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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Barely any
Minimal violence — a career-ending beanball; the aftermath
Language
Barely any
Mild profanity
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
None
No meaningful substance use
Emotional Intensity
Some
The father-son distance — a son who loved baseball discovering his father's cruelty; forgiveness as the novel's central question
What this book is about
In 1973, Joe Castle became the most electrifying player in baseball history for exactly one summer — until a fastball ended his career. Decades later, the son of the pitcher who threw that ball tries to arrange a meeting between the two men. Calico Joe is Grisham's most personal novel — a meditation on fathers and sons, baseball, and forgiveness.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
A father and son — baseball as the space between them
Forgiveness — the central theme
A summer of baseball magic and its sudden end
Reader Verification
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