The Dreyfus Affair: A Love Story - Softcover

Lefcourt, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060975598 ISBN 13: 9780060975593

Publisher: Perennial, 1993

Synopsis

When happily married baseball superstar Randy Dreyfus suddenly falls in love with second baseman D. J. Pickett, their relationship has a profound impact on their lives, their families, and their team. Reprint. 20,000 first printing. Tour.

About this title

About the Author

Peter Lefcourt was born in New York City and currently lives in Los Angeles and Paris. He is an Emmy Award-winning writer and producer for movies and television. Peter Lefcourt is also the author of The Deal, an acclaimed satire about Hollywood. He is no relation to Alfred Dreyfus.

From Kirkus Reviews

The amusing and thoroughly silly history of a major-league shortstop who ``comes out'' against his better judgement--and discovers that there's more to life than baseball. TV- writer/second-novelist Lefcourt (The Deal, 1991) adds a lively pace--and little depth--to a genuinely clever tale. Apart from the fact that he makes millions a year playing baseball, Randy Dreyfus seems in every respect a normal man: Married to his college sweetheart, he has twin daughters, a large dog, a suburban home, and several cars. In truth, he hates the dog, but everything else is fine until he suddenly realizes (in the shower) just how attractive his second baseman, D.J. Pickett, really is. Fortunately for Randy, D.J. is gay; eventually they become lovers, and inevitably the world comes crashing down around them. An opportunistic baseball commissioner (Fritz Esterhazy), a crusading sportswriter (Milt Zola), a venal franchise-owner (Frank Anatolia), and a dim-witted Quayle-like president fill out the plot, whose allusions are pretty obvious from the start. It will spoil no one's surprise to say that justice triumphs, although its course is far from smooth. The obligatory World Series finale provides a bit of tragedy, but the resolution is thoroughly happy, without a loose end in sight. If this all seems a bit fantastic, it helps to remember (as Fritz Esterhazy does) that ``Baseball is not a sport''--it's an American fantasy, and fantasies produce fairy tales. Good characters, good tempo, good dialogue, and good narration--all sadly marred by a Message more intrusive than Randy's Dalmatian, and as difficult to tame. Lefcourt bangs the drum so relentlessly over homophobia that he fails to notice that sanctimony, rather than sex, is the most offensive element of his plot. A nice drive that goes foul by inches. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Perennial
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0060975598
• ISBN 13: 9780060975593
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 290