Columbus Slaughters Braves

Mark Friedman's debut novel is an unflinchingly honest portrait of the relationship between siblings, the heartbreaking tale of two brothers whose lives lead to vastly different fates. The narrator, Joe Columbus, tells the story of his brother CJ's remarkable success as a professional baseball player in an effort to explain not only CJ's apparently charmed life but also his own failures - his envy, his crumbling marriage, his missteps and cowardice.
A richly imagined story that explores both the grand and enduring allure of our national pasttime and the complications of our lives - our longings, losses, and regrets - COLUMBUS SLAUGHTERS BRAVES is a dark and comic and ultimately redemptive novel. Like W. P. Kinsella's SHOELESS JOE Joe and Michael Shaara's FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME, this is a poignant and compassionate work that introduces readers to a gifted and extraordinarily perceptive writer. |

"Friedman's vivid prose takes us on a journey that is at turns funny and uncomfortably real...For a rookie novelist, Friedman has hit a sharp double down the line." Newsday

"This taut novella from Mark Friedman explores the psychological consequences of being one notch ahead in the birth order from a scarily talented, perennially blessed, and eventually iconic bazillionaire baseball star. This is an unsparing ode to brotherly hate, a manipulative little book that's also flawless in its portrayal of a decent guy's daily struggle against feeling like a total scrub. " The Los Angeles Times

"'Columbus Slaughters Braves' is a deep, troubling look at sibling rivalry framed by one brother's otherworldly talent and another's unhealthy resentment of him and it...This book won't leave you smiling, but it will make you think...and feel." The Chicago Tribune