I am glad to see that this nearly forgotten novel has its fans: I'm hoping for a resurrection. I have tried to keep the flame alive by twice giving lectures on "The Last Western as a Neglected Baseball Novel" to regional gatherings of the Society for American Baseball Research. (Of course, it is much more than a mere "baseball novel," but that was at least a starting point for discussion.) Because The Last Western was essentially self-published (I once spoke to a gentleman who worked for the northern Illinois printing company where it was published, and he confirmed that the Argus imprint was Klise's own), it never gained the visibility that would have placed it on an equal footing with the other ambitious mega-novels of the era by Pynchon, Barth, Gadddis, et al. But it belongs in their company. Recently the book has come in for discussion on the David Foster Wallace listserv wallace-l, and there is some feeling that Wallace may have read it; there are certain similarities between The Last Western and Infinite Jest.

To give the flavor of the book is difficult, but one can say that it is simultaneously very serious and very funny, and that it weaves its subjects -- Roman Catholicism, baseball, racial politics, Latin American revolution, big business, and film-making, among others -- into an extremely impressive tapestry. The Last Western's near-future setting makes it a speculative science fiction novel as well (R.A. Lafferty and Philip Jose Farmer both blurbed it). The prose is first-rate. I wish I knew more about Klise (I heard that he died some years back), but that is a good research project for someone so inclined. In the meantime, a re-printing would go a long way toward rescuing this novel and starting it on the road to the classic status that I believe it deserves. Perhaps someone at a lterary small press is listening?

While bushfires began to ravage my south-eastern Australian home territory on Ash Wednesday, 1983, I bought this book in Adelaide. For years a close friend had recommended it. I soon discoverd why. Like many of my most loved books or movies, it's a Jesus-story. And this coss-bred baseball phenomenon who becomes a member of the strangest Christian order is as good a Jesus as you'll find. Of course, it doesn't have a happy ending, but it's exhilarating, disturbing, very funny, and terribly sad. I lent my copy to someone years ago, and it never came back. As I can't stop thinking about it, I'm trying to track down a fresh copy. Don't pass up the opportunity to read 'The Last Western' by Thomas Klise.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

It is difficult to describe this beautiful book without emotion. It is certainly one of the most powerful books I have ever read. If you ever see a copy of this book -- buy it at whatever the price. Read it, and share it with someone you love. I have never yet met anyone who has read this book who has not been profoundly moved by it.

Blessings.