers nearly two full years of study between its humble covers or either of the below, I practically guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

It’s deja vu all over again.

Eons ago, George Robinson and I wrote a touching, funny, nostalgic, wonderful, fascinating, life-changing (all George’s words, not mine) book called On a Clear Day They Could See Seventh Place, Baseball’s Worst Teams. It was published by Dell, got wonderful reviews, and fell into the wide crack otherwise known as the publishing promotion abyss, and disappeared from the face of the earth. Now, in their wisdom, Bison Books (the University of Nebraska Press) has decided to reissue the book with a brand new Foreword. The teams stay the same, all your favorites, the New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, as do the unlikely baseball players on those bad, bad teams, like Babe Ruth (about whom it was said when he pressed his wish to manage his beloved Yankees–“how could he manage the Yankees when he can’t even manage himself,”) and Ralph Kiner (who when he asked the owner of the Pirates for a raise, was refused with the unassailable wisdom, “we finished in last place with him, we can finish in last place without him.”)

The book is still pretty much on the down-low, seeing as Bison Books has the publicity budget somewhere south of the average family weekly food allowance, but the book is for sale at your local bookstore (if you have a local bookstore) or you can get it online here.

Also, if you haven’t picked up a copy of Swann’s Last Song (another “loser,” since it didn’t win that Shamus Award for Best First PI Novel, for which it was nominated,) it’s now available in paperback, with the original last chapter added,at Greenpointpress.org

And you might even want to pick up another one of their terrific titles, since all of them are on sale.

Both make wonderful gifts. I know that’s what I’m giving my mother for her birthday. And I might even autograph it for her.