Rating: 
Summary: If you're interested in Baseball, Cuba or History, buy this
Review: I loved Darryl Brock's first baseball novel, If I Never Get Back, and was hoping his new book would be as riveting as the first. It is, and I enjoyed it immensely. Brock undertook a tremendous challenge in narrating his book through a deaf mute, and proved himself more than equal to the challenge. He transports us into the world of Luther Taylor, the turn of the century pitcher for the New York Giants, and weaves an engrossing tale of adventure in early 20th century Cuba. As always, his historical research is right on the mark, and his storytelling genius comes through chapter after chapter. A great read.
Rating:
Summary: Darryl Brock has done it again
Review: I loved Darryl Brock's first baseball novel, If I Never Get Back, and was hoping his new book would be as riveting as the first. It is, and I enjoyed it immensely. Brock undertook a tremendous challenge in narrating his book through a deaf mute, and proved himself more than equal to the challenge. He transports us into the world of Luther Taylor, the turn of the century pitcher for the New York Giants, and weaves an engrossing tale of adventure in early 20th century Cuba. As always, his historical research is right on the mark, and his storytelling genius comes through chapter after chapter. A great read.
Rating:
Summary: Review from a Deaf reader
Review: I noticed that while reading the other reviews, they were all people who had read this author before or love baseball. I am writing this review from the view of a Deaf person. In the first chapter, the author opens up with a scene at a Deaf school. For those of you who don't know, the Deaf school is a sense of pride in the Deaf community and the author seemed to have an awareness of that. Luther "Dummy" Tayler (all players who were Deaf back in the early 1900s were called "Dummy" - so don't take offense) used different means of communication throughout the book. He always seemed more comfortable with those who signed. His wife is Deaf, which is another culture instance within the Deaf community - marrying other Deaf people due to communication issues. This book also shows that Deaf people are actually quite smart (which is opposite the nickname, "Dummy"). This book was not written by a Deaf author, but he was well-informed and it is worth reading! Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: "Havana Heat", a novel by Darryl Brock
Review: If you have warm feelings about early 20th century baseball, especially about John McGraw and the New York Giants, you will love this book. It tells of a Cuban exhibition tour the Giants make in 1911 after having just lost the world series to the Philadelphia A's. The narrator is a deaf-mute named "Dummy" Taylor, a former Giants pitcher who, at age 36, thinks he can make a comeback. McGraw, the Giants' manager, allows him to accompany the team to Havana. The adventures in this baseball crazy city are described with much realistic detail, including the doings of the great Christy Mathewson. I do not know how many of the players described in the book were real persons, but they ring true. The climax of the story is a game between the Giants and a team made of raw country teen-agers assembled and coached by Taylor, to allow McGraw to possibly sign some young rookies for the Giants. None of the events in the novel are unexpected, and I was not aware that the sign language could be used in as subtle a manner as the book suggests, but the baseball material sounds real and the unsophisticated descriptions atributed to Dummy Taylor are well done. It is an easy book to read and enjoy, even if some of the Cuban adventures incorporate today's political correctness.
Rating:
Summary: Darryl Brock needs to write more!
Review: My only complaint about Darryl Brock is that he doesn't write enough! What a great book! I loved If I Never Get Back and I loved Havana Heat. What a wonderful story about baseball, Cuba, and Luther Taylor. C
Rating:
Summary: Darryl Brock needs to write more!
Review: My only complaint about Darryl Brock is that he doesn't write enough! What a great book! I loved If I Never Get Back and I loved Havana Heat. What a wonderful story about baseball, Cuba, and Luther Taylor. C
Rating:
Summary: Glove leather under royal palms
Review: Reading Darryl Brock's carefully researched and moving story about baseball in the-of-the century Cuba made me feel I was actully living "Dummy" Taylor's life. -Al Gowan, author, Santiago Rag, a novel of the Spanish-Cuban-American War.
Rating: 
Summary: "Havana Heat" blends fiction and baseball history.
Review: Thanks for your interest in my work. As you might know from my first novel, "If I Never Get Back," I love to weave fictional characters and plots into colorful eras of baseball's past. A former history and English instructor, I have always been fascinated by the interplay of romance and reality. As a boy, after reading, say, "The Three Musketeers," I would delve into a history book to discover how elements of the story were grounded in fact. When I'd had my fill of "reality" I would return to works of imagination. In Havana Heat I wanted to portray a deaf man as a hero, and so Luther "Dummy" Taylor, a historical figure who pitched for John McGraw's brawling New York Giants, is the story's protagonist and narrator. The story is set in rural Kansas and in newly independent Cuba, and it takes place in 1911, a wonderfully turbulent year. While on a barnstorming trip to Havana, Taylor faces a personal challenge posed by a troubled deaf Cuban boy. He comes to realize that he is the only person who might be able to help the boy-and in the attempt transform his own life. It is a story of following one's heart, even in the face of long odds. I hope you enjoy it.Personal note: Besides spending 30 years in the Bay Area, I have also lived in Oregon and Spain. Currently I reside in Berkeley with my wife, actress-director-teacher Lura Dolas, and our aged poodle Sophie, who inexplicably seems to have become a football fan. I am working on "Two in the Field" (due for release in spring of 2002), a sequel to "If I Never Get Back."
Rating:
Summary: If you're interested in Baseball, Cuba or History, buy this
Review: This book is great historical fiction. The central character is based on real-life deaf pitcher Luther 'Dummy' Taylor and a fictional trip to Cuba. So not only does this book tell a great story about Cuba, Baseball, and life at the turn-of-the-century, it tells it all from the point of view of a deaf man. Imagine being a pitcher on the field, 50,000 screaming fans, and you can't hear them. Amazing. This is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Above average
Review: This novel is good summer fun. Don't mistake Havana Heat for The Great Baseball Novel (like The Brothers K). This is an above average feel-good formula story.
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