Justine Larbalestier

reading, writing, eating, drinking, sport

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A genre I never tire of . . .

. . . Is USians what know zero about cricket writing about it. Today’s example comes from the New York Times and concerns a novel that’s been written about the Staten Island cricket club1 by one of the members, Joseph O’Neil. Here’s my favourite bit:

That Mr O’Neill in his other life happens to be a novelist is a matter of indifference to most of his teammates. They’re more interested in him as an accomplished batsman, a sure-handed fielder and a decent off-speed bowler.

Off-speed! Hahahahahahah! Perhaps they meant “off-spin“? Or has the Staten Island cricket club invented a whole new kind of bowling?

Made my day. Bless you, New York Times.

  1. And apparently other things such as 9/11, family, politics, identity. That kind of stuff. Obviously, none of it as important as cricket. [↩]

Posted by Justine at 12:13, 17 May 2008 under Cricket, New York City/USA, Praising, Reading | 5 Comments »

Comments

  1. Dan Goodman Says:

    I think it was about ten years ago that the New York Times had a front page article about how New York City’s dialect was dying. Every expert they quoted said, quite plainly, that the New York Metropolitan Dialect was changing.

    That’s when I stopped relying on the NYTimes for accurate news. The US newspaper I find most accurate is USA Today. Which astonishes some people, because it’s not One of the Most Respected.

    May 17th, 2008 at 3:02 PM

  2. 2. Justine Says:

    Some people seem to think that change is death . . .

    May 17th, 2008 at 3:09 PM

  3. marrije Says:

    haha, a genre i never tire of is dutch names in USian books. the original Hans van den Broek is a former cabinet minister of ours, and his (v. pretty and sensible) daughter married one of our princes. think i’m going to re-read suite Scarlett in sted of Netherland, though – probably a lot better for my mood.

    May 17th, 2008 at 3:59 PM

  4. PixelFish Says:

    I’m curious to find out if you’ve read Elizabeth George’s Playing For the Ashes. It’s about a cricket star who gets killed in an arson incident. (I’m pretty certain that much is on the back of the book so I wouldn’t be spoiling much by mentioning that’s the crux of the plot.) If so, what did you think about the cricket in that book?

    May 18th, 2008 at 10:44 AM

  5. David S. Says:

    Funny, when I read that over the w/e I laughed too, and thought “I’ll bet Justine L. will be unimpressed when she sees that…”

    May 19th, 2008 at 7:41 AM

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