No Place I Would Rather Be

A must read for fans of Roger Angell, baseball, or excellent writers and writing

Roger Angell is not merely a great baseball writer, but a great writer period. He has the ability to turn a phrase or drop a metaphor that makes the reader—or at least THIS reader—think, “I know exactly what he means but I could never in a million years express it with such detail and eloquence.”

In this book, Joe Bonomo (an English professor at Northern Illinois University and both an aficionado of Angell and baseball), thoughtfully explores Angell’s life and writing career. Bonomo follows Angell from this 1920s/30s New York boyhood growing up as a Yankees and Giants fan, as well as his early exposure to literature/writing as the son of a New Yorker editor (his mother Katharine) and stepson of E.B. White.

Angell’s writing career has spanned almost eight decades. He has seen extreme changes in both baseball and American life, but as Bonomo illustrates, Angell has been able to evolve with the times and all the while describe what he sees with an unwavering expressiveness.

Recommended for fans of baseball and outstanding writing (both Angell’s AND Bonomo’s).