“Brilliantly Funny”
— The Washington Post |
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“A literary All-Star”
— Los Angeles Times |
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“A vivid journey into
baseball's bizarro world. Walker not only finds the humor in this world
of the obsessed, he also finds the drama.”
— Dan Barry, The New York Times |
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“A funny and mind-boggling
read.”
— Ottowa Citizen |
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| "By far the funniest book written about our national pastime in the last decade." — Rocky Mountain News |
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"I have read many books on baseball, but
none of them approach the delight, the zaniness, the lunacy and the
sheer reading pleasure of Sam Walker's Fantasyland. In trying to build
the perfect fantasy baseball team, Walker takes us on an absolute
joyride. His book is a riot and a romp, but he also cleverly
crystallizes the raging baseball culture war between the stat freaks and
the hard-line traditionalists." — Buzz Bissinger, author of
Three Nights in August and Friday Night
Lights |
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"A-"
— Entertainment Weekly |
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What "Moneyball" did for
statistics, "Fantasyland" will do for fantasy
sports. — ESPN.com |
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Fantasyland is the first
book to capture the mix of numbers, personalities
and unhealthy love for baseball that makes fantasy baseball so enticing.
It's hard not to be charmed.
— Baltimore Sun |
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”The most entertaining
book ever written about pretend sports.”
— Chuck Klosterman, Play, the sports magazine of The New
York Times |
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| “It's all great fun,
written with humor and a twinkling eye directed at the lunacy of it
all….In offering a fascinating analysis of this underlying conflict
within the sport, Walker gives his account of fantasy fanaticism an
unexpected and satisfying depth. Fantasyland has a chance to be
the Moneyball of 2006.” — Booklist (Starred review)
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"The book mirrors the game
itself: It is filled with pathos, humor, sorrow, tragedy, and triumph."
— Book Sense (Top 20 pick for April, 2006) |
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“[A] hilarious diary.
Readers might even pick up a few tips on how to draft their teams this
spring, but the real fun is in watching Walker’s well-laid plans
unravel.”
— Publishers Weekly |
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“Fantasyland is a
compelling tale. I really enjoyed the book.”
— Eric Karabell, Senior Fantasy Editor, ESPN.com |
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“Baseball fans of all
stripes will find Fantasyland to be a romping yet informative
escapade.”
— RotoAuthority.com |
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“A wonderful read. Do
yourself a favor and purchase this book .”
— Sportsline.com |
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“Mr. Walker's access
yielded fascinating scenes and anecdotes.”
— New York Sun |
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“A delightful account.
[Walker] indulged the male fantasy of fantasy sports.”
— Newark Star-Ledger |
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“Walker succeeds in
conveying the thrill of what is essentially derivatives trading…
Fantasyland chugs along briskly, and the tense drama of the Tout
Wars draft…comes alive.”
— Newsday |
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"I found myself not
wanting to put the book down."
—The Hardball Times |
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"Walker has hit a home run
with this book."
— Ingram Handseller |
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"Relentlessly
entertaining."
— Deadspin.com |
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"This is quite simply the
best baseball book since Moneyball."
— The Sports Frog |
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| Fantasy sports leagues are
ubiquitous. For the uninitiated, fantasy games comprise a competition
among individuals based on statistics of players they select in a real
sport--in this case, baseball. Walker, a Wall Street Journal
sportswriter, initially avoided contact with fantasy baseball (too
geeky) but after burning out on such real-life baseball subjects as
steroid scandals, labor strife, and contract negotiations, he decided to
write about the game's fantasy side after all. He wangled himself a spot
in one of the most prestigious fantasy leagues and decided to research
in person the team he would pick. The result was a tour of a dozen
spring-training sites in Florida and Arizona during which he spoke to
players, coaches, general managers, and trainers. And, of course, he
availed himself of the fantasy traditionalists potpourri of statistical
reports, online sites, and daily box scores. It's all great fun, written
with humor and a twinkling eye directed at the lunacy of it all; but
fantasy baseball and its attendant statistical reliance has spawned an
internecine baseball war between old-school traditionalists (most
scouts, for example) and the numbers people, many of whom have fantasy
backgrounds. In offering a fascinating analysis of this underlying
conflict within the sport, Walker gives his account of fantasy
fanaticism an unexpected and satisfying depth. Fantasyland has a chance to be the
Moneyball of 2006. — Wes Lukowsky,
Booklist (Starred review) |
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"When Walker, a senior writer for the Wall
Street Journal, enters his first fantasy baseball tournament, he
aims high: Tout Wars, a competition for guys who make a career out of
analyzing stats to find the best major league hitters and pitchers. He
figures that because he can get to the ballparks in his journalistic
capacity and talk to the players and coaches, he’ll be in a better
position to judge the intangibles and pull one over the pure numbers
crunchers. But even with the help of a young research assistant and a
NASA scientist, things quickly head south. This hilarious diary of the
2004 season includes several encounters with the players Walker has
picked; from Jacque Jones’s struggle to refute predictions of mediocrity
to David Ortiz’s razzing Walker for trading him away. Along the way
there are mini-profiles of the Tout Wars competition, as well as
explorations of the origins of fantasy baseball (predating even the
famed Rotisserie League) and the shaky relationship between dedicated
statistical analysts and Major League executives. Readers might even
pick up a few tips on how to draft their teams this spring, but the real
fun is in watching Walker’s well-laid plans unravel. (On sale Feb. 20)
— Publishers Weekly |
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| “An immensely fun read. . . . . Inside that cover are 334 pages of insight and hilarity. Few books can successfully combine those two diverse elements." —Ron Shandler, Baseballhq.com |
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“When he wasn’t soliciting Rotisserie advice
from star ballplayers like David Ortiz or top general managers like
Billy Beane, Sam Walker managed to write the most entertaining baseball
narrative I've read in years. With enormous wit, razor-sharp reporting,
and a passion that borders on maniacal, Fantasyland hits a grand
slam." — Neal Bascomb, author of The Perfect Mile |
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Fantasyland: A Season on Baseball's Lunatic
Fringe, by Sam Walker, is a splendid read. In fact, it is so exceptional
that I found myself devouring it - rather than simply reading it. Each
of its 368 pages leaves the reader with an insatiable desire to read
more. Because of this, Fantasyland is the type of book that you will not
want to put down - until you have read its last page.
If Fantasyland is not "the best baseball book" of 2006, it's certainly
in the team picture."
— Steve Lombardi, for NetShrine.com |
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| "Baseball has been so
often dissected and analyzed over the years that it’s easy to lose sight
of the fact that it's a game people love – sometimes with a level of
loyalty and commitment that staggers the mind. Sam Walker's Fantasyland is a book to remind everyone of that fact. — Keith Hernandez, former New York Met and author of
Pure Baseball |
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| [Walker] becomes to the fantasy baseball world what George Plimpton became to professional football with Paper Lion." — JC Bradbury, Sabernomics.com |
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| "What Sam Walker did
during 2004 baseball season was exactly the kind of thing I would love
to do. In fact, he did precisely what anyone reading these words would
love to do..... If you enjoy playing fantasy baseball, you'll love
reading this book. It's as simple as that" — Jody Madron, Sportsblurb.com |
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| "The most enjoyable tale about fantasy baseball and its collision course with the real game that I have ever read." —Brian Walton, Scout.com |
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| "The book mirrors the game itself: It is filled with pathos, humor, sorrow, tragedy, and triumph." —Bill Cusumano for Book Sense |