num_pages: 236
description: The Devil's Snake Curve offers an alternative American history in which colonialism jingoism capitalism and faith are represented by baseball. Personal and political it twines Japanese internment camps with the Yankees; Walmart with the Kansas City Royals; and facial hair patterns with militarism Guantanamo and the modern security state. An essay a miscellany and a passionate unsettling of Josh Ostergaard's relationship with our national pastime it allows for both the clover of a childhood outfield and the persistence of the game's service to those in power. America and baseball are both hard to love or leave in this by turns coruscating and heartfelt debut. Josh Ostergaard holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Minnesota and an MA in cultural anthropology. He has been an urban anthropologist at the Field Museum and now works at Graywolf Press.
language: English
title: The Devil's Snake Curve: A Fan's Notes From Left Field
publisher: Coffee House Press