George V. Higgins

These are the friends of Eddie Jackie Brown, the gun leader; Dillon, part-time contract killer; Jimmy Scalisi, gang leader. All the hoods, gunmen, drivers, thieves and executioners wheeling, dealing, and stealing in the world of Eddie Coyle, a small time punk with a big time problem.

Why do certain professional athletes achieve immortality and others don't? With his sparkling, accurate prose, Higgins suggests some answers as he tells us about baseball and the ever-trying Boston Red Sox, about family and continuity and the passage of the seasons, delightfully weaving them all together with his insightful observations.