Take Time for Paradise

A philosophical musing on sports and play, this wholly inspiring and

utterly charming reissue of Bart Giamatti's long-out-of-print final

book, Take Time for Paradise, puts baseball in the context of

American life and leisure. Giamatti begins with the conviction that our

use of free time tells us something about who we are. He explores the

concepts of leisure, American-style. And in baseball, the quintessential

American game, he finds its ultimate expression. "Sports and leisure

are our reiteration of the hunger for paradise- for freedom

untrammeled." Filled with pithy truths about such resonant subjects as

ritual, self-betterment, faith, home, and community, Take Time for Paradise

gives us much more than just baseball. These final, eloquent thoughts

of "the philosopher king of baseball" (Seattle Weekly) are a joyful,

reverent celebration of the sport Giamatti loved and the country that

created it.