''Shoeless Joe'' is a 1982 magic realist novel by Canadian author W. P. Kinsella that was later adapted into the 1989 film ''

Field of Dreams ''Field of Dreams'' is a 1989 American sports fantasy drama film written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson, based on Canadian novelist W. P. Kinsella's 1982 novel ''Shoeless Joe''. The film stars Kevin Costner as a farmer who builds a ...

'', which was nominated for three

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. The novel was expanded from Kinsella's short story "Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa", first published in his 1980 collection of the same name. Kinsella first developed the idea for the story while attending the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative W ...

, and decided to incorporate the stories he told about the

Black Sox Scandal The Black Sox Scandal was a Major League Baseball game-fixing scandal in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money from a gambling syndicate l ...

, imagining if

Shoeless Joe Jackson Joseph Jefferson Jackson (July 16, 1887 – December 5, 1951), nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American outfielder who played Major League Baseball (MLB) in the early 1900s. Although his .356 career batting average is the fourth highest ...

came back to the same city Kinsella was living in, Iowa City.

Plot

Ray Kinsella lives and farms in Iowa where he grows corn with his wife Annie and their five-year-old daughter Karin. Kinsella is obsessed with the beauty and history of American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

, specifically the plight of his hero,

, and the

of the

1919 World Series The 1919 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1919 season. The 16th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Chicago White Sox against the National League champion Cincinnati Reds. ...

. When he hears a voice telling him to build a baseball field in the midst of his corn crop in order to give his hero a chance at redemption, he blindly follows instructions. The field becomes a conduit to the spirits of baseball legends. Soon, Kinsella is off on a cross-country trip to ease the pain of another hero, the reclusive writer

J.D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger (; January 1, 1919 January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel ''The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger got his start in 1940, before serving in World War II, by publishing several short stories in ''S ...

, as part of a journey the ''

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Penns ...

'' called "not so much about baseball as it's about dreams, magic, life, and what is quintessentially American."

Characters

Main

*Ray Kinsella, protagonist and devoted baseball fan *Annie Kinsella, wife of Ray *Karin Kinsella, 5-year-old daughter of Ray and Annie

Supporting

*Richard Kinsella, Identical twin brother of Ray *"Gypsy", Richard's girlfriend *Mark, Annie's brother and Ray's brother-in-law *Abner Bluestein, Mark's business partner and accomplice *Eddie Scissons, originally owned Ray's farm and was locally known as the oldest living Chicago Cub

Historical/real life

, baseball player * J. D. Salinger, reclusive author of ''

The Catcher in the Rye ''The Catcher in the Rye'' is an American novel by J. D. Salinger that was partially published in serial form from 1945–46 before being novelized in 1951. Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents for its themes of angs ...

'' and " A Young Girl in 1941 with No Waist at All", which are referred to in the book *

Moonlight Graham Archibald Wright "Moonlight" Graham (November 12, 1876 – August 25, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and medical doctor who appeared as a right fielder in a single major league game for the New York Giants on June 29, 190 ...

, baseball player and later a doctor in the small town of

Chisholm, Minnesota Chisholm is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,976 at the 2010 census. The city has been called "The Heart of the Iron Range" due to its location in the middle of the Mesabi Iron Range. History The city ...

Awards and nominations

''Shoeless Joe'' was the winner of the 1982

Books in Canada First Novel Award The Amazon.ca First Novel Award, formerly the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a Canadian literary award, co-presented by Amazon.ca and ''The Walrus'' to the best first novel in English published the previous year by a citizen or resident o ...

and a Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship. In 2011, the

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (french: Temple de la renommée du baseball canadien) is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates great players, teams, and accomplishments of baseball in Canada. H ...

awarded Kinsella the

Jack Graney Award The Jack Graney Award is presented by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum to a member of the Canadian media for their contributions to the game of baseball in Canada. The award is not presented every year, but rather when the committee b ...

for a significant contribution to the game of baseball in Canada through a life's work or a singular outstanding achievement.

Film adaptation

''Shoeless Joe'' was later adapted into the 1989 film ''

'' by

Phil Alden Robinson Phil Alden Robinson (born March 1, 1950) is an American film director and screenwriter whose films include ''Field of Dreams'', ''Sneakers (1992 film), Sneakers'', and ''The Sum of All Fears (film), The Sum of All Fears''. Early life and educatio ...

. The original working title of the film was ''Shoeless Joe'', like the book. The original title of the book was ''Dream Field'', but the publisher renamed it ''Shoeless Joe.''

J.D. Salinger

W.P. Kinsella, who had never met Salinger, created a wholly imagined character (aside from his being a recluse) based on the author of ''

'', a book that had great meaning to him when he was a young man. To get a feel for Salinger, he re-read his body of work. "I made sure to make him a nice character so that he couldn't sue me." In addition to having a character named "Ray Kinsella" in the short story "A Young Girl in 1941 with No Waist at All", Salinger had also used the surname in ''The Catcher in the Rye'' (

Holden Caulfield Holden Caulfield (identified as "Holden Morrisey Caulfield" in the story "Slight Rebellion Off Madison" , and "Holden V. Caulfield" in ''The Catcher In The Rye'') is a fictional character in the works of author J. D. Salinger. He's most famous ...

's friend Richard Kinsella). Known for his litigiousness, Salinger contacted Kinsella's publisher via his attorneys to express outrage over having been portrayed in ''Shoeless Joe'' and intimated he would sue should the character "J.D. Salinger" appear in any other medium, should ''Shoeless Joe'' be adapted. In the novel ''Shoeless Joe'', Ray Kinsella seeks out J. D. Salinger, although in the film this character was renamed Terence Mann (and was changed to a black man by the casting of

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...

) as the movie producers were worried over being sued by Salinger. The producers believed that it was not significant to jettison Salinger, as they figured only 15% of the potential audience would know who the author was. Kinsella told

Maclean's Magazine ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

in a 2010 interview on the death of Salinger that many of the book's readers believe that Salinger is a wholly fictional character. Kinsella denied that Salinger, as a writer, had any particular influence on his own writing.

Release details

*1982, United States,

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

, Pub. date April 12, 1982, (Paperback) *1999, United States, Mariner Books , Pub. date April 28, 1999, Paperback

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shoeless Joe (Novel) 1982 Canadian novels Baseball novels Canadian magic realism novels Canadian novels adapted into films Cultural depictions of Shoeless Joe Jackson Farms in fiction Ghost novels Houghton Mifflin books J. D. Salinger Novels by W. P. Kinsella Novels set in Iowa