BaseballEpic Format: Hardback

From Paris Review and New Yorker cartoonist Jason Novak, a witty history of the scrappy beginnings of baseball, told in 101 one-sentence biographies.

In this work of cartoon revisionist history, Jason Novak explores the little-talked-about dead ball era of baseball—from 1900 to 1920, when a single ball was used for an entire game—and the men and women who shaped its course. Ranging from mischievous in-game antics to the racial barriers being crossed well before Jackie Robinson, these miniature biographies highlight the joys and struggles, both on and off the field, of the unsung heroes who played pro ball before it was a profession.

Jason Novak is a cartoonist whose work has appeared in the New Yorker, the Paris Review, and the Believer, among other places. He lives in Oakland, California.